We talk about imitating Christ, but we only want to imitate whatever He did that fits our tastes.
Some of us are deeply concerned about social issues, so we seek to imitate Christ in His concern for the poor and needy. We run homeless shelters and soup kitchens; our churches house AIDS clinics and AA meetings. We rent our building to a start-up congregation, and we have joint services with a different denomination.
Some of us are deeply concerned about moral issues, so we seek to imitate Christ in His confrontations with the Pharisees. We picket inappropriate contento shops and demonstrate about abortion; our churches work with political candidates. We hold youth rallies and family nights to build good values and we hold alternative celebrations for teens where no alcohol is served.
Some of us are deeply concerned with doctrinal orthodoxy, so we seek to imitate Christ in His teachings. We give classes in exegetics and Biblical languages; our churches host guest speakers on archaeology and hold public seminars on prophecy. We host trips to the Holy Land and we educate each member on every doctrinal point.
But how many of us retreat to a mountain to pray for a whole night just because we have important decisions to make the next morning?
How many of us fast, as Jesus fasted, as an adjunct to prayer? Jesus never ran a homeless shelter. He never picketed for new legislation. He didnt start study groups on end-time events. But He prayed all night on the mountain, and once He fasted for forty days. Are we truly imitating Christ, or are we rationalizing our behavior?
When Jesus taught us how to pray, He didnt say, If you elect to pray, do it this way
and when He taught about fasting, He didnt say, If you elect to fast, do it this way
He said, when you pray, dont do it for show like the hypocrites do. Its a conversation between you and God. And He gave us the Lords prayer as an example of what we should pray about.
Similarly, Jesus told us that when we fast (not if) we are not to make a show of it, like hypocrites do. A fast is different from a hunger strike: a fast is a personal act of devotion to God, while a hunger strike is a public act most often used to shine a spotlight on injustice. A fast is also different from anorexia nervosa: it is disciplined diet, not total abstention from food. During a religious fast, you still eat, you just abstain from certain foodstuffs. Traditionally, people have fasted by eliminating luxury items from their diets, such as meats. You could have a fast that consists of eating whatever you want, but drinking only water. Orthodox Christians recognize five levels of fasting:
* Abstaining from meat
* Abstaining from meat, eggs, milk, butter, and cheese
* Abstaining from meat, eggs, milk, butter, cheese, and fish
* Abstaining from meat, eggs, milk, butter, cheese, fish, oil, and wine
* Abstaining from all foods and beverages except bread, water, juices, honey, and nuts.
The ancient Jews fasted on Mondays and Thursdays. The ancient church fasted on Wednesdays and Fridays, because they believed that Jesus commanded them to observe those days as fast days; Wednesday to commemorate His betrayal, and Friday to commemorate His crucifixion. (This is recorded in the Apostolic Constitutions, Book 5, Section 3, which the Orthodox Churches still use as a manual of church discipline.) So it has been historically customary for Christians to fast on Wednesdays and Fridays.
Do we fast and pray? If we dont, our spiritual life is unbalanced. If we are a soldiers of the Lord, we can hardly expect to be commended for our conduct if we never check into headquarters for instructions.
Highway of Life