That was me. Cynic. And still is sometimes, but I’m allowing the Lord to put that part of me to death everyday. Here is a list of some of the things I used to be extremely cynical towards:

-Modern Worship Music

-Emotional/Charismatic Preachers

-Any form of artistic expression that was liked or appreciated by the masses

-Church lingo, “Christianese” as many call it

-Anything in the church that didn’t have a strong sense of intellectualism behind it

-Simple preachers who lacked a good vocabulary

-Showing outward displays of worship during music at church

-Showing excitement about anything publicly (besides UK Basketball)

And the list could go on and on. Simply put, I was a Cynic in every sense of the word. Why? I could point to several things like my bible college background (from a denomination that was essentially founded in a opposing response to Pentecostalism), my friend circle, my generation, my negative experiences in ministry with many people who were closely tied with movements like the Assembly of God and Hillsong, or countless other reasons. But let’s cut through the crap. There is one reason and one reason alone for my cynicism: my own sin.

I’m a sinner who’s thankfully been renamed Saint by the grace of God. And it’s because of my nasty soul that I became a cynic. I hated on modern worship music for all the typical reasons (rock stars, all about the show, costs too much money, etc.) but in reality I was just looking for something to be negative about. I hated on emotional/charismatic preachers because I thought they were abusing people’s emotions and neglecting the harshness of repentance….when in reality I wasn’t even listening to their message nor looking at the results their preaching was producing. I doubted that any mass group of people could genuinely be excited about something pure and good. I could go on down the list and explain why I had such deep rooted cynicism but it boils down to this:

I thought I was the center of the universe. My preferences were the most important thing in the world. My worldview wasn’t about Jesus and His Kingdom, it was about me and me alone. I wanted everyone to be smarter, everyone to be less cheesy, everyone to act and think more like me. And if they didn’t, I’d find a reason to be a hater. I’ve yet to meet a Christian Cynic who is actually doing anything to advance the Kingdom. All the Cynic’s I’ve known are spectators on the sidelines, trying to call fouls and constantly complaining about the game plan. When I’m Cynical, I’m not advancing the Kingdom.

Could the Church be better? Sure. Do people sometimes get over emotional and miss the point of the Gospel? Absolutely. But do people get too caught up in intellectualism and miss the heart of the Gospel? Absolutely. But I’m telling you all, if any of you are cynics out there, you need to open your ears, open your eyes, because God has some really good things in store for your life if you would just remove yourself from the center of your universe.

I seriously could go on and on. I’ve got several ideas cooking for a creative project that I’m thinking of doing, one of them would be devoted solely to destroying the sin of Cynicism. They may never come to fruition, but they will certainly find their way into sermons. It’s something God has really been doing in my heart over the past 2 years, and unfortunately I think my generation & the generations coming after mine are all terribly plagued with Cynicism.

Bottom line is this: I was a sinner, and still sin every day. But thankfully, Jesus died on my behalf. That alone should smash any cynicism and create a spirit in me that is hungry for the Word and hungry for every opportunity I can to lift His name in praise. Cynicism is miserable. And I, my friend, have absolutely no reason to be miserable.