The Danger of Cynicism 
By Dave Redick
Hwy 20 Church of Christ
Sweet Home, Oregon

The cynic drags others down with him. He devours those more affirming spirits around him. He delights in extinguishing the bright hopes and simple faith of others. The cynic is a spirit quencher, retarding the work of God in the lives of others. That is why it says in Proverbs 24:9, "The scoffer is an abomination to men."

Introduction

	"Nothing is as good as it seems."
	"There are no really honest people."
	"Everybody is in it only for himself."
	"You can’t trust anyone."
	"Everybody has an angle."
	"The church is full of hypocrites."
	"Politicians, lawyers, and preachers are all the same. All they want is your money."
	"Who are you to tell me to have a nice day? I’ll have whatever kind of day I want to have!"
	"God? Ha! Your God won’t deliver you! You’ll die just like everyone else dies."

Have you heard these phrases before? Have you ever spoken any of them yourself? They all share a common denominator - cynicism. To the cynic, nothing is as good as it seems. There is no real good in anyone. Everyone’s motives are selfish. You cannot trust anyone but yourself. You cannot even trust God.

It’s the spirit of the age in which we live - the spirit of cynicism.

"So what?" you ask. "What’s the problem with a little cynicism?" Perhaps you might say what a friend once said: "Don’t call me a cynic - I’m a realist!"

The problem with cynicism is that it isn’t compatible with faith in Jesus Christ. Let me give you a couple of random reasons why I say that.

Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:7: "Love… bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." He was speaking of a tenacious attitude that keeps bearing, believing, hoping, and enduring in the face of disappointment and discouragement with others. Can a cynic do that? Hardly. It’s hard to do these things that love demands when people have let you down before. The cynic’s distrust of others’ motives and the direction of life’s circumstances do not allow him to bear their burdens because he believes they would never do it for him. He cannot believe in anyone because to him no one is worthy of his trust. And hope? Cynicism murders hope in cold blood. What is there to hope for when everything is tainted? And why endure something if you don’t have to. It is wasted effort to put up with the struggles of others. Life is too short to waste on those who cannot be trusted.

Paul wrote in Romans 8:28, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose."

As I write this, a close friend is lying in her bed at home dying of lung cancer. Yesterday we all gathered around to say goodbye. The room was filled with both believers and unbelievers. My friend is a faithful Christian - as faithful as I have ever been, yet she is in pain and there is no external indication that God will intervene to spare her life. Her physical suffering is real - no different than the suffering I have seen in unbelievers. She has lost so much weight her bones stick out. The powerful pain-killing drugs don’t remove all the pain. Just before I left I told her that I believed the angels would soon come to carry her away to be with Jesus. In the face of all these externals a cynic would scoff at such a thing!

In this message I want to examine the subject of cynicism. We’ll look first at what it is, then why it is sometimes in the church among believers. I’ll mention a few of the effects of cynicism on people, then consider how to respond to a cynic. Finally, I’d like to give some suggestions from the Bible on how to avoid cynicism in your own life.

I. What Is Cynicism?

Cynicism comes in many varieties and degrees, some more dangerous than others. The common denominator in all true cynicism, though, is a profound distrust of others and the possibility that anyone could ever do anything from pure motives. Webster says of it: "the inclination to question the sincerity and goodness of people’s motives and actions, or the value of living."

To the cynic, nothing is as good as it seems, especially where people are involved. He or she suspects that even good deeds have to be motivated by selfishness somehow. He has trouble with sincerity and selflessness in others because he has trouble with them in his own life. The cynic’s greatest pleasure, it seems, comes from confirming his low view of others and then spreading his discovery around. "Aha! See there? I told you so! It’s just like I said." These are words of utter bliss to the cynic.

The cynic is more than a skeptic. The skeptic says, "I’ll have to see it before I believe it." (The Apostle Thomas is commonly called a skeptic.) The cynic says, "Even if I see it I know that somewhere behind the scenes, there has to be something wrong with it."

A cynic was once asked how he enjoyed the command performance of a certain musician. His response was, "If you ask me, that musician has to be good for nothing. No one could play that well without neglecting a lot of duties in order to practice!" Later, he approached the musician and said, "Aren’t you ashamed of playing so well?" If you want to impress a cynic, forget it. You never will, even if you do well, because you had to have done it with the wrong motives.

