Cynicism: Undermining the Power and Presence of God

PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE

Against the darkness of our lives, against the violence that threatens to overwhelm us, against the lies that make it impossible to know what is and is not true, against the dark cloak of cynicism we wear in the false hope that believing in no one or nothing we will be free from the lies, you give … . How extraordinary, how simple that people as confused and lost as we are can still choose life. Amazing.

— Stanley Hauerwas

INTRODUCTION

Context for the Series: Barriers

WEEK 1: Cynicism

Reading of Text

WEEK 2: Pride

WEEK 3: Shame

WEEK 4: Individualism

WEEK 5: Tribalism

While not a comprehensive list, these are postures, behaviors, and ideologies which undermine our experience of the power and presence of God.

Sean and I both are convinced that in our cultural moment the world needs the church to be a people marked by, and known for, the power and presence of God. There is a deep cultural longing for it!

People, from atheists to Kanye, are creating versions of what they think the church should look like, but they lack the power and presence of God. I am not throwing shade at these people by any means. Their longing and desire is so very good, and I pray for people in their lives to encourage them, speak into that longing, and show them the way that will not eventually leave them spiritually bankrupt.

This is why the church must be marked by, and known for, the power and presence of God. That where God’s people are He is alive and at work giving sight to the blind and setting the oppressed free. He is at work unraveling the evils of racism and bigotry. He is transforming the abusive husband into a man of peace and gentleness. He is bringing healing to issues of mental health.

This is what we are longing for in our church family! That like Moses we protest, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here! What else will distinguish us from all the other people on the face of the earth?” ()

“Please stand with me for the reading of Scripture.”

So, these things (cynicism, pride, shame, individualism, and tribalism) are forces of evil at work undermining the power and presence of God, which we are called to reject and resist.

Reading of Text

Reading of Text

“Please stand with me for the reading of Scripture.”

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Mark 6:1–6 NIV

Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciples. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. “Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him. Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.” He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village.

Mark 6:

Pray

WEEK 1: Cynicism

WEEK 2: Pride

WEEK 3: Shame

WEEK 4: Individualism

WEEK 5: Tribalism

While not a comprehensive list, these are postures, behaviors, and ideologies which undermine our experience of the power and presence of God.

Sean and I both are convinced that in our cultural moment the world needs the church to be a people marked by, and known for, the power and presence of God. There is a deep cultural longing for it!

People, from atheists to Kanye, are creating versions of what they think the church should look like, but they lack the power and presence of God. I am not throwing shade at these people by any means. Their longing and desire is so very good, and I pray for people in their lives to encourage them, speak into that longing, and show them the way that will not eventually leave them spiritually bankrupt.

This is why the church must be marked by, and known for, the power and presence of God. That where God’s people are He is alive and at work giving sight to the blind and setting the oppressed free. He is at work unraveling the evils of racism and bigotry. He is transforming the abusive husband into a man of peace and gentleness. He is bringing healing to issues of mental health.

We

This is what we are longing for in our church family! That like Moses we protest, “If Your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here! What else will distinguish us from all the other people on the face of the earth?” ()

So, these things (cynicism, pride, shame, individualism, and tribalism) are forces of evil at work undermining the power and presence of God, which we are called to reject and resist.

Context for the Passage

Jesus has just saved everyone’s life on a boat by miraculously stopping a raging storm, which we looked at last week in , and then gone on a modern day equivalent of a traveling healing crusade.

He healed a man possessed by a demon named Legion, which was actually many demons. ()

Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter from the dead. (; )

Jesus healed a woman who had been suffering from minstrel bleeding for twelve years.

Now He rolls into His home town of Nazareth along with His disciples for more of the same, only to find very different results.

He starts off with teaching in the synagogue and many of those who heard Him were amazed by Him, but then things quickly go south.

“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing? Isn’t this the carpenter? Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

“What’s this wisdom that has been given him?”

He is met with a spirit of cynicism!

To such a degree it says, that “He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.”

“What are these remarkable miracles he is performing?”

You can just feel the sense of disappointment in Mark’s account of the story, and Matthews account reads almost identical.

“Isn’t this the carpenter?”

