I just answered this Featured Question, you can answer it too!

I attended a one day Urban Ministries Conference this past weekend in Cambridge, Boston with some of the youth leaders from Bethel Church.  Among the many things offered to us were workshops, resources, and worship services.  During one of the concluding worship services a statement was made by the worship leader, whose name shall remain anonymous.  The statement was, “Out of all the cities on the east coast, Boston is the city of gays and we need to get rid of the darkness” and he followed this with the worship song Let Everything That Has Breath Praise the Lord.  At first this statement and song combination did not bother me… actually I found it rather funny considering the context of the statement and when it was made.  Afterwards, considering that I had been hanging out with ENC religion majors all day, it was pointed out to me that it was wrong theologically.

For me, I believe that one can hate the sin but love the sinner because we are called to love all of God’s people.  So after hearing the reasons why this was wrong theologically I had to wonder as to why this was so.  If this is wrong theologically, then I would have to hate the sinner and the sin, but I can’t do that because one of my best friends is gay and I could never hate him, but at the same time I totally agree that theologically the comment and following song was wrong, hence my frustration. How does this work?   Because I hang out with religion majors all the time my beliefs and understandings of the world are constantly being torn down and I do not like it.  I feel as if my beliefs are Pandora’s Box and they are tearing it open and everything is coming out to be torn apart.  Don’t get me wrong, God calls us to be challenged in our faith on a daily basis but, I have never been challenged this much in one year!

I find it very appropriate to have read about Leo the Great in Christian Tradition this Lenten period.  He considers the purpose of fasting to “restrain ourselves, therefore from food, but much more must we fast from errors of the mind.”  I feel that this speaks volumes to what Prof. Barker spoke about in chapel on Ash Wednesday.

Most people give up soda, chocolate, fast food, junk food, etc.  Occasionally, you will get the person who is going to start something during Lent like exercise or read their Bible all the way through during the forty days.

Each year, Ash Wednesday creeps up on me and I am surprised it is here when it comes.  I find myself making a decision last minute as to what I will give up for Lent.  When I finally do decide as to what to give up, I then feel as if I did it for all the wrong reasons; like I gave up something just for the sake of it and because everyone else around me did it.  I feel as if I have been just going through the motions during the time of Lent.

More times than not I have to wonder what the purpose of Lent really is.  I know the whole Sunday School reason for Lent is that Jesus’ time in the desert lasted forty days and we today use it as a time to get closer to God as we prepare for the Resurrection.  But, I feel as if it has been so marketed within the Christian faith that the true reason for it has been lost.  I fast something for Lent each year not necessarily because I want to but because I feel I need to, and that is not the way I want my faith to be, the cookie cutter kind of faith.  Some of my acquaintances are giving up certain kinds of meat for Lent.  Gee, I wish I was that brave and vulnerable to God’s call for fasting.  Have I just lost that kind of fire for God or am I just looking in the wrong places?