Should Protestants Celebrate Lent? (A Response to SWBTS and Dr Thomas White)

I am protestant and I celebrate Lent. There I said it, the cat is out of the bag. Whew! I say this tongue in cheek because many protestants, including apparently SWBTS and Dr Thomas White seem to be under the false assumption it is wrong to observe Lent. Dr White wrote an article in support of his viewpoint here. I find his arguments very shortsighted and disturbing for a number of reasons and hope to use his article to contrast such a view with my own. I discovered Lent almost 20 years ago and it has been greatly used of God in my life. Lent can be a wonderful positive in our life (even as protestants) if we redeem it as such. After all, did we not coop the celebration of the Winter Solstice in order to place a date on Christmas? Could we not coop a traditional celebration of much less ignoble birth in order to prepare our hearts for revival and the majesty of Easter?

Lent has been around a very long time, at least since the 4th century. The purpose of Lent is to prepare the believer in Christ for Easter. Traditionally such preparation is made through prayer, penance, repentance, almsgiving and self-denial. As Baptists, we do not practice penance because we believe Jesus completely paid for our sins on the Cross negating the need for such. We do believe in prayer, repentance, giving and fasting so the rest of what constitutes a traditional observance of Lent is well within the theological fellowship in which we Baptists do life together. 

Dr White states in his article he does not celebrate Lent because he is not Catholic. However, many protestant denominations celebrate Lent and have done so since the Reformation. Dr White's mention of Martin Luther's 95 Theses as support for his own choice to forgo Lent is weak and without scholarly merit. Luther actually said, "Lent, Palm Sunday, and Holy Week shall be retained, not to force anyone to fast, but to preserve the Passion history and the Gospels appointed for that season" (LW 53:90). I sincerely mean no animus toward Dr Thomas but his argument is porous and misleading. Protestants, even Luther, have celebrated Lent since the time of the reformation itself.

Dr White says Lent is a "man-made" religious exercise and he has freedom in Christ from such "bondage." So does this mean we are to consider Rick Warren's "40 Days of Purpose" a man-made legalistic exercise without any merit for those living under grace? This is a straw man argument at best. Just because a practice is old doesn't mean it was created by "Judaizers." Lent is no more legalistic than any special emphasis a church might undertake as a part of its spiritual life.

Dr White concludes his argument against Lent with the statement he "doesn't need to tell anyone when he is fasting." I agree personal times of fasting and prayer should be done in a humble state which often requires one to keep the practice to him or herself. However, Scripture is full of public, called fasts. This point of argument against Lent is without any Scriptural merit.

I am not picking on Dr White this morning but I do think his article is a great tool for discussion. Many folks fear Lent simply because of its ancient origins and association with the Catholic church. There is no need to throw the baby out with the bathwater! We split from Catholics over a myriad of theological issues which have Scriptural merit but Lent is not one of them. We need not lose something so wonderful as Advent, Lent or even the celebration of Pentecost. Luther himself championed the inclusion of such observances in the faith and practice of the Body of Christ. Lent is a time for spiritual inventory, confession and renewal. Lent is a time for spiritual renewal and revival as we look forward to Easter and the celebration of all Jesus did to make opportunity for us to be right with Him. Don't miss out on Lent and the blessing such an observance can bring to your life!

James