Cynicism

Everything is so weary and tiresome! No matter how much we see, we are never satisfied. No matter how much we hear, we are not conten.
Ecclesiastes 1:8

“A word of kindness and a loaded revolver will get you a lot more than a word of kindess alone.” Thus thinks the cynic.

The cynic flatters himself or herself a hard-eyed realist, a down-to-earth, unfazed, practical person of experience—especially in comparison with “the idiots who maintain some kind of fool hope or optimism.” The cynic has been there, done that, and been disappointed. Won’t do that again—no way! Won’t feel that way again—not on your life! Won’t be tricked into hope—too street-smart for that. The cynic has learned that when the person with experience meets the person with money, the one with experience usually ends up with the money, and the one with money ends up with experience.

The cynic pretty much knows it all—if “knowing it all” were confined to this side of the sun. “Under the sun,” all is vanity we’re told. “Under the sun,” all things are wearisome, faded, dull, meaningless, unfulfilling. This side of the eternal, cynicism definitely has its place, as the cynical preacher of Ecclesiastes knew all too well. Wine, women, and song; power, authority, and accomplishments; wisdom, learning, and knowledge—all mean so very little if we are only to die and fade into forgotten nothingness. What good is anthing—from magnificent accomplishment to wretched excess—if it is only to be lost as a desiccated memory upon death?

Christian leaders, possessed of a wealth of experience and knowledge, can fall prey to cynical moods. We know a lot; we’ve heard it all; we’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly in people. Over time such knowledge and experience can corrode the soul, and a view that lofts no higher than the horizon is bound to float cynicism.

But not so a view that rises to the Creator, who is beyond the sun! Place God in the picture, and cynicism sinks into absurdity. Look beyond the sun into the providential heart of God, and cynicism becomes as out of place as gills in a desert.

The cynic has adapted to the apparent reality of godlessness. In a God-filled universe, however, cynicism is maladaptive behavior. Hope responds better to the realities of providence. Faith and courage spring from the awakening sensation of God’s prevenient grace that greets us in the morning, having already bettered the day. Peace and an open, tender heart characterize the person who has been received, recategorized, and released to a noble task and a secure future.

Not cynicism! However trendy, however convenient, however natural it might seem to be a cynic, that wretched path has been overgrown by the lavish foliage of the Savior’s love.

—James D. Berkley

Reflection

In what ways am I drawn toward the maladaptive behavior of cynicism in God’s hope-filled kingdom, and how can I lessen that attraction?

Prayer

God of hope, Giver of a good and perfect future, quench the cynic within me!

“History is an account, mostly false, of events, mostly unimportant, which are brought about by rulers, mostly knaves, and soldiers, mostly fools.”
—Ambrose Bierce, nineteenth-century author