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Healthy Leaders, Healthy Church Blog
SAY NO TO CYNICISM
January 20, 2025
Every season of life brings with it unique challenges because of your youth, your advancement of age, and what you experience. Paul warns a young Timothy to “flee youthful lusts.” The Psalms challenge us that as you get older to remain faithful. Psalm 71:18 says, “Now also when I am old and greyheaded, O God, forsake me not; until I have shewed thy strength unto this generation, and thy power to every one that is to come.” This shouts out to all followers of Christ that as you age you are not only to be faithful in your actions but also in your attitudes. Whether it is bad experiences or just the longevity of life, say no to cynicism.
Psalm 71:20 says, “Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.” No matter how many times you have been mistreated, let down, or disappointed, God is ready to revive your soul and spirit. Here is how cynicism is described: “Cynicism is an attitude characterized by a general distrust of the motives of others. A cynic may have a general lack of faith or hope in people motivated by ambition, desire, greed, gratification, materialism, goals, and opinions that a cynic perceives as vain, unobtainable, or ultimately meaningless.”
In A Praying Life by Paul E, Miller he states, “Cynicism looks in the wrong direction. It looks for the cracks in Christianity instead of looking for the presence of Jesus. It is an orientation of the heart. The sixth cure for cynicism, then, is this: develop an eye for Jesus.” You are probably wondering right now, what are the other five? Miller gives them, “Be warm not wary.” Because of our heavenly Father and the ability to cry out to Him, you can live with cautious optimism. Cautious because of the fall of man but optimistic because He is God. Evil will not have the final word in your life if you have been redeemed by the blood of Christ.
The second cure for cynicism is to “learn to hope again.” Miller states, “Many of us believe in the Christian hope of ultimate redemption, but we breathe the cynical spirit of our age and miss the heart of God.” Even in death Paul reminds us to not give in to the spirit of this world because we do not grieve as those who have no hope. Another cure Miller gives for cynicism is, “cultivate a childlike spirit.” This is hard because the longer you live the more removed you are from the innocence of childhood. A great way to attack cynicism when it raises its ugly head is to focus on the shepherd not on the situation (Psalm 23).
Are you also cultivating a thankful spirit? Miller in the fourth cure states, “Either I thanked God or I gave into bitterness, the stepchild of cynicism. There is no middle ground.” Now is the time to remember Romans 1:21, “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.” Next, cultivate a lifestyle of continual repentance. Cynics are always focused and pointing out what others are doing wrong but seem blinded to their own shortcomings. You can repent, and you do not have to be controlled cynicism, you can say no.
Hopefully, 2025 has arrived with new hope, dreams, and goals for your church. The cynic sets themselves up for failure by believing from the start that nothing will change and the church will not see revival. It is far too easy to be negative because you have seen it and heard it before only to experience the disappointment all over again. Why even try? Why even make a commitment because it just will not happen? Michael Hyatt says this, “Cynicism begins to set into our souls. Our disappointment turns to sadness, and maybe the sadness to anger, and then it calcifies into cynicism.”
Here is how cynicism manifests itself. For example: “You know I think I will finally lose that 25 – 30 pounds but why even try, I’ve been on diets before and they never work.” Or “I really want to read through my Bible this year but who am I kidding, I start out well every year but never seem to make it.” Here’s another one: “I want to witness to my neighbor but I just know they won’t really listen and they certainly will not respond to the gospel and receive Christ.” My hope is that our prayer for one another in 2025 will be that God will “do exceedingly abundantly above all that you ask or think.”
Could it be that cynicism is actually a self-protective mechanism to keep you in the boat instead of stepping out in faith to walk to Jesus? Michael Hyatt states, “It’s like popping our own balloons before somebody else has chance to do it…It’s like self-sabotage.” What happened to the truth of God’s word, “You have not because you ask not” or “I can do all things through Christ who strengths me.” The truth is that our God is able but the enemy wants to rob you and your church of that truth. God can save souls, send revival, revitalize your church, make a difference for His glory in your community and that is what He wants to do.
The story is told of a young boy who was out in his yard shooting his BB gun at the stars. An older gentleman walking by asked him what he was doing. He stated, “Well, I am shooting my BB gun at the stars sir.” The older gentleman chuckled and said, “Son, you do know you will never hit one of those stars.” The young boy replied, “Yes sir, but I sure am getting closer than you are.” Cynicism always wants to focus on past failure and disappointments but God wants us to focus on Him and what He desires to accomplish. Art Rainer posts regularly, “Jesus is alive. And that changes everything about today.” Amen!
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