Why Baptists Do Not Practice Lent
Usually, as Lent begins each year, I find myself reflecting on my childhood attending school with classmates who observed Lent. I remember always wondering what it was and why they had Lent and we, as Baptists, didn’t. As I grew older, I had occasions to be in worship services of other denominations and always felt uncomfortable in the more formal churches. As I attended seminary, I came to understand that what makes these services more formal is due to something called liturgy. This simply means that these churches follow a more formal or scripted worship. In other words, they follow the same formal patterns as others of similar denomination and liturgy. As part of (or alongside) the liturgy, many churches also have things like a Book of Common Prayer and a church year calendar, where “seasons” are observed. One of these seasons is Lenten or the more common Lent.
Lent is, simply, the 40 days prior to Easter Sunday (not including Sundays). Lent season begins on Ash Wednesday (Feb 22nd this year) and ends on the Saturday before Easter. If you have ever seen people with black smeared on their foreheads in the shape of a cross, this was done in observance of Ash Wednesday. The intent of the ashes is to remind of mortality.
So, to the question, “why do we not observe Lent as Baptists?” To answer, we need to consider tradition, theology, and practice to get a good answer. As far as tradition goes, Baptists are not liturgical in nature. We do not have rituals or patterns that define our worship or ordinances. Often, worship services vary widely among faithful Southern Baptist churches. As such, we do not observe the liturgical calendar. We have a much less formal style of worship. Secondly, in terms of theology, the observance of Lent is not found Scripture. It is a time of repentance and preparation for the celebration of Easter but is not mandated by the Bible.
Finally, we need to consider practice, or better put, should we observe Lent. In a word, no. This is not meant to be critical of our brothers and sisters who do. The biggest problem with Lent is that it limits and sets aside a specific season for things that we should always be doing (repentance and devotion). Lent observance usually requires that the observer “gives up” some sort of enjoyment (sometimes, even sinful enjoyment). If you are not aware, the festival of Mardi Gras is always the week leading up to Ash Wednesday, with Fat Tuesday being the conclusion. The festival is built around having one more blow-out before being “good” for 46 days. See the problem there?
To be sure, we should absolutely prepare our hearts and minds for worship, and we should recognize that Easter is a very holy day. But I’m not sure that 6 weeks of asceticism (self-denial) is the way that we do that. Instead, let’s spend the whole year observing the Lordship of Jesus Christ, pursuing holiness, and enjoying the good gifts of God in our lives!
For His Glory!
Pastor Mike
**This is by no means a thorough examination of the topic, so see me if you would like to discuss further.
Lent is, simply, the 40 days prior to Easter Sunday (not including Sundays). Lent season begins on Ash Wednesday (Feb 22nd this year) and ends on the Saturday before Easter. If you have ever seen people with black smeared on their foreheads in the shape of a cross, this was done in observance of Ash Wednesday. The intent of the ashes is to remind of mortality.
So, to the question, “why do we not observe Lent as Baptists?” To answer, we need to consider tradition, theology, and practice to get a good answer. As far as tradition goes, Baptists are not liturgical in nature. We do not have rituals or patterns that define our worship or ordinances. Often, worship services vary widely among faithful Southern Baptist churches. As such, we do not observe the liturgical calendar. We have a much less formal style of worship. Secondly, in terms of theology, the observance of Lent is not found Scripture. It is a time of repentance and preparation for the celebration of Easter but is not mandated by the Bible.
Finally, we need to consider practice, or better put, should we observe Lent. In a word, no. This is not meant to be critical of our brothers and sisters who do. The biggest problem with Lent is that it limits and sets aside a specific season for things that we should always be doing (repentance and devotion). Lent observance usually requires that the observer “gives up” some sort of enjoyment (sometimes, even sinful enjoyment). If you are not aware, the festival of Mardi Gras is always the week leading up to Ash Wednesday, with Fat Tuesday being the conclusion. The festival is built around having one more blow-out before being “good” for 46 days. See the problem there?
To be sure, we should absolutely prepare our hearts and minds for worship, and we should recognize that Easter is a very holy day. But I’m not sure that 6 weeks of asceticism (self-denial) is the way that we do that. Instead, let’s spend the whole year observing the Lordship of Jesus Christ, pursuing holiness, and enjoying the good gifts of God in our lives!
For His Glory!
Pastor Mike
**This is by no means a thorough examination of the topic, so see me if you would like to discuss further.
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As a non denominational Christian âœï¸ I'm profoundly doing research in admittedly to still being a babe in Christ at 40 yrs old. I'm finding out that all these holidays are man made and it's very confusing to which the church upholds these days. It's like being reprogrammed I very much appreciate my grandmother as well as my aunt whom both planted the seed in taking me to Christ but understanding now and being a parent myself my own child told me to research the information myself. I'm also following another Christian brother who put this information out there 🤔 and he backed it up with saying we shouldn't read anything else but the king James version of the bible and none of these holidays are truthful in concerning the dates. It's heart breaking no Christmas he wasn't Born on that day Easter a whole nother scenario so I will be Studying to show myself approved. God bless you
Thank you for writing this. I was doing research onLent to figure out where it originated and there's still a lot of confusion when it comes to that. I grew up Baptist and never celebrated lent. I didn't celebrate Lent nor Mardi Gras growing up, but the points you made here...I agree with them wholeheartedly. I also believe that Christ suffered, so that we wouldn't, so why deny ourselves anything when Jesus already made the ultimate sacrifice? I don't like to do things just, because everyone else is doing it and I like to do my own research first. Your post helped!
