Lent is sometimes viewed as a masochistic spiritual deprivation.  We give things up and clamp our mouth, fast, and bear the burden for no other reason than that's what we were taught to do.

Thankfully, many evangelicals have been rediscovering the value of Lent is found in the preparation of fasting and spiritual contemplation that sets the tone for the rest of the Christian calendar, as Fr. Thomas  Hopko eloquently puts it in his latest podcast "Lent---The Tithe of the Year."  Father Hopko lists 55 spiritual disciplines and excersizes to build a strong spiritual foundation for the rest of the year.

Getting back to evangelicals and Protestants, it is worth noting that the mainstream media has begun to pick up on the ancient-faith phenomenon, and a Washington Post article tied it into Lent: "Feeling Renewed by Ancient Traditions: Evangelicals Putting New Twist on Lent, Confession, and Communion."   I found it fascinating that "last summer, the national convention of the 2.5 million-member Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, an evangelical wing of the Lutheran denomination, voted to revive private confession." 

I find it encouraging and promising that such things as private confession and ancient practices are making their way into evangelical circles, and only hope this is not a fad or marketing gimmick.