In the Days of Fasting
It is impossible to read the Bible, either the Old or New Testament, without coming to the conclusion that Christians are expected to fast. Jesus’s command regarding fasting in Matthew 6 alone makes this clear. “When you fast” is said in parallel with “when you pray” and “when you give to the needy.” Fasting is an assumed part of the Christian life, and fasting in the Biblical sense is abstention from food.
Biblical fasting, in large part, is not abstaining from technology or soft drinks; it most certainly is not abstaining from a vice or sin. While these sorts of alternative fasting which have become popular in recent days can be useful, the protagonists of scripture fast from food for a reason (Exod. 34:28, Jon. 3:5-10, Luke 4:2). Being hungry is an internally visceral experience, which trains the soul in righteousness and humility.
Despite the overwhelming Biblical and historical testimony that stands behind the practice of fasting, in many parts of the Christian world, fasting is not prioritized or taught as the essential spiritual discipline that it is. In evangelical contexts, fasting is rarely given the same prominence as prayer or almsgiving. It is subconsciously relegated as something people in the Bible did, but not something that we do now.
A conspicuous consequence of the neglect of fasting in the modern church is an ignorance of the reasons for and worth of fasting amongst Christians. When fasting is seen merely as something to be done because it is commanded, it often feels arbitrary to the believer, and turns into an unbearable burden for those who take it on, rather than a fruitful spiritual discipline and gift.
Scripture gives a staggering number of reasons for fasting. Mourning, humility, repentance, prayer, spiritual preparation, bodily discipline, and ministry are all on different occasions given as reasons for fasting. While all of these deserve attention in writing, there is one reason given specifically to Christians which, especially in the modern American context, bears weighty significance: fasting trains Christians in spiritual longing. In the Gospel accounts, Jesus and His disciples are asked why they do not fast. Jesus responds, “Can the wedding guests mourn as the bridegroom is with them? The day will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast.” (Mt. 9:15) Christians believe and teach that, as Jesus came to earth two millennia ago, He will come again at the end of this age, when all things will be made well. This means that for the Christian, life is not yet complete; there is still something missing.
Fasting is a gift given to Christians to remind them in an active and physical way of their reliance on God and their hope in the return of Christ. Christians should learn and remember this, along with the other scriptural warrants for fasting in preparation for their fasts. Otherwise, fasting will become a burden which can lead the Christian to resent God and the fast, an outcome quite the opposite of what is intended. Fasting is a physical reminder for the Christian soul that until Christ has returned and all things have been remade, we cannot rest wholly content.