The Value of Lent: Giving Something Up

To Lent or Not to Lent

As someone who grew up Catholic but who "crossed the Tiber north" in middle school (to Presbyterian land), I've experienced some very different perspectives on whether or not Christians should observe Lent.

There were two major objections I tended to hear. The first was that Lent's penitential focus, dwelling on our sinfulness and mortality was inconsistent with the fact that Jesus' sacrifice on the cross was a "once and for all time victory over sin and death." I don't think it is, but I'd like to focus on something else.

The other objection was to the practice of "giving something up" during Lent. Why are we giving up things when we are a new creation, where the "old has gone and the new has come" (2 Cor. 5:17)? If we have been made anew, what is the lack we're focusing on by giving up something? Focusing on our lack, this objection goes, seems to negate the saving power of Christ.

The problem I've had with this critique of Lenten practices is that it seems to miss a central lived experience: we are constantly finding things, consciously or not, to bind ourselves to. It can be innocent things like ice cream or Instagram—it can be not-so-innocent things like alcohol abuse or avarice. Whether we are ensnared through enjoyment or through coping with life's pain, this is a risk for Christians.

Exposing Our Own "Factory of Idols"

Lent is a sober reminder of what John Calvin once said, "The human heart is a factory of idols. Every one of us is, from his mother’s womb, expert in inventing idols." (I know it's ironic to use Calvin to defend Lent, when he vociferously argued against it, but maybe he would see things differently today.)

Giving something up allows us to appreciate how that thing has impacted our lives. We may discover that it had unexpected power over us—and offer it to Christ when our Lenten practice unearths it.

So my question to you is, what in your life do you need to take a break from?

What started as a hobby or way to relax, but has since come to take more and more of your attention, turning into something else?

How about I start? (I should take what I am willing to prescribe.)

My wife and I decided to give up use of our smartphones one day a week (apart from simply using it as a phone) and I removed an app which shows website data, which I had begun to check obsessively in the last few years.

The western worldview says, "the more the better." But a Christian worldview recognizes that we too easily become entangled with the things of this world, even good ones. For that reason, taking a break from something we like or enjoy can actually be, paradoxically enough, freeing.

Updated 12/22/2025

Looking for sermon and worship resources in Lent? See our Lent Worship Guide.