Playing at Lent

Feb 23, 2021 | By Stanley Hauerwas, Gilbert T. Rowe Professor Emeritus of Divinity and Law.

I have always thought that Lent is a dangerous time for Christians. This time in the church year I fear tempts us to play at being a Christian. We are to discipline our lives during Lent in order to discover and repent of those sins that prevent us from the wholehearted worship of God. That is a perfectly appropriate ambition, but we are not very good at it. We are not very good at it because in general we are not very impressive sinners.