1 Corinthians 15:19   If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men.

A couple had two sons. One was always happy, the other always sad. Hoping to get some help, they took them to a child psychologist. The psychologist told them “one of them is an optimist, and the other one is a pessimist.” The parents asked what that meant. The psychologist answered, “One of them tends to be happy and the other tends to be sad.” The parents replied, “We already knew that–what can we do about it?” The psychologist advised them to put the sad boy in a room filled with the fanciest toys they could afford, and the happy boy into a room with nothing but a bag of horse manure. They were to then leave the boys alone for an hour before checking on them. The parents followed these instructions exactly. When they checked on the sad boy with the fancy toys, they found him pouting in spite of the gifts. He said disgustedly, “This stuff is all junk.” When they checked on the happy boy in the room with the horse manure, they found him smiling. He asked hopefully, “Does this mean I am going to get a pony?”

There is a big difference between optimists and pessimists. A pessimist sees the dark side, an optimist the bright side. Christians are often faced with the question of what their attitude should be. Is there a specifically Christian disposition? Should a Christian be an optimist or a pessimist? Some Christian writers and preachers will tell you that a Christian should always be an optimist. I think that is misleading. Christianity is not just for people with one kind of personality or attitude. The Bible does not say that a person must have a certain kind of outlook on life to be a Christian. Christians can and will have different attitudes in different areas of life, and that is fine as long as these views do not contradict the written Word of God. Some believers tend to be exuberantly happy. Some tend to be calm and quiet. Some are able to take problems in stride. Some will have more of a problem with the sin of worry than others. But that does not deny the true Christianity of anyone who truly believes that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is the Savior of the world.

You can hold pessimistic views and still be a Christian. I’ve known many farmers over the years who were pessimistic about their ability to continue making a living in farming. When I spoke with them, it was obvious from what they said and the look on their faces that they didn’t expect things to get any better. But they were nonetheless believers in Christ.

On the other hand, some people face the exact same situations with optimism. They tend to “think positive.” For example, I remember one farmer back in Oklahoma always saying that the farm situation had seen its worst and would be better soon.

So what is the answer? Should a Christian be an optimist or a pessimist? In order to give an accurate answer to that question, we must remember what God has specifically promised and what we are to specifically hope for. The primary reason Christ came was NOT to give us a better life in this world. From God’s perspective, which is the only right one, eternal life is infinitely more important than life in this world. God allows us to have problems here on earth, but He directs all things, including our troubles, to work for the spiritual and eternal benefit of those who believe in Jesus. The passage above says “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are truly to be pitied more than all men.” Our hope, our optimism, is for the world to come, our eternal existence with God because of His grace. True, we can look to the future of our life on earth with hope as well, knowing that God is in control. But the person whose hope is limited to the things of this world is indeed someone to be pitied.

Scripture directs us to be optimists as far as our eternal destiny is concerned. Because of our faith in Jesus Christ, we have the certainty of eternal life. But there are many people who profess to be Christians that have a false optimism, a false hope. Their hope is false because they base it upon their own merit. They feel that they have lived a good life and are deserving of a reward from God. People who believe this do not know what God says in His Word. He tells us that we have no righteousness on our own that is acceptable in His presence. Yet we need to be righteous in order to be saved. Trusting in your own goodness is foolishness, because you are not and cannot be good enough. You need a righteousness that comes from outside of yourself if you are to be justified before God. And that is where Jesus comes in. The only way that you can say that you are saved by good works is if you mean the good works of Jesus Christ. He came to provide you with the righteousness that you need, giving you a reason to be an optimist about your eternal destiny.