The Dangers of Lent

In Middle Ages Europe the enactment of Passion Plays became quite popular. Entire cities would participate in the reenactment of the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ. Some towns, like Oberammergau, Germany, have been conducting Passion Plays for several hundreds of years (I will talk about Oberammergau in a later blog). One unfortunate side effect of the Passion Plays was an incitement of Antisemitism. Jews were already a disliked minority and many of the Passion Plays highlighted the rejection of Jesus by the Jews. Too often Medieval peasants forgot Jesus' prayer of forgiveness (Luke 23:34), but focused on the Jews declaration that Jesus' blood would be on them and their descendants (Matthew 27:25). There are some who even object to churches conducting Passion Plays today because they carry this stigma of violence toward Jews. Antisemitism is never acceptable and it is inconceivable for Christians to participate in it. However, it points to an even wider problem for Christians: hypocrisy.

During Lent Christians try to refocus their spiritual walk and even take up spiritual disciplines and acts far above their normal acts. Christians will also set goals that are not always realized and sometimes they will fail horribly. When they fail there will be people, too often friends and family, that will point to their failure as an act of hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is a charge that is often leveled against Christians. It is said that the church is filled with hypocrites. My response is, "That's true, but there is always room for more."

The word hypocrite comes from the Greek and originally referred to actors. The idea was that the actor donned a mask to portray someone who he was not. Christians always live with the struggle to live a righteous life, but still have to deal with temptation and sin. We are trying to live the life we have been called to (Christianity) while not live the life we used to live (sinful). We are going to fail and we are going to face criticism. Lent reminds us of this struggle and perhaps creates more failures. However, there are two important things to keep in mind. First, we are called to live a righteous life even when we have to struggle to do so. Failures do not mean that we give up. Rather, they are moments for us to appreciate God's grace. Second, we will always fail when we rely upon our own abilities to overcome sin. We must rely upon the Holy Spirit. Only through the power of the Holy Spirit can we rise above hypocrisy and live a truly righteous life.