Have you noticed a rise in cynicism around you of late? I've been hearing cynical comments about each of the candidates for president and vice president (and I've made a few myself). I've heard people make cynical comments about Marble's long and difficult process of finding a new senior minister. It's easy to feel cynical about politics and religion.
A cynical person doubts the sincerity of another. If I'm feeling cynical about a politician or about a church or my religion, it means that I doubt that the leaders in those areas are expressing their true motives--I suspect they're acting in their own self-interest or for personal gain while they claim to be acting from high-minded motives.
For the most part, we tend to think that cynicism is a bad thing.
But I don't necessarily think so. In fact, it may be closer to the heart of Christianity than we think.
John Dominic Crossan is one of the world's leading Biblical scholars and he's suggested that the historical Jesus taught things that were very similar to the Greek philosophical school known as "Cynicism." The Cynics were highly critical of things in life that seemed artificial—the things that we do out of custom or to keep up appearances. Cynics said that we often act most unethically when we're following the conventions of our society. To be truly good people, sometimes we have to cut ourselves loose from social conventions which are full of hypocrisy and dishonesty. To really discover the good life, sometimes we need to be a bit cynical! Sounds a bit like Jesus, doesn't it?
I'm not saying that we have a license to say things about people that are mean or overly judgmental. Cynics were not critical simply to be negative, but to point out hypocrisy and immorality. Crossan's scholarship reminds us that Jesus teaches us to stay critical about the world we live in. We need to be able to see clearly the things we do in our personal lives and in our society—and to tell the difference between the things we do out of social conventions or customs, and those we do because they are right and true and virtuous.
Are you feeling cynical? Might not be the worst thing. Might be a sign that Jesus is working inside of you! |