Why I Gave up Knowledge for Lent
by Luke McConnell
I’ve always enjoyed the Lent season. The idea of giving something up or building a new habit is exciting. A Lenten sacrifice is not only good for building our relationship with Jesus and pointing us to the sacrifice he made on the cross, but it’s also good on a very basic level to set a challenge and work hard at accomplishing it. I don’t think that motivation takes away from the spiritual aspect of the season; it simply adds to it.
As much as I look forward to this season, I sometimes struggle with deciding on something to give up each year. I admit there have been times where that has been obvious, but for whatever reason, pride or stubbornness, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
That was the case again this year, but instead of giving in to keep myself as comfortable as possible, I took the plunge and gave up Twitter.
Social media in general is a problem for a lot of us, but Twitter has been a time-consuming, engrossing medium for me for a long time. Twitter is by FAR the preferred social media outlet for sports fans and sports in general, and I’ve spent many an hour scrolling through tweets to stay up to date on the latest happenings with my favorite teams and sports in general.
The time I have spent on Twitter has been a distraction for me at pretty much any point in the day. And like reflexes we develop over time, my natural reaction to a quick moment here or there is to pull up Twitter, as opposed to doing something more productive or even just doing nothing.
But my problem isn’t necessarily Twitter. It’s an insatiable desire to always be in the know, to be armed with knowledge in any and every situation. I would never want to be the self-proclaimed sports fan that found out 12 hours later about a big trade the Thunder made. Talk about some serious FOMO (fear of missing out, for those of you unfamiliar with the lingo)!
Make no mistake, Twitter is an incredible tool for learning things, and it’s an excellent aggregator of content. But it has to be managed appropriately, and that’s where I’ve fallen short time and time again.
As we see in the Bible, knowledge is not everything. In fact, the people in the New Testament who were the most knowledgeable were often the target of criticism from Jesus because their hearts were not in the right place. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians 8:1, “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.”
I see this issue in my spiritual life at times. I know a lot about God and scripture. But the application of that knowledge to action is not always there. Frankly, it’s more often not there. Another example is if I find myself in a conversation with friends or other staff members and don’t know some of the terms being used. I want to learn those. But it’s not always out of a motivation to love God more. It’s a desire to be knowledgeable and be as smart as the others in the room.
I gave up Twitter for Lent, but I think this decision has become more about letting go of my need to know everything. Instead, this Lent season, I want to rest in the most important knowledge a person could ever obtain: God loves me and sent Jesus to die for me so I could be freed from anything that hinders me from loving him in return.
May you examine the reason for your sacrifice this Lent season. May you see the true reason why you gave up that particular habit. I guarantee your rationale is more than learning to use social media in a healthier way.
Author Bio
Luke serves as the Cube Director at Council Road. He previously worked at Channel 9 as a sports writer and an account executive. He also serves as the play-by-play voice for Southern Nazarene athletics. Luke graduated from OU in 2011. Luke and his wife, Mary, have been members at Council Road since 2012. They have three-year-old twin boys, Jackson and Cameron. Mary teaches third grade at Wiley Post Elementary.