THE LENT CONSPIRACY

By Tim Walker 

Regardless of the type of church, Easter is a big deal to Christians. In fact, it’s the bookend to Christmas. The Part 2. The continuation of the story. The sequel that builds on the original in a bigger and more amazing way.

And however your church celebrates Easter, there is one thing that seems to come across in many churches: It’s more than just a typical Sunday. 

But in some faith traditions, remembering Easter actually begins weeks before. In the weeks leading up to Easter, many followers of Christ throughout history have observed a tradition called Lent where they give something up—fast from something—for 40 days as a way of focusing on the season.

Maybe you’ve known someone who “gave up” something for Lent. For 40 days, that person made a choice not to eat or do something that would be part of his or her normal routine. It could have been chocolate or red meat. Maybe it was Facebook.

And for most people who observe Lent, it’s simply that, giving something up.

But what if we reframed it. Shifted it. Remixed it.

What if instead of designating something to give up, you decided to trade in?

In fact, what if your trade meant that you were able to focus on something Jesus focused on—other people? What if it meant you were more intentional about the time you spend together as a family?

Regardless of whether Lent is something you’ve ever practiced before, or whether this is the first time you’ve ever heard of it, you can reframe Lent so that instead of taking something away, you’re trading one thing in for something better.

As a parent, what if, during the next 40 days, you took some moments and made a trade?

What if you traded in your phones for a movie night?

What if you traded in Facebook for shooting some hoops?

What if you traded in TV time for family time?

What if you traded in lunches out at work for dinner out with the family?

What if you gave up something to gain something with your child?

And what if you got your teen to do the same?

What if, together, you both came up with some index cards listing things you would be willing to set aside for a while in order to gain some relational time together?

It might mean leaving your cell phone at home.

It might mean spending some money to do something and giving up something else to compensate.

It might mean getting a little less “me” time.

Sit down together. Grab some index cards. And write down some things you would be willing to give up for a while. Then take your cards and use them as coupons to cash in on time together.

Maybe your card says “Farmville” because, well, you’re obsessed with it. You have crops to tend. Things to exchange. Whatever you Farmville people do. But you give your daughter your index card and say, “I’m giving up Farmville Thursday night so we can hang out. Let’s make a plan.”

Or maybe your son comes to you and says, “I’m giving up the Xbox tonight so we can watch a movie together.”

But you come up with the list. Choose something that might not be easy. Choose something that you default to all the time—whether it’s your smartphone, the gym, whatever. You know what it is. 

Then encourage your son or daughter to do the same.

Then over the next 40 days, trade that in for time together.

Time just hanging out. Having fun. Talking. Doing. Living.

Trade the escapes, the substitutes, the distractions in your life for the relationships in your life. Make a beautiful trade—one thing for something better. 

People wear a cross on necklaces, sport one on bumper stickers and even slap on across T-shirts, but what does the cross really stand for? What does it really mean? Over the next two weeks, we will take a look at the cross in a different way, a way that moves beyond gratitude and nostalgia to a way of life. The cross teaches us that we live so we can die, and we die so we can live. 

We will look at 2 questions:

1)What are some ways that I am challenged to sacrifice myself in everyday life? 

2)What does it mean to live life to the full? How does that compare to my life?  

Dying to something you want. It’s a concept we are talking to your kids about during The Cross series, but if you are a parent, it’s something you know very well. Parenthood is all about dying to yourself.

 It’s dying to your plans when a child gets sick the day of your dinner plans.

It’s dying to your wants when that son who seems to never stop growing needs yet another new pair of shoes—and you make do with the old pair you’ve had for a few years.

It’s dying to your need for love when you say or do the hard thing for your child, knowing that a valuable lesson will be learned but that he or she will hate you in the process.

Parenthood is a constant process of putting someone’s needs before your own.

And because of that, we just want to say, “Thank you.” Thank you for making the hard decisions. Thank you for sacrificing your time. Thank you for working hard to provide for your family. Thank you for all the things you do, the decisions you make daily to die to your own list of wants and desires in order to help someone else. Thank you for being an example to your child of what it means to die to yourself—even if he or she is clueless about all the ways you do it. 

(Some day, your child will realize it. Trust us.) 

www.orangeparents.org

T.M.I.:

So you overslept, missed the bus, saw someone cute, aced the big test and you’re mad at that guy. So how do we know? Because you gave the world your play by play for the day on FB, Twitter and texted about it every five minutes. We live in a world where we know more about the people around us that we ever knew before. But have you noticed something? We can know a lot—too much—and yet not really know what’s going on. It’s so easy to let people know about us, and not really have a place where people really know us at all. So where and with who are you sharing your T.M.I.?

I have to admit, there have been too many instances to count when I have opened my mouth without thinking and that was long before today's social networking.   Now videos, photos, words and more are all "out there".   For the next 3 weeks in Sunday School we will take the topic of T.M.I. and see what the Bible might have to say on the subject.  Hope to see you there!

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