This week many will celebrate the Day of Ashes, more commonly known as Ash Wednesday. This is the day many recognize as the beginning of Lent.

While The Rescue Church doesn’t celebrate Ash Wednesday or the Lenten season like many do, it isn’t because we believe it is necessarily bad. In fact, I’ve personally attended a number of Lenten services, including Ash Wednesday.

Lent begins for many with Ash Wednesday and ends with Easter. During this time people are preparing for the remembrance of Easter. And one of the most common ways people remember is with some sort of 40 day fast.

The reason for the 40 day fast is in part to identify with Jesus’s 40 days of fasting at the beginning of his ministry, but also to identify with his suffering leading up to the crucifixion.

Fasting can be a great thing. Remembering what Jesus went through for you and me can be a great thing. In fact, we were commanded to remember what Jesus went through for us when we celebrate communion. With those things in mind, celebrating Lent can be a great practice.

We would also do well to remember Jesus’s words of warning in Matthew 6:16-18 when he says

“When you fast, do not look somber as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

The warning is not against fasting, but against religious practices done simply to show the world around you how spiritual you are.

As we go into this season of Lent, we would do well to reflect on all Jesus did for us. I would simply encourage you to be mindful of the motivation behind the way you remember. Are you doing it so people notice you practicing a religious ritual? Or are you doing it as a way of worship between you and God? What is your motivation?