What Lent is: John Wagner walks the hosts through it
- Is Lent a biblical command from Jesus or a human tradition?
- Why do people put ashes on their foreheads on Ash Wednesday?
- How does Mardi Gras / Fat Tuesday relate to Lent?
John Wagner, a Methodist-church friend invited on to answer the question, explains Lent as the forty days of Christ's temptation walked toward Easter: giving something up or taking something on as a discipline, not a biblical command. The hosts work through Ash Wednesday (ashes as a reminder of human frailty and need for salvation) and Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday as the indulgence before the fast, and land on the principle that traditions are not holy but can be useful when they point to Christ rather than to self.
More on Fasting
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Ramadan and the cultural behaviors of Christianity
- What are the cultural behaviors of Christianity that can be kept without actually having a relationship with Jesus?
Ben asks what the cultural behaviors of Christianity are that can be kept without actually having a relationship with Jesus, prompted by a Ramadan display at a halal grocery after a daddy-daughter date.
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Lent: fasting, ritual, and embodied faith
- Do I need to give something up for Lent, or am I wrong for never doing it?
- Where does the word 'Lent' come from?
A host asks whether he is wrong for never giving anything up for Lent. Another host answers at length: scripture mandates nothing, but modern fear of 'empty ritual' has cost Christians embodied habits — sackcloth and ashes, anointing, fasting, going somewhere to pray.
From No. 364 · Golden Calf Purity Rings
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Dawson's buddy; Mike on God not repeating himself; the fasting test
Dawson prays not to miss disciple-making opportunities and confesses trying to coerce a struggling friend into his own conversion pattern.
From No. 595 · Trust But Verify
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Ask the pastor: the fast God chooses in Isaiah 58
Boova reads Isaiah 58 aloud in full, then asks what to make of the seemingly different fast God describes.
From No. 507 · What’s in a Name