“Isn’t this Mary’s son and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas and Simon? Aren’t his sisters here with us?” And they took offense at him.

The power and presence of God was reduced to teaching and a few sick people being healed.

Some people have a really hard time with what Scripture says here. The fact that Jesus couldn’t do miracles, but this isn’t the only time we see this in the Bible. Peter walking on water, which goes south, is another example of it. It’s challenging to think of something God can’t do. This is why some will resolve to it really meaning God won’t do. Can’t or won’t is not so much the point of the story Mark and Matthew are telling. Either way, the result is the same.

The power and presence of God was reduced to teaching and a few sick people being healed.

Cynicism separates the power from the presence of God, making it a magic trick for the sake of novelty or entertainment, and that is not the gospel Jesus was sent to proclaim and demonstrate — the Kingdom of God.

So, this morning I want to look at:

WHAT IS CYNICISM?

CYNICISM IN CULTURE

REJECTING CYNICISM

WHAT IS CYNICISM?

Our modern concept of cynicism has evolved since its conception in the fourth century B.C. as a philosophy / way of life, but not terribly. I am not going to give an exhaustive history of cynicism, save to say the following, which helps us see what is at the core of it:

This is an excerpt from the Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels:

Fundamental to the Cynic vision is the notion that the bounds of nature offer the only legitimate social conventions; whatever violates nature is to be avoided, and whatever is in line with nature is to be embraced. Thus, Cynics were committed to the values of self-sufficiency, indifference and radical freedom, especially freedom of speech. One of the goals of the Cynic philosopher was to awaken those trapped within a web of artificial social conventions to their tragic state. This transgressive form of community service was accomplished through “shameless” public behavior and offensively bold speech.

The classic image is of a Cynic philosopher standing on a street corner in his dirty robe, hurling insults at passersby, performing “acts of nature” out in the open (e.g., sleeping, urinating, defecating, sexual shenanigans) and begging for food. All of this was designed to jar the Greco-Roman populace from their self-induced stupor, awakening them to the truth that the simple ways of nature provide the path to human contentment.

While we may not see this philosophy / way of life practiced the same way in our modern culture, its values, postures, and tactics still very much exist, thrive, and are often celebrated today.

The high value of the self over others.

The indifference or apathy.

The radical freedom (esp. freedom of speech), which we identify today as radical individualism.

The sense of shameless public behavior.

The offensively bold speech.

The insulting of others.

In our modern context cynicism is pregnant with meaning.

It is a posture of skepticism where everyone’s motives are suspect and assumed to be in their own self-interest.

It is both agnostic and apathetic. (i.e., Since I don’t really know everyone’s motives, I’ll place myself above everyone else by not caring, or at least appearing so.)

It is contemptuous and mocking and protects itself in satire, irony, and sarcasm.

It is no wonder that it results in what we read in Scripture over and again as a “lack of faith,” like we read here in our text: “He was amazed at their lack of faith.” ()

Mark 6:6 NIV

He was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village.

J. Wesley Ingles wrote this in a 1958 issue of Christianity Today:

Cynicism, the loss of faith in ideals and in the words they express, is a virulent disease that can attack any man when he becomes disillusioned. It is a loss of faith in the things one once believed. For there was never a cynic who had not been once an idealist.

This is why I contend that in our cultural moment cynicism may be chief of all barriers which keep us from experiencing the power and presence of God.

Let me see if I can convince you...

Fundamental to the Cynic vision is the notion that the bounds of nature offer the only legitimate social conventions; whatever violates nature is to be avoided, and whatever is in line with nature is to be embraced. Thus, Cynics were committed to the values of self-sufficiency (autarkeia), indifference (apatheia) and radical freedom (eleutheria), especially freedom of speech. One of the goals of the Cynic philosopher was to awaken those trapped within a web of artificial social conventions to their tragic state. This transgressive form of community service was accomplished through “shameless” public behavior (anaideia, adiaphora) and offensively bold speech (parrēsia). The classic image is of a Cynic philosopher standing on a street corner in his dirty robe, hurling insults at passersby, performing “acts of nature” out in the open (e.g., sleeping, urinating, defecating, sexual shenanigans) and begging for food. All of this was designed to jar the Greco-Roman populace from their self-induced stupor, awakening them to the truth that the simple ways of nature provide the path to human contentment.

