“Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’ “Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Won’t he first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace. In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples. Luke 14:28-33
“Jesus takes it for granted that his disciples will observe the pious custom of fasting. Strict exercise of self-control is an essential feature of the Christian’s life. Such customs have only one purpose-to make the disciples more ready and cheerful to accomplish those things which God would have done. Fasting helps to discipline the self-indulgent and slothful will which is so reluctant to serve the Lord, and it helps to humiliate and chasten the flesh. By practicing abstemiousness we show the world how different the Christian life is from its own. If there is no element of asceticism in our lives, if we give free rein to the desires of the flesh (taking care of course to keep within the limits of what seems permissible to the world), we shall find it hard to train for the service of Christ.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer in The Cost of Discipleship (New York: Macmillan, 1979) 108.
I made it safely home from Pakistan. Took almost 34 hours to get home. Thanks for your prayers. Let me know if you’d like a copy of my trip report.
Abstemiousness. What a word! Abstemiousness means avoiding excesses and eating and drinking in moderation. In plain terms, Bonhoeffer tells us that abstemiousness represents the self-controlled and pious life.
Part of the reason that disciples of Jesus Christ pursued fasting and self-control, is that we cannot be disciples of Jesus Christ if we don’t exhibit this important trait.
How do you rate? Do you tend toward self-indulgence or slothfulness? If so, lean into fasting this season to “show the world how different the Christian life is from its own.”
And this transformation positions us to live, give, serve, and love more generously. What are you waiting for? Don’t give free rein to the desires of the flesh in your life.
Practicing Lent is abstemiousness training for the service of Christ.