Giving Up for Lent

I know I don't have to do it, but I think I'm sensing the call to try.

Saturday morning, I held confirmation classes at St. John.  For the past couple of years, I have had to re-think the way I do confirmation.  No longer do I delve into Lutheran doctrine and Luther's Small Catechism in an attempt to help these young adults understand the Christian faith.  It's not because I don't want to.

I can't.

Many of the youth don't have a very solid Biblical background.  Many of them do not know the stories of faith that our doctrine is founded upon.  I found this out in a most terrible way when I spent an hour of class teaching to a bunch of completely blank stares.  I sent the kids on break, and trashed the rest of my planned lesson.  It was time to go back to the basics.

I've kept up the approach, and it seems to be working pretty well.  It actually engages the kids for good stretches of time.  (As with any group of kids, for a few minutes you've got 'em, and for a few more, you don't.)

This Saturday, we poured through the Gospels in order for them to get a picture of who this Jesus-dude is.  We read and talked about His birth, the coming of the wise men, and His teaching in Nazareth when the crowd wanted to chunk Him over the cliff.  Then, we headed off to the temptation stories.

Interestingly enough, one of the things that really caught their attention was the fact of Jesus fasting for 40 days.

"What does it mean to fast?" one of the girls asked.

Believe it or not, we spent the next 10 minutes or so talking about fasting.  It was something they could associate with and understand.  It intrigued them.  They talked about what things it would be easy to give up and what things it would be difficult to give up.

I said at one point, "It would be very, very hard for me to give up video games."

That surprised everyone...that I liked playing video games.

"How old are you?"

"What are you playing?"

Etc. Etc.

Apparently, pastors aren't supposed to play video games.  But I do.  It's one of the places I tune out the entire world and enter a virtual place and allow my brain to almost cease to function.  Sometimes, I crave that time.

But now, as I sit in my office and begin thinking about Lent and Lenten discipline...

And as I read a book entitled The Practicing Congregation and I hear its author talk about congregations successfully reaching out to others by re-traditioning...

I start sensing the call to give up those games for Lent. 

I frankly don't want to, but it would be a very good Spiritual discipline.

Truly giving up something I really enjoy doing.

That's hard.

But that's a true fast.

I guess I'm now dreading Ash Wednesday.