Christian Pessimism

I think the saddest thing I encounter with other Christians is pessimism. It seems to be in full supply as of late. Of course, we are conditioned in some ways to be pessimistic. As members of the animal kingdom, we have a disposition towards fear. We fear for our safety, for our livelihoods, for our families, and for our futures. Our lives are further complicated by the reality of original sin, that we have a fallen nature because of the consequences of Adam. Yet, we are also people who have been redeemed by Christ and who hope because we have "put our hope in the living God."

But hope doesn't sell. People don't give money to make hope go away. They don't glue themselves to the television to watch hopeful programming. We are conditioned for pessimism. We are enthralled at angry fights on Twitter and about having the last say. Just one more witty jab at our enemy. There are whole media outlets promoted towards selling fear, and we feed into it. In Orthodoxy, it is the fear of another Church encroaching on territory. In Roman Catholicism, it is the fear of what changes the Pope will make or the liturgy wars. In Independent Catholicism, it can be the fear that others will succeed. And this can make us terribly pessimistic. After all, God is always on our side...

There seem to be two places where the pessimism festers. One is in traditionalism. Hyper-ritualism has smoldered any joy out of some communities. The message is about how things are not as they used to be or not as we prefer. An angry God eagerly awaits to catch us and condemn us if every jot or tittle is not perfect. Instead of the God who forgives us 70x7, I have seen it argued that there is a limit to God's mercy and forgiveness. And we're all one step away from receiving the wooden spoon from God--the smack we deserve so we can burn for all eternity because of our disobedience.

The other one is in esotericism. I do not have any experience in these communities, so I am speaking as an outsider. But as people explore their beliefs, there are some who have a draw to Docecism and Gnosticism. For them, there is significant emphasis on the evil nature of matter. Because matter and the world are so evil, everything in it is inherently evil as well. The government is out to get them, COVID-19 mandates are out to get them, Democrats, doctors, the boogeyman, spiders, clowns, and whatever else are all just waiting to pounce. So trust no one, be self-sufficient, glorify independence, and shoot to kill. Gnosticism of this nature has crept into other aspects of Christianity, often times without people knowing it.

I know some people will read this and think I am naive. And I do not discount that there are bad actors out there, or people who seek to do us harm. God knows that I have experienced it. But I also realize that, for me, I can't live like that. I cannot live in a way where I don't give people the benefit of the doubt and trust their intentions. Perhaps it is because my favorite scripture passage is 1 John 4:7: "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God." God loves us and wants us to deal with each other mercifully. If not, how could we expect Him to do the same? And hate, or in this case pessimism, is too heavy a burden to bear (to paraphrase Dr. King). 

"Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love." 1 John 4:8