My neighbor asked me one time if I am an optimist. I didn’t quite know, and I wanted to be funny, so I stole someone else’s line and said, “In a perfect world.”
Optimists have a general feeling that things will turn out for the better. Sometimes this isn’t even a conviction, but they just want it to be so. It can be a self-fulfilling prophecy. If you think a situation will work out for the better, it motivates you to make it work. Pessimists are the opposite, but generally prefer to be called “realists,” which is, itself, rather pessimistic, as if to say, “Reality is just bad.” If you have to pick one, and if it’s possible to do so, be an optimist.
Our outlook can change throughout life. When we are young and idealistic, we might be far to one extreme or the other. Young people may have grand dreams for life, which is very optimistic. Or they may be influenced by those who find injustices under every leaf and become addicted to outrage. Many youth today are extreme pessimists.
As we mature, most people mellow out. We realize that most things work out better than we feared, but not always as perfectly as we dreamt. As we approach the end of life, if we do not set our hope on the resurrection, we can become pessimists again, asking, “Why me?” or thinking that God has forgotten us.
What are Christians? Are we optimists or pessimists? We are the true realists, because we have the true God. Certain aspects of our doctrine can seem pessimistic. We acknowledge the fall into sin; therefore, I know that I am a corrupt individual, and everyone else in the world is corrupt too. We know that this world will come to an end. Jesus and his apostles even warn us that things will go from bad to worse until then (e.g., Matt. 24:4-22; 2 Tim. 3:13). If our hope is in this life only, all of that could certainly make us pessimists.
But the Scriptures also teach that God created this world, and he made us in his image. Therefore, despite corruption, there is still goodness. Our gracious heavenly Father watches over all things, sending “rain on the just and the unjust” (Matt. 5:45). He justifies all who trust that their sins are forgiven for Jesus’ sake. He will deliver his children through tribulation. At the hour of death, he will take them from this world of sorrow to himself in heaven. Our “blessed hope” is “the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13). On that day, Jesus will raise the dead, transform his believing saints after his image, and bring us into his new creation forever. That sounds pretty optimistic.
In the final analysis, Christians are neither. While we acknowledge evil in the world, we know that Christ has overcome evil, and his victory will be vindicated on the Last Day, so we are not pessimists. But neither are we optimists, because we have something more than optimism, because optimism is merely the attitude or feeling that things will be okay. We have hope. And our hope is not merely a wishful thinking, but it is the sure and certain hope that we will be vindicated with Christ on the Last Day.
“For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience” (Rom. 8:22-25).
The peace of Christ be with you all,
Pastor Dan Antal