Lent for the Rest of Us
A Season for Rethinking What We’ve Been Told
Lent is here, and depending on your background, that might mean… a lot of things.
Maybe you grew up with Ash Wednesday services and the familiar words, Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return. Maybe you’ve seen people giving up chocolate or caffeine for forty days as a spiritual discipline. Maybe you’ve just noticed that McDonald’s suddenly starts advertising fish sandwiches like their life depends on it.
But at its core, Lent was never about performative sacrifice. It’s about something deeper.
Historically, Lent was a time of preparation and reflection—especially for those who were about to be baptized at Easter. The early church treated it as a season for serious theological reflection—a time to stop and ask, What do I actually believe? And why?
So that’s what we’re doing. But not in the way you might expect.
Embedded vs. Deliberative Theology: Why This Matters
Most of us have absorbed more theology than we realize.
Not from seminary (unless you went, in which case—hi, hello from the struggle). Not even necessarily from church. But just from being in the world—from Sunday school lessons, things our parents said, things our culture assumes are just true.
This is what theologians call embedded theology—the stuff you passively absorb without really thinking about it. It’s just there, sitting in the background, shaping your worldview.
But then, at some point, we start asking actual questions.
And that’s where deliberative theology comes in—the process of actively examining what we believe. Looking at history. Context. Other perspectives. Asking why this belief exists and where it came from.
Lent is the perfect time for that shift.
This isn’t about throwing everything out—it’s about being intentional about what we carry forward.
What This Series Is About
For the next few weeks, we’re going to take a deeper look at some of the most “embedded” ideas in Christianity—things people assume are just part of the faith but might actually have messy, complicated histories.
Some of the questions we’ll be asking:
Why do so many American Christians believe supporting Israel is a theological mandate? (Spoiler: This is a very recent development.)
Did early Christians even believe in Hell as eternal conscious torment? (Short answer: Nope.)
Is darkness actually scary in the Bible, or is it holy?
Why do we think Jesus’ death was a “payment”? Were there other ways Christians understood atonement?
Did we just rebrand ancient pagan ideas of divine favor into the Prosperity Gospel?
Each post will be short, sharp, and to the point. No firebombs. No clickbait. Just real history, real theology, and real questions—so that we can think deeply and honestly about the faith we carry.
Because if Lent is a season of reflection and transformation, what better way to honor it than to take a real, unfiltered look at what we’ve been told?
Let’s get into it.
I’d love to hear from you—what are some theological ideas you’ve inherited that you’ve never actually thought about? What’s something you used to believe but later realized had a more complicated history?
Drop your thoughts in the comments, and let’s dig in together.
Looking forward to the series, Shay!