For this week’s devotional, I’ve been thinking about the battle between cynicism that comes from fear, and hope that comes from faith.
Some of the most harmful, most destructive words we say aren’t insults, racial epitaphs, or ethnic slurs. Some of the worst things we say often seem innocuous when we say them. Things like, “Whatever,” “I don’t care,” “What difference does it make,” and “It doesn’t matter.” Phrases like these are symptomatic of a deeper illness that I, and many others, are prone to, especially when stress levels are high: the sickness called cynicism.
Cynicism didn’t start out as the pessimistic outlook it has become. The first Cynics just wanted to show the world that happiness is found in living for less, so in the 4th Century BC, they walked away from all worldly pursuits. Their movement was still going strong during the time of Jesus, and if you look for it, you can find some overlap between Classical Cynicism and the message of Jesus, like how he told his followers to store up treasures in heaven and not here on earth. But there were several critical distinctions between Jesus’ message and that of the Cynics; for example, while Cynicism promised to make people happy, Jesus offered to make them holy.
I think this is why cynicism has become synonymous with pessimism; it could never deliver on its promise of making people happy. George Carlin said, “Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist.” This is how a modern cynic is made: start with an idealist who says, “I deserve happiness, and I won’t stop searching until I find it!” Then add in years of trying and failing to find happiness. Mix in a good amount of frustration with anyone who seems to be standing in the way of their happiness: their parents, their kids, their spouse, their ex, their boss, their church, their government, etc. Let those ingredients simmer in the pressure cooker of their heart for long enough, then one day – voila! A cynic is born!
One thing I love about the Bible is how real it is; it might surprise you to know how much pessimistic, cynical thought there is in Scripture. The reason you find cynicism in the Bible isn’t because it’s okay to be cynical; it’s there to teach us about the dark power of a cynical heart. Consider the first chapter of the book called Ecclesiastes.
The words of the Teacher, son of David, king in Jerusalem: “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.” What do people gain from all their labors at which they toil under the sun? Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises. The wind blows to the south and turns to the north; round and round it goes, ever returning on its course. All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again.
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one can say, “Look! This is something new”? It was here already, long ago. I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, like chasing after the wind. What is crooked cannot be straightened; what is lacking cannot be counted.
Solomon was king of Israel in the 900s BC, which was the Golden Age. Israel’s borders expanded, the economy boomed, and Solomon was known throughout the world as a wise and successful ruler. Not only did he enjoy great renown as a leader, Solomon also enjoyed every kind of luxury imaginable. 20 palaces. 500 chariots. A fleet of ships. The finest food and wine. A thousand beautiful wives and concubines, the most desirable women in his kingdom, whose only job was to satisfy his every desire. Solomon even imported dozens of monkeys to be his personal pets.
So how did the guy who has everything that most of us are chasing – education, money, sex, success – wind up being such a pessimist about life? Because anyone who spends his life chasing his own happiness first is destined to be cynical, no matter how much stuff they have.
We might not have imported monkeys jumping around in our backyards, but we’re doing okay. By every measure, our lives are awesome. We’ve got plenty of food, and unlimited clean water to drink. We’ve got machines that wash our clothes and dishes for us. We’ve got refrigerators and deep freezers that keep our food fresh. We’ve got indoor plumbing. What more could we ask for?
We’ve got it all! So why are so many of us so cynical and anxious and envious and insecure so much of the time? Why are we more suicidal than other societies that have a fraction of the stuff we enjoy?
I think it’s because we’ve accepted the idea that a person is worth whatever they produce. That’s the extrinsic valuation of human life. It makes sense at first – we look at Solomon as a great man because he was the king, and he was wise, rich, and powerful. But does that make him a more valuable person than someone who is, by worldly standards, a nobody? For many of us, I’m afraid so. That’s what happens when you measure human worth extrinsically.
We will never break the cycle of cynicism until we learn to assess the intrinsic value of human life. In Genesis, God made human beings in His image. Every human being is a divine image-bearer – every human being has royal blood in their veins. Jesus alluded to this when he called a bunch of ordinary nobodies “the salt of the earth…the light of the world,” (Matthew 5:13-16) and Peter affirmed it when he wrote, “You are a chosen people and a royal priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9).
Cynicism says, “People are just people.” But God says, “People are made in my image.” Solomon said, “Everything is meaningless.” But Jesus said, “You are the light of the world, so let your light shine.”
The late, great Christian writer GK Chesterton once wrote: “Every person matters. You matter. I matter. It’s the hardest thing in theology to believe.”
Listen. You matter. Every person matters. Choose to believe it today.
