Beyond Cynicism

I got an email today with an article Jim Wallis wrote for Sojourners magazine (he is its CEO). You can find it at sojo.net/blogs, but I’ll give a summary here.

Jim Wallis loves to write and speak about the common good. He wrote a book about it and has been speaking about for six weeks touring the country. What he discovered after 50 events in 18 cities (and reflecting after cancer surgery) was that the common good is more spiritual than political.

After numerous interviews he found that folk politicize everything and that is what our politicians do who are charged with serving the common good of our citizens. But the common good is not political.

He found that people who attended his talks had a deep hunger for the common good, but they also had deep cynicism about the possibility of social change. They did not trust Washington, or Wall Street to be fair, honest, moral or even open, lacking in integrity. This is also how they felt about churches.

So he spent most of his time being pastoral to these folk. He affirmed their skepticism, which is good, but cynicism can be spiritually dangerous. It is dangerous because it gives us excuses from making courageous personal choices and decisions lacking faith that any change is possible.

He quotes Hebrews 11.1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” 

Hope, faith believes despite evidence to the contrary. Faith is what enables us to act. Faith can move us beyond the conservative/liberal wars of blame to constructive work for the common good. We are all neighbors but we don’t know our neighbors today and we need to. When we get to know each other and see the common agenda we have for a better life for all we are empowered and can work together positively.

You don’t find this out listening to politicians or watching TV news or reading newspapers or magazines; they are all selling us something. These things Wallis tells us have become enemies of the common good and I think he is right.

I’ve served and have been part of the church all my life and I am as cynical about it as the next person. It may represent the body of Christ, but human beings run it just and are just as nasty as politicians and money mongers. But I know it, and I know its people. I have been an intimate part of their lives and have seen how it or we empower each other in it to do great things for the common good.

So, I suggest church shopping if you are not in one but do it realistically knowing that it has all the shortcomings you can expect elsewhere, but it is more than that. If you just can’t stomach the church, then find a spiritual group you are comfortable being with and sharing ideas with, and doing things together. My guess is that you will become more hopeful and less cynical and good things will happen.

Now you can just sit around and listen to the politicians and the media and whine and complain like most folk, but it won’t make you feel any better. Make a decision to do something for the common good and find folk who want to do that with you.

Now I have to go get Wallis’ book On God’s Side: What Religion Forgets and Politics Hasn’t Learned About Serving the Common Good. Besides, I’m getting mighty tired of reading about Roger Williams in way more detail that I imagined; one reason why I have written as many articles recently. Well, there’s also more golf to play in good weather.