Where is lent mentioned in the Bible? This appears man made.
I don't practice Lent, because I left the Catholic Church many years ago to become a Born Again Christian as Jesus advised Nicodemus to do...I also don't believe in Easter, it's the name of a northern goddess and distracts us totally from Passover, which is when Jesus was Born and also when He went to Calvary and rose on Passover Saturday but no one could visit the graveyard till Sunday...
I received a call from a buddy I used to work with, he had invited me to his Bible Baptist church for a good Friday service. I was shocked, having grown up a Missionary Baptist I didn't recall Good Friday being anything more then a 3 day weekend for us. I was intrigued, unfortunately I was not able to attend, having been Catholic now for 30 years, I am quite busy at Church on Good Friday. My curiosity has led me to investigate Good Friday and the Baptist Church. When did the Baptists start celebrating Good Friday? I would imagine not all Baptist denominations celebrate it. Are there any that has always celebrated it? Having observed Good Friday in a Catholic setting for the last 38 years, I am curious as to how Baptist celebrate it. I am not to here to argue, please do not even go there, I'm just curious, as to how many Baptist observe Good Friday, the history behind it, and what occurs at these services. The peace of the Lord be with you all.
"Baptists are not liturgical in nature." - If you have an "order of worship" or a "church bulletin", You ARE liturgical.
n"We do not have rituals or patterns that define our worship or ordinances." - Simply put, YES, you do! Call to worship, opening hymn, offertory prayer and offering, etc.
n"Secondly, in terms of theology, the observance of Lent is not found Scripture. It is a time of repentance and preparation for the celebration of Easter but is not mandated by the Bible." - Eating crackers and drinking grape juice is also NOT mandated by the bible. But, women having their heads covered and not wearing jewelry or make-up IS. Do the ladies of your congregation observe this Pauline doctrine from the Bible?
n"Lent observance usually requires that the observer “gives up” some sort of enjoyment (sometimes, even sinful enjoyment). " - NO, Lent does not REQUIRE you to give up anything. Do you even read the scriptures?
n"To be sure, we should absolutely prepare our hearts and minds for worship, and we should recognize that Easter is a very holy day. But I’m not sure that 6 weeks of asceticism (self-denial) is the way that we do that." - I'm sure your church does a splendid job of "preparing for Easter" on the Sunday morning of Resurrection day. I am curious why you would call Easter a "very holy day" when it seems you treat it as just another Sunday. Please try learning from your fellow Christians instead of following the Reformation Script.
Dear Pastor Mike,
nAs a Catholic, I was interested to read your response, because people around me who throw up and pull down their Christmas trees and Easter decorations in a commercially led cycle versus a liturgically led cycle have always struck me as not being very deep in their observance of Christian rite. I work with a family who always express curiosity in my Catholic traditions, and I in their non-denominational Christian routines. I was with you right up until the point where you insinuated that following a liturgical period of observance equaled a period of behavior versus year-round behavior. I disagree and feel that these periods are not about how we behave, but are a period of focus to deepen what we believe.
nWarmly,
nKristi Hartman
I found your article insightful as I have a southern Baptist husband that aligns with your thinking. I respect and appreciate your pov. I do like to think of the Lenten season as a chance to improve. I just wonder if maybe it’s ok to have a time to get in the habit of remembering Jesus’ suffering and love for us more times daily (when I get the impulse to do something I have given up). -most of us don’t participate Madi gras. -Take care!
Your article on Lent was informative for me, as a Southern Baptist, and not well-versed in the rituals of other religions. I was raised non-denominational, and then changed to Baptist as an adult, as I saw that they follow the Bible much more closely than other religions I have been affiliated with. Three years ago, I became the secretary for my church, and as such am asked things I may not be familiar with. This is one such thing I could certainly say that of. In order to understand the "hidden" things of the Bible, it is necessary to understand the Hebrew/Jewish background that the entire Bible is centered on, through, and in spite of. In my searching of scripture, I could not determine the reasoning for lent.
Good job, Bro. Mike! Folks can do i kinds of things throught the ages to support their faith and the variety we see among all believers can be quite endless. Thank you for simply clearly stating about the absence of Lent in the scriptures. The important thing is at the end of the day our daily need for repentence and faith is what matters for our entire life and not just the 40 days before Easter.
n
nSome get angry with us for pointing this out and say we are not playing along with everyone nicely, That not what you or others who don't participate in Lent are saying. Fine, we understand those who do and those who don't. Those who do participate in Lent need to understand why those who don't participate in Lent and not simply suggest that those who don't are not as holy as anyone else who does.
n
nYou can always tell if the love of God gets left out because someone draws a line in the sand of things like this. I don't partipate in Lent but i encourage anyone who does to go full throttle, however when they ask me why i don't i explain like you that i attempt to live this way everyday.
n
nThanks again, Mike for taking the time to just simply state its not a practice we find in the Good Book just so folks can keep on learning as we live here on earth.