Jim Wallis once gave a baccalaureate address at Standford University. In the course of his speech, he said, "I now believe that the real battle, the big struggle of our times, is the fundamental choice between cynicism and hope. The choice between cynicism and hope is ultimately a spiritual choice..."

Wallis got it right.

Cynicism, it seems to me, involves a kind of spiritual death. A cynic may be silent or vocal, but either takes a jaundiced view of others and life in general. When all is said and done, a cynic believes in no one, questions the motives of all, and declines to risk dreaming or working for a better church and world.

All of us have known cynics in church life. Once a church I served met to discuss and act on a long range plan. One fellows only remark was, "I don't care whether we approve it or not. We've had plans before, and nothing ever came of them."  Cynics, I think, are so afraid of disappointment that they refuse to entertain hope. Some are content to nurse their cynicism privately, but others are positively evangelisitic and seek to infect others with the disease.

People who opt for hope, on the other hand, choose to take a chance on God and others. Regardless of past disappointments, they regard the future as open. What "was" and "is" need not determine what "will be." I remember a retired man in a small church. His life had been hard, and his little church had struggled for years. In spite of such a past, he once stood before his church family and said, "We've had it rough, but God is still God, and I believe he means to do something good through this church." His words sparked hope among the people, and the church began to change. New work began among the community's poor and disenfranchised, and before long children who had never been in a church were welcomed into Sunday School. His decision to believe the church might be able to reach and help those written off by others made all the difference.

Hope may change the church and the world for the better; cynicism opts out. Christians, I think, must choose to be hopeful realists. When we do so, we follow the way of Jesus.