A Couple Thoughts on Cynicism

“Beware of cynicism. It’s such a killer. Avoid it like the plague. It will rob you of joy, of fellowship, of faith. It’s not childlike, so don’t develop it.” -Terry Virgo

I first read this tweet from Terry Virgo about 7 months ago and it really struck a chord with me. Too bad quotes or books don’t always magically fix things. Awareness does not always lead to action or change. If anything, one could argue that I have become even more cynical since first seeing this quote. To live in the world and remain unstained and childlike is a miracle. There are scores and scores of reasons to be cynical and jaded in our world. It’s not like we develop these biases for fun.

I’m not suggesting that we give up being realists, or wise, or shrewd. We must learn to be hopeful realists. Cynicism lacks “hope,” however. As Christians, we are to “hope” in God (Psalm 42:5), “hope” in redemption (Rom. 8:23), “hope” for an eternal weight of glory beyond comparison (2 Cor. 4:17), and we “hope” in God’s steadfast love; his new mercies every morning (Lam. 3:21-22). It’s not easy to keep a soft/wide heart for people. Have you ever been abandoned, betrayed, defrauded, deceived, taken advantage of, a person didn’t let you merge in traffic, etc? Ever experienced the loss of a loved one? These things happen to us regularly in our daily lives to some degree. It’s very easy to become bitter or resentful. What’s the silver bullet? Well, werewolves don’t exist and so neither does the idea of a silver bullet. There is a way to overcome the world, however. It’s certainly not a one-time, quick-fix, but it’s a path towards freedom from these things. We don’t live in a vacuum, so new sleights and sins against us continue to happen over and over again. We have to “work through” all these things, and it gets a little messy. But, we can take heart:

“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33

Jesus has overcome the world and through Him, God bought our ability to overcome the world also by the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s not just wishful thinking or trying to get books and quotes and podcasts absorbed down into us so that we overcome these things. There is real, blood-bought, spiritual power that we have access to as Christians. Cynicism will be overcome by nothing less. Many people deal with their cynicism from a worldly stand-point by rearranging their furniture in their house, yoga, meditation, the embrace of nature and the environment, diets, exercise, therapeutic endeavors, pets; you name it. All that stuff burns up real quick when something truly evil or tragic happens to you though. Life can just chew you up and spit you out sometimes. Think about Job. Would having his house all “Feng Shui” have gotten him through the loss of his kids, estate, animals, a wife that told him to curse God and die, sores all over his body, and terrible friends?

Going through life and enduring these kinds of “insults, hardships, and calamities” is exhausting and weakens us greatly. Jesus was betrayed. Paul was betrayed and done wrong by many people (I.e., Alexander the Coppersmith). These things literally make us “weak.” They take life from us and can prevent us from being able to give life unless we continue to go to the source of life for more life. I write this from a place of weakness and exhaustion; as someone who is also preaching to myself through this. Oftentimes, it’s not the big, major events that exhaust us and push us towards cynicism. It’s all the little things that accumulate over time. Sometimes, the smaller insults, hardships, or calamities prove to be the most deadly to our faith and our hope in God. Let us with confidence be people who talk like Paul and have this type of thinking:

“8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me.
9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” – 2 Corinthians 12:8-10