CYNICISM IN CULTURE

CYNICISM IN THE CHURCH

We live in a time and space that is ripe for cynicism.

It is the space between the world as it is and the world as it should be - the Kingdom of God that is already here as Jesus proclaimed and demonstrated, and the Kingdom of God that is to come when Jesus stands at the right hand of the Father and proclaims, “Behold I am making all things new!”

This tension exists both outside and inside the church.

Outside the Church

There’s a constant push for bettering ourselves and our world through technology, wellness, education, politics, philanthropy, and the list goes on. And there are the evangelists and prophets like the late Steve Jobs, Elon Musk, Deepak Chopra, Oprah Winfrey, Barak Obama, Donald Trump - all trying to spread their gospel on how to make things better.

There are all of these promises of a better tomorrow and yet every day we are inundated with stories of war, the next tech scandal, and influential people using their power as coercion.

We have to sort out realities like living in a country where in 2018 we wasted $160 billion worth of food, which is nearly 30 to 40 percent of the entire U.S. food supply, while 1 in 7 households with children cannot afford to buy enough food for their family.

(https://solutions.rdtonline.com/blog/2018-update-on-food-waste & https://whyhunger.org/just-the-facts/)

The longing and promises are at war with the realities and disappointments.

Inside the Church

Inside the church we proclaim to have “right” answers for marriage and sexuality and yet we’ve seen numerous church leaders cheat on their spouses, use their position to abuse and manipulate others, steal money, attempt to hire a hitman to off someone they don’t like, and that’s all just in the last five years.

We proclaim a God that does miracles and heals, but when we pray for my friend’s little girl who has cancer she isn’t healed and dies.

God often seems absent, distant, as if He has walked away and cynicism fills hearts. Some of it is the low-grade kind—a subtle arrogance about the questions our generation seems to be asking. Then there’s the dangerous kind, a cynicism of the soul that dares to look God in the eye with an arrogant belief that we could do a better job of running the world than he does.

Cynicism has permeated our world.

It seems to have infected everything, both inside and outside of the church. A telling test of how far we have fallen into cynicism can be found in the stories we tell our children.

In his book Life After God, Douglas Coupland is writing to his daughter telling her about a series of stories he told her when she was little in order to pacify her after losing her favorite Dr. Seuss book.

In his book Life After God, Douglas Coupland tells a series of stories to pacify his child who has lost her favorite Dr. Seuss book.

We stayed at a motel in Kamloops that night, halfway to our ultimate destination. I just couldn’t make it any further. After we got settled into our room, the big drama was that we forgot your Dr. Seuss book back at the Chicken Shack in Merritt. You refused to settle down until I told you a story and so I was forced to improvise in spite of my tiredness, something I am not good at doing. And so out of nowhere, I just said what came into my head and I told you the story of “Doggles.”

“Doggles?” you asked.

“Doggles?” you asked.

“Yes—Doggles—the dog who wore goggles.”

“Yes—Doggles—the dog who wore goggles.”

And then you asked me what did Doggles do, and I couldn’t think of anything else aside from the fact that he wore goggles.

And then you asked me what did Doggles do, and I couldn’t think of anything else aside from the fact that he wore goggles.

You persisted and so I said to you, “Well, Doggles was supposed to have a starring role in the Cat in the Hat series of books except . . .”

You persisted and so I said to you, “Well, Doggles was supposed to have a starring role in the Cat in the Hat series of books except . . .”

“Except what?” you asked.

“Except what?” you asked.

“Except he had a drinking problem,” I replied.

“Except he had a drinking problem,” I replied.

“Just like Grandpa,” you said, pleased to be able to make a real life connection.

“Just like Grandpa,” you said, pleased to be able to make a real life connection.

“I suppose so,” I said.

“I suppose so,” I said.

So then you wanted to hear about another animal, and so I asked you if you’d ever heard of Squirrelly the Squirrel, and you said you hadn’t. So I said, “Well Squirrelly was going to have an exhibition of nut paintings at the Vancouver Art Gallery except . . .”

