Cynicism is bad

Totally convicted...

The dictionary defines cynical as “contemptuously distrustful of human nature and motives.” Singer Matthew Perryman Jones gets more creative in his definition: “Cynicism is nothing more than soul-rot. It’s nothing more than a coward dressed up in a tweed blazer smoking a Peterson pipe. It is dismissive and disengaged while looking invested and astute.”

This is from an article online at Relevantmagazine.com. Cynicism is created by combining the media and advertising with this unholy standard that we hold to the church. What does it really mean though? How do we change?

“Christians ought to know better,” explains Keyes. “We know about the fall, we know about sin, we know about brokenness and should be able to be honest. But when that doesn’t happen, Christianity can be another part of sentimentality, which is dangerous when the world breaks through the sentimental veneer. The truth that God loves you shouldn’t get lumped together with our plans always working out. A lot of people are cynical about the church. It’s a short step to then be cynical about God.”

The article concludes with this:

“Dr. [Francis] Schaeffer used to say ‘Each of us is a glorious ruin,’” said Keyes. “The cynic doesn’t see any glory at all. The sentimentalist sees all glory and no ruin. As Christians we got to be able to see both, to realize that reality is both.”

The world is beautiful. Christians are called to see the “glorious ruin” of humanity. God bought back the world from ruin at the greatest cost. As a result, Christians can see the world as something worth loving, worth fighting for, to see it as Jesus sees it; a world worth dying for.

When things are said like this, I wonder why exactly am I cynical and how do I get to place of true hope? I think it's time that I stopped anticipating the worse and start to really, truly hope for the best. And believe that it will come.

Believing in the goodness of God is more than just believing and knowing that God is good and he loves us and he wants what's best for us. It's living our lives in faith and hope in the promises and the joys of God. It's more than believing. It's more than knowing. It's seeing when you can and can't see and it's trusting when you can't and can't see and having faith and taking risks and leaping.

Leaping head first. Not feet first.