I didn’t grow up going to church regularly. In fact, Sunday was a heavy day of work on the farm. Not only did I not practice Lent, an annual 40-day event, but I didn’t even keep the weekly Sabbath.

I found it somewhat odd as a kid that some of my Catholic and Lutheran friends would give up meat for Lent, or at least give up meat on Fridays and opt for fish instead. I’d ask my friends why they were giving up meat and most of them didn’t really know. “Tradition” was the standard answer. Some of these same kids were the biggest hell-raisers I knew on the weekend, so I assumed Lent was offered as some kind of penance for their sins.

I remember everyone having to eat fish sticks on Fridays at the school cafeteria even in public schools. Do they still do that? I doubt it.

I became a Christian later in life and early on began searching through Scripture to see if I could find any teaching about Lent. It isn’t in there. I know many denominations practice giving up something for Lent, and I know that the premise for many is simply to have a reminder of the sacrifice that Christ made on the cross. That seems like a good reason, but why give up meat? Why not vegetables, sex, TV, smoking or drinking? Giving up meat seems arbitrary, or at least anachronistically driven, based on past traditional norms.

Perhaps you observe Lent and you can better help me understand the reason for continuing to give up meat in particular. Is it that meat is delicious and enjoyable to eat and therefore it’s a sacrifice to give up such a "luxury" for 40 days?

Unlike Lent, the practice of occasional fasting actually is in the Bible. The general idea of fasting is to give up eating food as a reminder to prioritize prayer, especially in times of crisis or loss. When the need for prayer becomes so urgent that you can’t even think of eating, it becomes not only a good option, but your appetite is naturally gone. And during normal times of intermittent fasting, when your stomach is rumbling, there’s your prayer reminder. I think that fasting is a good spiritual discipline as long as it’s done privately and not for show. Jesus condemned the spiritual hypocrites of His day for turning their fasting practices into an opportunity to be noticed by others by appearing outwardly sacrificial. Fasting doesn’t make us more righteous or acceptable to God, biblically speaking, but it does cause us to remember to pray and to be thankful and spiritually minded. It can also be healthy for the body as well as the soul, when done wisely.

I’m certainly not critical of those who practice Lent, but why do you give up meat? If you don’t know the answer, maybe the practice is not having its intended effect to begin with. And if the only answer is "tradition," are you relying on "rules" that go beyond the clear teaching of the Bible? If the idea is to give up meat because it was once a such a luxury, maybe giving up other more self-indulgent things would actually be more of a "sacrifice" than just skipping meat in your meals.

It’s interesting to note how many varied religious practices involve dietary restrictions of some sort. But how could dietary choices for your body do anything to cleanse your soul?

Jesus answers this in Matthew 15, "It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man… Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. For out of the heart come evil thoughts… [and deeds].”

You may remember my past blogs on Kosher and Halal meats and my references to the book entitled, "What Would Jesus Really Eat?" Maybe Lent is a good time to recommend this book again. It’s a thought-provoking and enlightening read.

Giving up meat for Lent: Why meat?

Join for free* to continue reading.