So then you wanted to hear about another animal, and so I asked you if you’d ever heard of Squirrelly the Squirrel, and you said you hadn’t. So I said, “Well Squirrelly was going to have an exhibition of nut paintings at the Vancouver Art Gallery except . . .”

“Except what?” you asked.

“Except what?” you asked.

“Except Mrs. Squirrelly had baby squirrels and so Squirrelly had to get a job at the peanut butter factory and was never able to finish his work.”

“Except Mrs. Squirrelly had baby squirrels and so Squirrelly had to get a job at the peanut butter factory and was never able to finish his work.”

“Oh.”

“Oh.”

I paused. “You want to hear about any other animals?”

I paused. “You want to hear about any other animals?”

“Uh, I guess so,” you replied, a bit ambiguously.

“Uh, I guess so,” you replied, a bit ambiguously.

“Did you ever hear of Clappy the Kitten?”

“Did you ever hear of Clappy the Kitten?”

“No.”

“No.”

“Well, Clappy the Kitten was going to be a movie star one day. But then she rang up too many bills on her MasterCard and had to get a job as a teller at the Hong Kong Bank of Canada to pay them off. Before long she was simply too old to try becoming a star—or her ambition disappeared—or both. And she found it was easier to just talk about doing it instead of actually doing it and . . .

“Well, Clappy the Kitten was going to be a movie star one day. But then she rang up too many bills on her MasterCard and had to get a job as a teller at the Hong Kong Bank of Canada to pay them off. Before long she was simply too old to try becoming a star—or her ambition disappeared—or both. And she found it was easier to just talk about doing it instead of actually doing it and . . .

“And what?” you asked.

“And what?” you asked.

“Nothing, baby,” I said, stopping myself then and there—feeling suddenly more dreadful than you can imagine having told you about these animals—filling your head with these stories—stories of these beautiful little creatures who were all supposed to have been part of a fairy tale but who got lost along the way.

“Nothing, baby,” I said, stopping myself then and there—feeling suddenly more dreadful than you can imagine having told you about these animals—filling your head with these stories—stories of these beautiful little creatures who were all supposed to have been part of a fairy tale but who got lost along the way.

Douglas Coupland, Life After God (New York: Pocket Books, 1994), the chapter called “little creatures.”

Douglas Coupland, Life After God (New York: Pocket Books, 1994), the chapter called “little creatures.”

Those last words sum up our angst: “Beautiful little creatures who were all supposed to have been part of a fairy tale but who got lost along the way.” We have all met people who seem to have gotten lost along the way. Maybe we are one of those people who seem to have gotten lost along the way.

Darren Whitehead and Jon Tyson, Rumors of God: Experience the Kind of Faith You´ve Only Heard about (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2011).

Cynicism has taken hold.

The Effect Cynicism is Having on the Church

Interestingly, I see Christians embracing this skepticism/cynicism rather than actually examining, challenging, and understanding what motivates them as Christians.

Let me briefly tell you some of the ways I have been noticing the impact cynicism is having on us before we move on.

We dismiss God at work in the church and the world.

We become annoyed by optimism, joy, hope, and celebration.

We become resistant to opportunities of joy and hope.

In we see Jesus go preach in the synagogue in Nazareth and he opens the scroll of Isaiah and reads, “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Then he rolled up the scroll, sat down, and said, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.”

And you know what their response was? They drove him out of town, took him to the top of a hill, and attempted to throw him off the cliff.

We become dismissive of God at work in the church and the world.

I heard a friend giving a talk once and in it he said, “Beware of the soul sucking voice of reasonableness.” I didn’t hear anything else he said after that. Those words broke me. It was one of those moments where the tape of life began to play back and I saw all of these moments where I was the soul sucking voice of reasonableness to someone else’s optimism, joy, excitement, celebration...

If reasonableness is the compelling vision for the church then people will look and go elsewhere looking for meaningful experiences. Which is gutting, because they could be encountering the power and presence of God rather than an experience that will only leave them heartsick and longing for the next experience.

The love of God is not reasonable, it is scandalous and foolishness ()! Why do we keep trying to make it reasonable?

Beware of the soul sucking voice of reasonableness.

REJECTING CYNICISM

As much as I wish it were true, it is not enough to simply say, “Don’t be cynical.”

