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The Christian Optimist

Mark Dunagan
11/19/17 - Sunday Morning

The Christian Optimist

Optimist: “A person who tends to be hopeful and confident about the future or the success of something”.

“I’ve always wanted to be an optimist because they are fun to be around. Instead I became a Christian. Which is an optimist with good reasons” (The Sunny Side, World Magazine Online, 11-25-2017, Andree Seu Peterson).

Is It Possible?

Someone might object to the possibility of a Christian being an optimist, after all did not Jesus plainly say that there are few who will opt for the narrow way and eternal life (Matthew 7:13-14). Does not the Bible tell Christians that we will be persecuted for our faith (Acts 14:22; 2 Timothy 3:12)? Is not the record of the entire Old Testament one of apostasy, where the professed people of God repeatedly depart from the faith (1 Corinthians 10:5)? And does not the New Testament equally warn of Christians departing from the faith (2 Peter 2:1-3) and the presence of many false teachers who will seek to lead God’s people astray (Matthew 7:15)? All of that sounds very negative.

The Real Optimist

An optimistic is not someone who expects life to go smoothly and for everything to work perfectly. “Thomas Edison looked at his flops as successes in eliminating unworkable solutions. He famously said after creating a commercially viable lightblub: ‘I have not failed. I have just found 10,000 ways that don’t work” (Petersen).

A Biblical Precedent

“But I will remain in Ephesus until Pentecost; for a wide door for effective service has opened to me, and there are many adversaries” (1 Corinthians 16:8-9).

I have to admit, that for me, the presence of many adversaries to the preaching of the gospel just does not seem like a “wide”, ”effective” and “open door for service”. And it wasn’t just the presence of some opposition, rather it was a lot of opposition. I am not sure if I would have even recognized that as a door of any kind, not to mention a “wide door”. I think I might have said, “I will pass”. Yet to Paul it was a great opportunity. Another example of this type of optimism is when Paul was rejected by an audience, he did not become discouraged or question the power of the gospel, rather, it simply signaled an opportunity to preach to someone else (Acts 13:46). Have you ever thought, “I will never run out of people who have not heard about Jesus and the truth”? 

Many Reasons to Be Optimistic

Trials are Beneficial

“My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). “For momentary light afflictions is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison” (2 Corinthians 4:17).

“Christians who are not by nature optimists may have to work a little at becoming so… when you get better at it, you will not only have the good things on your thanksgiving list but the bad things and disappointments too. For you will start to see how these bad things were the very ones God used to mature you. I hate to think of what my life would be now if I had been cursed with only pleasant things” (Petersen). When I look back upon the trials that I have faced in life, hopefully I have learned and will remember:

• A trial cannot destroy me.
• God was faithful, the trial was not more than I could handle (1 Corinthians 10:13).
• I learned a lot about myself in the trial. Areas in which I needed to grow, people I could depend upon, the power of prayer and that the Bible had the true answer.
• I appreciate, relish and do not take for granted any “non-trial” days that I receive.
• Such trials helped me get used to the idea of dying and leaving this earth behind. Moving on will not be a tragedy. Rather, it has many benefits (Philippians 1:21-23. Because as long as I live here, even when I am retired, life will be “work”.

Jesus Could Arrive at Any Time

“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief” (2 Peter 3:10).

That simply means that at any given moment, day or night, all the rebellion against God will be simply ended (Jude 15), and even the most defiant will be forced to admit that Jesus is indeed God (Philippians 2:10-11). Sin will end. Death will be no more and neither will all the sorrows that attended both of them (Revelation 21:4). It will simply be over, all in a moment (1 John 2:17). All our problems will be gone and solved and we will simply be with our Creator and be loved forever (Revelation 21:7). I had an aged aunt years ago who told all visitors to her home not to bring her any green bananas because she could die at any time. Recently I had some dental work done. The office gave me the option of paying the bill in full or paying only half, seeing that the dental work involved a two visit process. I decided to only pay half, after all Jesus could show up before my next appointment. Maybe that is James 4:13 in reverse. Now and then, there are resets in the housing market and in the stock market. But the biggest reset of all-time is coming, and as a Christian we are prepared (1 Thessalonians 5:4).

This Life… As Worse as it Gets: Romans 8:18

For the Christian, the suffering in this world is as bad as it can ever get. Now having said that, I have to admit in the last 38 years of my Christian life my life has been pretty good. Yet, such is not merely true for me. Peter spoke of Christians as being those who will find “good days” (1 Peter 3:10). Jesus spoke of His disciples as being persecuted, and yet receiving many blessings in this life as well (Mark 10:30). Job spoke of a time in his life when his steps were “bathed in butter” (Job 29:6). Yet, for the unfaithful, this life is as good as it gets and then misery for eternity (Matthew 6:2). Those who opt out in reference to God are choosing to receive their reward in full, and reward “in full” in this life is very small.

People are Being Saved

In spite of all of the attempts by Satan and the world to steer people away from the truth, people are still coming to Jesus. There are still baptisms and young men still want to preach the gospel to the lost. None of that is being stopped, even though Satan pretty much as the entire world in his clutches (1 John 5:19). Our culture is not friendly to the gospel. Yet, people are still hearing the truth and being saved. Yes, it would be nice to see more saved. But sometimes you just need to sit back and look at reality. Satan has stacked the deck in his favor. He can offer mankind pretty much any immediate gratification they desire, if thought he delivery and follow through is real sketchy. He has thousands of trails that promise happiness, that look really good at the outset. It is not a level playing field, yet he is still losing souls to the truth.

The Church Still Exists

That is the church that Jesus established (Matthew 16:18), that is revealed in the New Testament, still exists on this earth. And that is after almost 2000 years of persecution and direct assaults by the Devil. In addition, it is not that the church has dwindled since the First Century. From a simple reading of the New Testament, it looks like far more congregations exist today than existed in the First Century world, and these congregations are scattered throughout the world. The United States of America is not yet 250 years old, and it is looking much different than what the founding fathers imaged in that short time span. The Lord’s church is almost 2000 years old and yet you can find congregations that still preach and practice what the New Testament teaches. That looks like real success to me.

Mark Dunagan | mdunagan@frontier.net
Beaverton Church of Christ | 503-644-9017
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