Scrooge was a cynic in Dickens’s "A Christmas Carol." His "Bah, humbug!" was in true cynical form.

Pontius Pilot revealed his cynicism when he, in the presence of Jesus Himself, scoffed, "What is truth?"

Cynicism abounds in our country. As I have already mentioned, what do you think of lawyers? Whatever you think, you are probably effected by the mood of cynicism that prevails. Could there possibly be an honest lawyer? How about politicians? Some say the same of preachers. We live in cynical times.

Here are some more common words of cynicism. Heard any of them lately?

	"I never vote. It doesn’t make any difference anyway."
	"They’re all alike."
	"Nobody cares."
	"Everybody’s in it for himself, anyway."

It’s hard not to be cynical sometimes, but cynicism in its extremes is dangerous.

You may or may not have spotted the subject of cynicism in the Bible. It usually refers to the cynic as a "scoffer." It refers to extreme cynicism as "scorn." In those words it is strongly condemned in both testaments.

"Blessed is the man who does not…sit in the seat of scoffers," says the Psalmist in Psalm 1:1.

Proverbs depicts the cynic as unyielding in Proverbs 13:1 - "A scoffer does not listen to rebuke," it says. That indicates that one in the extremities of cynicism is unteachable.

"Do you reprove a scoffer," cautions Proverbs 9:8, "lest he hate you." The cynic doesn’t take reproof easily because he cannot get past his suspecting the motives of the one doing he reproving.

In the cynic’s jaded view of life, such things as noble intentions, selfless sacrifice, and true love for others cannot really exist in those around him. If he is a "dyed-in-wool" cynic, his life’s work is to prove that his low view of those around him in universal - everyone is a hypocrite. ("I knew if we dug deep enough, we’d find he’s really a hypocrite!") Idealism and hope for the future are really dead for him. In his misery he wants to be sure that it is that way for others as well.

Fortunately, few people are that cynical. Unrelieved cynicism is barely compatible with life itself because it brings such deep unhappiness. Most certainly it is not compatible with a lengthy Christian life. Left unaided, the Christian cynic will sooner or later leave the faith.

II. Why Is There Sometimes Cynicism in the Church?

While I don’t believe that cynicism ranks at the top of the church’s list of problems, it is seen often enough to merit our discussion and my warnings. That ought to sadden us, for how could there ever be cynicism in a group of people that claims the promises of Christ?

To some degree, cynicism is found in the church because we reside in a cynical society. Ours is a time of disbelief in God. But it goes further than that. It is a time of disbelief that anyone, anywhere, has any permanent answers to the questions that trouble us. Sometimes we Christians are no more successful in separating ourselves from that kind of cynicism than we are from, say, the materialism that is all around us. Like the measles, it’s catching and if we aren’t vigilant, we pick it up without even trying.

We’re fooling ourselves, though, if we think that our culture is the only culprit that causes cynicism in the church. Some cynicism is there because of hypocrisy in those who claim to be Christians. I’m talking about the gap between what we claim and what we are - the distance between the ideal and the reality. Compound that with a tendency of cynics to look at other Christians rather than at Christ and you have some fertile ground for the problem of cynicism.

As a more blatant example of hypocrisy, let’s suppose a leader who professes and even teaches others to live righteously is involved in the very sin he himself condemns. A PTL scandal or a Swaggart fiasco can and does produce much cynicism. When King David of ancient Israel sinned with Bathsheba, Nathan the prophet said to him, "You have given occasion for the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme." My guess is that he also gave occasion for the cynical in Israel to scoff. "Humph! If the leaders won’t get it together, why should I bother?"

Of course it isn’t just leaders. When a new Christian, full of idealism and zeal for the Lord, encounters an older brother or sister whom he expects to be mature and finds that while they wouldn’t dream of smoking or drinking, they are cheating in their business or gossiping and backbiting among themselves, he becomes a prime candidate for cynicism. "Is this what I gave my life to?" he asks, and rightly so. Perhaps that is why Jesus was so pointed in Matthew 18:6, where He said, "Whoever causes one of these little ones to stumble, it is better for him that a heavy millstone be hung around his neck, and that he be drowned in the depth of the sea."

