My Lenten Gamble: 41 days with no coffee

Coffee cup with coffee beans in the shape of a heart beat — Image by Myriams-Fotos from Pixabay

I am not a coffee lover. I can’t tell the difference between good coffee and bad coffee. Every coffee tastes bitter and burnt. Yet I have trained my body to consume significant amounts of coffee. One of the perks of my job is free, on-tap coffee within a few steps from my desk. When I thought about something to give up or deny myself during Lent this year, I settled on caffeine.

Quitting Coffee Cold Turkey

Honestly, I don’t recommend quitting caffeine cold turkey. Neither does the FDA. But I grew up as a Baptist in the South, never practicing Lent as part of my spiritual journey. I was mostly unaware of Lent until I went to seminary. And I fell in love with the idea of a spiritual discipline reflected in a physical act. So much of my faith had lived predominantly in the brain. So my thinking with Lent was, let’s go all out. And this year, that became no more coffee or Mountain Dew for the next 41 days.

The headaches are real. Similar to the hunger pangs you get whenever you fast. But Jesus reminds us that we do not live on bread alone (Matthew 4:4.) The physical shape of our body impacts our outlook on life. Snickers would remind you, you aren’t you when you are hungry. We have all experienced brain fog whenever we were tired and anxious. And it does make me consider how healthy it is to consume caffeine if I experience withdrawal symptoms. But, more to the point, is there a value to depriving the body physically so that you can be more in tune with Jesus spiritually?

Counter-Cultural

From the beginning, humans have had a hard time with limitations. In Genesis, it was the fruit from every tree but one, and we wanted that fruit. Children must be taught to share, but few must be taught to say “MINE!”. And continuing today is the hedonistic cultural undertone that as long as it feels good, do it. We live in a consumer society and are told from early childhood that meaning and happiness are found in possessing and consuming. Jesus preached denying oneself and taking up our cross in following after Him. Practicing physical limitations helps us understand how and where to practice spiritual boundaries. We should deny ourselves daily, but having a specific time to stop and take inventory of our spiritual condition is beneficial. For me, that is why I practice Lent.

Physical Training is a Model

1 Timothy 4: 7- 8 says, “Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives’ tales; rather, train yourself to be godly. For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.” When people commit to physical training, it results in a visible difference. If you do enough crunches, then you can develop your abdominal muscles. If you bench press, you can grow your biceps larger and larger. Paul even says that physical training has value. But he is much more concerned with your spiritual training. Your spiritual training benefits this life and your coming life in the kingdom of Heaven.

Jesus tells his disciples that they can know people by the fruit they produce with their lives. He stated, “Good trees produce good fruit, and bad trees will produce bad fruit.” James, Jesus’ brother, would say even more clearly, “faith without works is dead.” We train ourselves to be Godly so that God’s good fruit is seen in our lives. Fasting, self-denial, silence and solitude, scripture reading, and prayer make up the spiritual gym we train ourselves in. And that training is beneficial for today and into eternity.

A Lenten Gamble

Currently, I am halfway through Lent, and the headaches have stopped. Going through such an experience does make me wonder if continuing to avoid caffeine is a sound idea. Maybe I will switch to decaf. And perhaps every time I take a sip of decaf coffee, I will be reminded of what I, with the Holy Spirit’s help and guidance, still need to work on in my spiritual life. And just maybe, I would be reminded to take Paul seriously and train in godliness with as much enthusiasm as I train at the gym (or more enthusiasm, for those who hate the gym.)

I pray that you might be encouraged to do so as well. I pray you would allow the Holy Spirit to work in your mind and heart to rewire the fabric of who you are and reshape into the new creation God wants you to be. And pray that God keeps working on me, too; I may never have a six-pack of abs, but I hope to have an abundance of spiritual treasure to lay at Jesus’ feet. I pray that I can be the good tree producing a harvest of abundant fruit in my relationship with God.