While many people abstain from alcohol during Lent, J. Wilson took the opposite approach. The Iowa newspaper editor vowed to consume only beer and water from Ash Wednesday until Easter. Wilson says he wants to connect with Franciscan monks — and he promises to consult a doctor.

Wilson isn’t the only one making sacrifices this season. You may have seen “See you at Easter!” messages on Facebook and Twitter, as some people withdraw from the social networks for their Lenten sacrifice.

Although Christians have historically spent Lent in self-denial to enhance spiritual practices like prayer and repentance, observing the period may be increasingly difficult in a culture that preaches “everything in moderation.”

Many Lenten observers take comfort in the fact that their abstinence ends after 40 days — a time period that symbolizes Jesus fasting in the desert while resisting temptation. However, some young people who choose to be sexually abstinent until marriage remain so indefinitely.

A recent study from the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control suggests about a quarter of U.S. teens and 20-somethings remain abstinent. The number of Americans ages 15 to 24 who reported they were virgins rose from 22 percent in 2002 to about 28 percent in the past decade, still a fairly small number of young people overall.

Sexual abstinence is often viewed as an unattainable ideal, as Bristol Palin said after having her baby, “Everyone should be abstinent or whatever, but it’s not realistic at all.”

But Lent can offer a window into the possibility of sustained abstinence.

“Lent can demonstrate that we are capable of going without something for a longer time,” says Father Bob Robeson, a chaplain at Marian University. “Sometimes, even if the person goes back to using Facebook, maybe they won’t be as preoccupied with it.”

Sex isn’t just a physical experience; it also has, at the least, social, psychological and economic consequences. And while abstinence can itself create social stigmas, there are strong motivations for remaining sexually abstinent.

Sarah Pulliam Bailey is editor of the Christianity Today online edition.