Lent Again

It’s Lent again. Day six. Lent is a forty-day season in which some churches focus their worship on preparing for Easter.

 The forty days represents Jesus’ forty days in the wilderness immediately following his baptism by John. There in the wilderness he struggled with his sense of identity and method in his life of obedience to the call of God. He was tempted to answer God’s call in several ways, but resisted those ineffective and counterproductive temptations, choosing instead the path of obedience.

Thus, for the Christian who observes Lent, it is a season of prayerful self-examination, repentance and recommitment to God’s call and claim upon his or her life.

In the oldest traditions of Lent, the Christian gives up something during the season: desserts or some other favorite food or drink, television, the Internet, etc. For the last three years I’ve chosen, rather than giving something up, to take some additional act of discipline: some topic of study or reading or writing. Last year I chose to read the gospels and write a daily blog on what it meant to follow Jesus. My intention was to take ten examples from each of the four Gospels, but by the end of Lent I was still in Matthew; in fact, by the end of the year I still hadn’t finished with Matthew’s Gospel (although I have to admit my writing slowed down significantly after Lent was ended.)

This year my wife and I are leading a study of Tim Cameron’s book, The Forty-Day Word Fast: A Spiritual Journey to Eliminate Toxic Words from Your Life. Cameron approaches his thesis through six categories of what he calls “toxic words”: judgments, criticism, sarcasm, negativity, complaining and gossip. In retrospect, I realized that in our first session we spent a lot of time describing how others (including absent spouses) were bad about using those toxic words. I suspect it will be a struggle for each of us to own up to our own impulse to use those words.

Cameron urges his readers to choose, instead, words that encourage and heal and restore. It’s the same song I’ve been singing through these blogs and on social media for some time; so I was drawn to the book.

I’ve not completed reading the book, yet; but, already I find myself wanting to say, “Yeah, but…” It’s true: Jesus used words to heal and restore and reconcile; and yet, he also confronted hypocritical religious leaders, corrupt politicians and apathetic people of faith. He used sharp words, and even physical force.

If I truly desire to follow Jesus I also will confront hypocrisy, corruption, injustice and cruelty—all those things called “sin” in the Scriptures. So, where is the line, and when do I cross it from Christ-like confrontation to destructive, counterproductive words that are antithetical to the love of God as manifest in Christ?

Today on social media I saw a video that may provide the solution to my struggle. The video demonstrated how a school stopped issuing detentions and other forms of punishment, turning instead to teaching students how to meditate—to find a calm center in their lives. As a result, the school’s environment changed completely. Here's a link: [https://www.facebook.com/DavidAvocadoWolfe/videos/10154276021811512/]

 

I call that a manifestation of Grace. Grace is not permissiveness (although sometimes it resembles permissiveness), and it’s more than forgiveness (although it includes forgiveness). Grace makes punishment irrelevant, because grace is transforming.

In permissiveness, something is overlooked. In grace, something is overcome.

Nor does grace always come wrapped in religious liturgies and tied with a holy bow. God is not confined to our understandings or expressions of faith. Grace transcends all our doctrines and ministries.

What if, as I eliminate toxic words from my life, I replace them, not just with sweet-sounding, uplifting words (although there’s absolutely no reason to avoid those kinds of words), but more importantly, with words that will build up—words that will make a difference.

What if I work to identify words that will confront and challenge, not with judgment, criticism, sarcasm, negativity, complaining and gossip, but rather with words that demonstrate and accomplish grace?

As I pray for God’s strength to eliminate those toxic words, may God’s grace be extended to me, that my words may edify and point to “a more excellent way.”

That’s the way I see it through the flawed glass that is my world view.

Together in the Walk,

Jim