It happens in homes, too, where sometimes what mom and dad portray on Sunday morning is vastly different from what a growing child sees at home behind closed doors. "The Christianity that mom and dad talk about at church is reported to make better families, but it hasn’t done that in my home," says the scoffing young person. It must be true that some (though not all) of the rebellion of teens today is due to hypocrisy in the home and a growing cynicism that results.

Of course, ideally, we are to "fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfector of our faith," and not on other Christians. He is perfect, they aren’t. But it is hard to maintain a good attitude when those around us are not consistent. If we are prone to cynicism anyway, it can be a perilous time.

III. What Are Some of the Effects of Cynicism on the Cynic and Others?

People eventually begin to avoid a person who is always cynical. Cynicism repels. The cynic usually finds it hard to keep friends. From the cynic’s perspective, it is everyone else’s fault. It is their insincerity. They were never really true friends anyway. Their abandonment only proved it. Of course, even if this reasoning were accurate, after losing so many friends, life gets pretty lonely.

One effect of cynicism on the cynic, then, is that it repels people. Another effect is that the cynic is finally dismissed by others and not taken seriously. "Oh, that’s just old cynical Joe. Don’t pay any attention to him." The crusading debunker of hypocrisy and inconsistency is eventually dismissed as a pathetic case.

A third effect of cynicism (this one on others) happens in the more extreme cases - the cynicism becomes predatory. The cynic drags others down with him. He devours those more affirming spirits around him. He delights in extinguishing the bright hopes and simple faith of others. The cynic is a spirit quencher, retarding the work of God in the lives of others. That is why it says in Proverbs 24:9, "The scoffer is an abomination to men."

The ultimate victim of cynicism’s predation is the cynic himself. He consumes himself bit by bit until nothing is left but a hollow shell. These effects are gradual, of course, or he would do something about it. One can dabble in cynicism for years without apparent effect from his perspective until finally he is so twisted that he knows not how to escape. It has become a way of life. Finally, his cynicism has become self-fulfilling. The world has become to him exactly what he believed it to be - devoid of meaning and filled with hypocrisy and deceit, not because it has to be that way, but because he insisted on seeing it that way.

Ultimately, the cynic alienates himself from God. He is overcome by his sin. He loses his soul. You see, cynicism is in fact an insult to God. If life is as empty as the cynic says, then God is a powerless fool, unable to overcome the fallen nature of His creation. Cynics deny the power of God to work all things together for good. They deny that God can do a work in the life of another that will change his heart and motives. Their distrust for others is really a distrust of God.

What a tragic waste of life!

IV. What Can We Do To Help a Cynical Person?

Let me say first that helping a person who is extremely cynical is not easy. Proverbs 13:1 says, "A scoffer does not listen to rebuke." Proverbs 9:7-8 says, "He who corrects a scoffer gets dishonor for himself, and he who reproves a wicked man gets insults for himself. Do not reprove a scoffer, lest he hate you." In cases of extreme cynicism (when it has gone to the point of scoffing) it is difficult if not impossible to reach the cynic. That is why it is such a dangerous sin.

But what about cases where the cynic isn’t quite so hardened? What can you do to help?

First, be sure that you are correctly diagnosing the problem. Skepticism and cynicism are not the same. A little skepticism once in awhile can be healthy. The skeptic will believe if he sees good reason. The cynic is much harder to win than the skeptic is because he assumes your motives are impure and dismisses your message before it can have an effect.

The second thing you can do to help a cynical person is to live consistently yourself. The reason the person is a cynic in the first place is that he feels others are hypocrites. So if you fit the bill, be sure that you won’t get to first base. He will be the first to see your inconsistency. The cynic will probe, scrutinize, and search for sham in your life. If your life stands the test he will inevitably be attracted to it. The most powerful argument against cynicism is a life centered on God - one that reflects meaning and value, one that pays the price of discipleship and walks with God in openness and humility.

Thirdly, if you are gong to have the staying power it takes to win a cynic to the Lord you must remember that the cynic not the enemy. Because a cynical person will often throw your best efforts right back into your face, you are going to have to keep your focus or you will give up long before you see results. Unless you can see beyond the present situation to what this person can become if he were free of this life dominating sin, you’ll quit. You’ll quit because the cynic will wound you time and time again. To speak from a personal perspective for a moment, there is scar tissue in my own life from times I have sought to win a cynic to the Lord. Those old scars still hurt even to this day when I remember them. In the cases where those people have come to lasting faith in Christ, they are scars of joy. In the cases where the soul was lost, the pain is a bittersweet memory.

