Is the glass half empty? Or is it half full? I’ve never thought much about this sort of reasoning. Because, if I did, it would be very easy to feel discouraged about the state of affairs in many of our cities and towns. There is plenty to be disappointed about, isn’t there? Decline in congregations, a rise in violence, polarized communities, increased poverty, the specter of depression and loneliness, and the list goes on and on. In fact, if you simply read your local news source, it would be very easy to see the world through a half-empty glass. 

Yet, I don’t suggest it. I don’t suggest it because I believe that the glass is half full. In other words, I am not proposing that we take the posture of optimism with regard to the status of the world. I simply reject the half-empty, half-full philosophy altogether. 

Why? In a word, I don’t adopt that dichotomous point of view because it does not jive with a biblical framework. The witness of Scripture proposes a very different view of the world than optimism or pessimism. The biblical worldview is one of realism. Let me explain. 

By realism, I mean that the witness of Scripture matches up with human experience. The world and its structures are fallible. Human beings are fallible. And nothing, nothing but the grace of God, will make any lasting difference! Being optimistic will not change this reality. And—what I am about to say is incredibly important—being pessimistic will not alter the possibility of an alternative way of seeing the world. This is why Christian theology posits a different lens for seeing the reality of the world. Christian communities are neither pessimists or optimists; Christian communities are realists about the world, and yet they live with hope!

Hope is the thing. By “hope,” I do not mean wishful thinking about a job raise or whether your football team will win this weekend. What I mean by “hope” is that I take seriously the presence and the promise of God. I take seriously the biblical claim that God is actually present and at work in the world. I also take seriously that God’s redemptive and restorative work is doing exactly what God intends—redemption and restoration!

Hope is the thing. Hope is the Christian vision for the living of our days. Of course, I am not blind. I sit with ministers who have lost jobs for no good reason. I’ve had numerous calls with elders or other leaders about congregations that have lost their will to live and flourish. I see the destructive force of addiction and depression in Christian leaders. I know these things—they are real.

And yet (let me also say!) I see:

A small-town church making the courageous commitment to call a new leadership team and relaunching the congregation as a vibrant witness to the gospel to their whole county!

A minister staying in a congregation and continuing to faithfully lead its evangelistic witness to a city—when a church twice the size begs him to move two states away. 

A body of elders making the commitment that prayer is their first and maybe only priority over “deciding things.” Someone else—ministry staff—can decide things and lead things. This body of elders prays—several hours together every week.

A church launching and leading a recovery ministry—and welcoming the stranger into their community and life!

A minister leaving a beloved church because of a clear call to relinquish his ministry to another minister who has the gifts for the next chapter of a congregation’s life.

Another elder board, this one recognizing that their practice of leadership is toxic and destructive to the congregation, to the staff, and to themselves, and finding the courage to acknowledge the reality and then prayerfully engaging in rebuilding a healthy leadership system for God’s mission.

A minister continuing to lead even through the pain of family death and loss—allowing the church to minister to her.

The signs of God’s presence and action are all around us. All too often we can only see glasses—half empty or full. Instead, I invite you to let go of optimism or pessimism. Take up the Christian vision of hope. Our churches need leaders who relentlessly recognize and name the hope that lies within and all around us. The hope is ever present—and so seldom named. So with courage, dare to hope in God’s presence and in God’s action. For, although the reality of brokenness may be all around us, God’s action in the world is never in doubt. Hope is the thing! As Emily Dickinson exclaimed:

Hope is the thing with feathers -
That perches in the soul -
And sings the tune without the words -
And never stops - at all.

Blessings,

Carson