Fast 40: Practicing the Ancient Spiritual Discipline of LentSample

Thomas Aquinas defined an effeminate man as “one who withdraws from good on account of sorrow caused by lack of pleasure, yielding as it were to a weak motion,” and in that respect, I think many Christian men are effeminate. We’d rather play video games than read Scripture. We’d rather watch Netflix than pray. We’d rather feast than fast.

Our society has become addicted to pleasure; we’ve become sedated by pleasure. Like babies, we want bottles, not battles. We resist responsibility because it’s painful. We neglect virtue because it means fighting vice. We ignore the cross God sends us because it means suffering, which, ironically, only creates more suffering.

The truth is that by avoiding our God-given cross, we simply make a thousand new crosses. By refusing to be broken, we compound our fracture. By evading spiritual warfare, we embolden our spiritual enemies. But Jesus wasn’t effeminate: He faced His challenges and enemies even though it wasn’t pleasant, even though it was difficult and arduous. And if we are to know Christ, then we must, as Paul says, “share in His sufferings” (Philippians 3:10).