V. What Can You Do If You Are A Cynical Person?

First, you can take heart if you have heard these words and are considering them. That is an indication that, while you may be cynical, you are still approachable. There is hope.

Secondly, you need to recognize the danger you are in if cynicism isn’t arrested in your life. You will ultimately lose your faith in God. You will ultimately become a lonely, isolated person, whose life is miserable. The older you get in your cynicism, the harder it will be for you to turn around and the more people will drop away from association with you.

I remember being told while I was in Bible college something that did not make sense to me at the time, but speaks louder and louder to me as I grow older,. We were told by one of our teachers, "If you are not extremely careful, you guys will become a bunch of bitter old men." In the idealism of my youth, I couldn’t fathom what that meant. Today I understand. What he was telling us was that people were going to let us down. We were going to be disappointed. If we gave in and became cynical, we would end up bitter.

I believe that is what Solomon was warning us about in Ecclesiastes 12 when he said, "Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, ‘I have no delight in them.’" Solomon in that chapter depicts a cynical old person who did not develop the habit of trusting God early in life and now is in despair. "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity!" cries Solomon. If cynicism is a major problem in your life, now is the time to turn it around! You shouldn’t waste another day.

Thirdly, you need to confess your sin. Yes, cynicism is a sin. It is the sin of unbelief. You do not believe that God is powerful enough in the life of others and ultimately you will believe that He is not powerful in your own life.

Fourthly, you need to get to know God. Now, understand what I mean. You may be saturated with theology and not know God. You may know hundreds of truths about God and not know Him. You need to get into His word with an aim toward applying the truths you find there to your life, not to your growing stock of theoretical knowledge. Many Christian cynics are walking Bible encyclopedias. Strangely, that becomes one of their biggest problems. They say, "I know all of this and it hasn’t helped me, therefore, it cannot really be that great." They don’t realize that it isn’t the fault of the Word of God. The problem is they are really "hearers who delude themselves." as James put it. Go to God and admit your failure. Get out of your spiritual pride. Humble yourself. Admit that you don’t really know Him. Ask Him to help you. Then set it as your ongoing goal to really know Him.

Fifthly, you need to quit focusing on human failure and begin focusing on Christ. Those around you may have let you down, but He hasn’t! He is still there. His perfection is worth emulation even if everyone else’s isn’t. The test of discipleship is really how much stock you put into others as opposed to how much you live for God anyway, isn’t it? Didn’t Jesus say something about loving Him more than all others? People are going to fail you at times. If that derails you, the message is clear. You need to quit trusting in men and begin trusting in God.

Sixthly, as you grow to know God more, you need to learn to look beyond the moment and trust God for the good outcome. He has promised that "all things work together for good" for those who truly love Him and are His people. So realize that when you begin thinking otherwise, your problem is that you don’t believe what God has promised. You are weak in faith. God is sovereign over all - both good and bad. Everything that happens in your life has a purpose if you belong to God - even those occasions when people let you down and disappoint you. If you believe that, you will survive. If you don’t you will fall.

Quit looking to man and despairing! Begin looking to God and rejoice! You don’t have to be a Pollyanna Christian who sees no evil, who experiences no frustration, who suffers no tragedy. You need to be a Christian who takes the long view and learns to say what the Apostle Paul once said, "I know whom I have believed and am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day."

Cynical? It doesn’t have to be that way. You can change. But the choice is up to you. If you want to overcome, you need to do it soon, or you’ll lose your chance.

Dave Redick is Minister of the Hwy 20 Church of Christ in Sweet Home, Oregon and Editor of The Preacher's Study. He may be reached at pstudysupport@comcast.net.

Copyright © 1996-2008 by The Preacher's Study. Permission is granted to subscribers to use this document in total or in sermon preparation in the context of the local congregation only. Publishing it in a book, on the Internet, or anyplace beyond the local congregation is prohibited.

All Scripture quotations and references are from the New American Standard Version unless otherwise stated.

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