The most effective way to stop doing something is not just trying your damndest to stop, but by doing something else. It is addition rather than subtraction.

Possible example of changing my eating habits.

If we are going to resist the cultural spirit of cynicism then we must be ready to engage in a spiritual battle against it.

What does this look like? There are several spiritual practices which do this, but here are three which I think run counter-culture to the spirit of cynicism we see at work in our world.

Practicing Forgiveness

I have heard it said that a cynic is someone who refuses to be hurt or disappointed again. If there is any truth to this, and I am convinced there is, then forgiveness is the path to renewal.

Colossians 3:13 NIV

Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

The world is walking around hurt and disappointed and it is filling their tank with cynicism and manifesting itself in anger and bitterness.

You want to wage spiritual warfare against cynicism then offer your forgiveness to those who have hurt you and don’t deserve an ounce of your forgiveness. When we do this we begin to unwind the anger and bitterness that runs in the currents of cynicism and replace it with the peace of Christ ().

Jesus did this. He modeled and taught us that we can do the same to see healing in our own lives and in the world around us. When we forgive we partake in the life-giving, peace-bringing, abundant-healing life death, and resurrection of Christ.

Practicing forgiveness is spiritual warfare against cynicism.

Practicing Celebration

Most would argue that we have the most meaningful things to celebrate as Christians, but when was the last time you went to an Easter party, or a Christmas party that was about something more meaningful than Santa, presents, and nostalgia, or how about someone’s spiritual birthday or baptism?

It is not the we are awful as humans at celebrating, it’s just that we have misaligned priorities of what we celebrate.

I have gone to countless Cubs games and in a moment been on my feet, jumping up and down, yelling, and high-fiving complete strangers - I know how to celebrate! When we as the last time I had anywhere near the same kind of a response during worship or as I listen to the Scriptures or when someone tells a story of how God showed up in their life?

Celebebrati

Celebration is an act of defiance against the cynicism that is dismissive of God being at work in the church and the world.

When we were in Portland they were celebrating and telling the story of a young woman who came to worship one night and had a miraculous encounter with God.

Tell the story if there is time.

I have similar stories in my life, but I have realized a lot of them are old. That’s not bad in and of itself, but I want new ones to celebrate. It is also indicative of the fact that I used to celebrate those stories more than I do now.

When the angel of the Lord showed up to tell the shepherds that Jesus was born he said, “I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people!” ()

When David returned to the city after recovering the Ark of Lord (God’s presence) he was so overwhelmed with joy he stripped down to his underwear (Scripture uses the term “half-naked”)and danced with the procession through the city () as trumpets blasted and people shouted. We also know he was meet with cynicism from his wife Michal who was embarrassed by his celebration. David was like, “You think that was celebrating? I’ll become even more undignified than this, and I will be held in honor for it!” David’s celebration resulted was an honor and Michal’s cynicism, Scripture tells us, left her barren for the rest of her life.

Practicing celebration is spiritual warfare against cynicism.

Practicing Hope

One of the ways we do this is sharing those celebration stories.

Another way we do this is clinging to, reminding ourselves, and believing in the promises of who God is and what He is doing. This is why Scripture is so important. It reminds us of the many stories of God at work in the world and the many promises of God’s continued activity in the world.

It separates wishing from hoping.

Wishing is rooted in desire, but hoping is rooted in the tangible reality that God is present and powerful, and doing the work of renewal in our lives, our neighborhoods, our city, and our world!

Possible illustration of what practicing prayer in our small groups is revealing.

The world around us is sick with despair and hopelessness and trying to suppress this nagging thought that there may be no good news in the world, but we are a good news people!

(NIV)

5 You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds,

Psalm 65:5 NIV

You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds, God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas,

God our Savior,

the hope of all the ends of the earth

and of the farthest seas,

1 Timothy 4:10 NIV

That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.

Romans 15:13 NIV

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Practicing celebration is spiritual warfare against cynicism.

CONCLUSION

Let us not be a people who buy into the cynicism of the world which undermines the power and presence of God, but rather a people of resistance who practice things like forgiveness, celebration, and hope, making space for the power and presence of God to be amazing!

Pray

Communion

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 NIV

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.