Lent scarce in Baptist churches

Ask the average Alabama Baptist the significance of a 40-day period, and most will have a quick answer. Some will say it is the length of time Jesus fasted in the wilderness. Others will reply that it is how long Moses stayed on Mount Sinai when he received the Ten Commandments. Still others might point to how long the rain fell on the ark.
    
Few would think of 40 as the number of days in Lent. Yet, according to Christianity Today, the 40-day period of Lent is one of the oldest Christian observances, referred to in writings as early as the second century. 
    
Lent begins on Ash Wednesday and ends the day before Easter. Counted on a calendar, the Lenten season is generally 46 days long, but Sundays are considered feast days and are not counted.
    
This year, Lent began March 1 and will end April 15.  
    
According to church historians, Lent originated as a time of fasting and penitence leading up to Easter. Originally only a few days long, the Lenten season evolved over the next several hundred years until it stabilized in the form we know today.
    
Early Christians began the practice of wearing a smear of ash on their forehead at the beginning of Lent to symbolize repentance. This practice gave rise to the name Ash Wednesday. Some Christian groups still adhere to the practice today.
    
Although Baptists have traditionally observed Easter and Palm Sunday, Lent is not generally a part of the season leading up to Easter.
    
John Bain, ministry and media director for Morgan Baptist Association, believes that it may be because of the strong link in people’s minds to Catholicism.
    
“We’re scared of it,” he said. “We want to avoid all appearances of Catholicism.”
    
Teman Knight, evangelism associate for the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, agreed. “Lent has been traditionally done more by the more liturgical churches. You see it a lot more in Catholic, Episcopalian, Presbyterian and Methodist churches, although a few Baptist churches do observe Lent.” 
    
Knight reported seeing a slow return to the ancient traditions in Alabama Baptist churches. 
    
“We are still not doing much in the early weeks of the Easter season, but we are observing Holy Week services. I am seeing more Passover Seders during that time,” he said. 
    
The Passover Seder is a celebration of the Lord’s Supper to represent the meal Jesus ate with His disciples on the night before He died.
    
“When a Christian church does this today, it is usually a combination of the two, using the traditional Passover parts the Jews would use but also referring to Jesus as the Messiah,” Knight said. “Jesus took the Jewish Passover and made it into the Lord’s Supper. The Seder goes back to some of the original elements in the Passover meal, like the reading of the Exodus story and the use of four breads instead of just one.”
    
While more Baptist churches are incorporating ancient traditions into the Holy Week, a few are extending the observances and moving closer to the traditional Lent. 
    
Rob Jackson, pastor of Central Baptist Church, Decatur, in Morgan Association, leads his congregation in what he calls a “Daniel Fast” during the Lenten season. 
    
“A Daniel Fast is giving up something that is very important and in its place, filling our mind with a focus on the Holy Spirit,” he said.
    
Jackson believes the Easter season is the best time to engage in a renewed focus on spiritual things, pointing to the high attendance most churches have on Easter as heightened receptivity to the things of God.
    
“The way I understand Lent, it is about following Jesus’ path of death and resurrection. It’s a great time to focus on dying to self and on the resurrected Jesus Christ,” he said. “It is a cleansing time when you just focus on the Lord.” 
    
Knight agreed. “The purpose of fasting is to take our attention off of physical things and focus on God. What’s important is not just giving up something but putting our attention on God. It’s not that you miss a meal but that you spend the time you would be eating focusing on God.”