On March 1st, over 2,000 men joined us in our 31 Day Purity Challenge. During the month of March we are committing ourselves to pursuing purity as we pray and meditate on God’s Word.
On March 5th, Christians all around the world will begin observing Lent. Until Easter Sunday these believers will abstain from certain pleasures in an attempt to prepare themselves for the celebration of Easter.
The timeliness of this purity challenge begs the question, “is this challenge related to Lent?” I will answer that question today.
What is the purpose of Lent*?
At it’s most basic, Lent is a time of intentional and disciplined time of repentance and reflection, while waiting upon the celebration of Easter. The Lenten season begins with Ash Wednesday. On that day observers mark their foreheads with ash as a symbol of their humanity and mortality as they long for the resurrection of Jesus and with it our own resurrection.
To observe Lent many believer abstain from certain pleasures to help them focus on the Lord. Some abstain from eating meat. Others will abstain from certain pleasures like chocolate or television.
While Lent can morph into something almost sacramental (a means of obtaining the Lord’s blessing) for most it is simply a time of dedicated reflection and self-discipline.
What is the purpose of the 31 Day Purity Challenge?
This 31 day prayer challenge is actually only one in a long line of prayer challenges (see here for the others). And yet this one is a bit different than the other challenges. In order to really pursue sexual purity there comes a time when you’ve got to simply stop indulging (see here).
While we encourage guys to detox we are also encouraging them with daily prayer, meditation on God’s Word through devotionals, and ultimately to pursue accountability in the local church. We fully realize that purity is a life long pursuit. As Tim said in his launch, this is no magic talisman that will ward of sin. But we do believe that a concentrated effort to join together with other men to pray and study the Word can be used greatly by the Lord.
Our aim is to supplement local churches and to be a morsel of bread on the road to healing in Jesus.
How do they differ?
The difference is quite simple really. At the end of Lent those that gave up chocolate can once again joyously eat a Snickers candy bar. But at the end of this 31 days we aren’t asking men to go back to a life of impurity. You aren’t temporarily fasting for the sake of reflection. You are detoxing for the sake of pursuing freedom from sin in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Don’t treat this 31 days of Purity like Lent. You aren’t looking to April 1st as a day when you can finally indulge in sexual immorality again. You are looking for April 1st as a day when you will once again commit yourself to the lifelong battle of pursuing purity. It’s my prayer that you look back upon this 31 days as a time when the Lord planted deep roots in your heart to deepen your love for Him, to mature you, and to help in your battle for purity.
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*I’m indebted to my friend Tom, in helping me explain the purpose of Lent.
Good words, Mike: “It’s my prayer that you look back upon this 31 days as a time when the Lord planted deep roots in your heart to deepen your love for Him, to mature you, and to help in your battle for purity.”
Thanks, buddy!