Guest Feature: “Giving up” or GAINING at Lent?

By Johnathon Eltrevoog


“What are you giving up for Lent?”

Most people that I know will answer that question this way:

“Nothing. I’m not Catholic.”

Now I don’t necessarily believe that a Christian person must give up something for Lent or anything like that, but that answer seems to indicate that there is some lack of understanding of what Lent is all about.

It is not simply a meaningless ritual (well, maybe it is for some), but the intention is:

• Coming to the end of yourself
• Opening ourselves to the world God longs to bring into being
• Starting a new beginning with God
• Planting God’s compassion deep within us
• Challenging our assumptions, anger, and prejudices

I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t really just sound like just a “Catholic” thing to me.

I decided to do something special for Lent this year. I’ll be following the Lenten Experience Calendar.

Don’t worry; it’s not some quasi-spiritual/neo-Pentecostal thing It’s just a bunch of things to do in your regular day-to-day life in order to experience the Lord for yourself in your daily actions over the 40-day Lenten season.

Interestingly, the only one I balked at was day #1: Ash Wednesday. It reads, “Have an ash cross put on your forehead.”

Okay. That’s where I said: “Uh…but I’m not Catholic.” And…I think the writer of that calendar (who isn’t Catholic either) would say, “Uh…so?”

Don’t worry, the rest of the 40 days is filled up with cool stuff like:

• Don’t text today—just call
• Fast from coffee, soda, or alcohol
• Buy someone’s coffee or lunch anonymously

So, if you saw me on last Wednesday, you probably saw ashes on my forehead.

Check that calendar out for Lent (It’s not too late!) and see what you think!

This article was originally posted on Johnathon’s personal blog, and is re-posted with his permission.

Johnathon Eltrevoog is a 2005 graduate of Olivet and one of the members of Shine.FM’s Rise and Shine Morning Show. He has worked at Olivet Nazarene University’s 89.7 Shine.FM since 2002 and also serves as the station’s program director. Shine.FM broadcasts throughout the South Chicagoland/Northwest Indiana area, and online. Johnathon has been married to Natalie since 2004.


You can connect with Johnathon on Twitter and Facebook.