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Grace Church
257 Kendall Street
Burlington, WI 53105

(262) 763-3021

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Pastor Scott Carson

Secretary Patti Hall

PASTOR'S PENS 2006

Grace Church of Burlington August 27, 2006 “An optimist thinks that this is the best possible world.  A pessimist fears that this is true.”             Every now and then I read something that really gets me thinking. You know how it is, you run across one of those thought provoking ideas that you just work over in your mind for days. I’ve had one of those mental feasts lately where I’ve been gnawing on this idea in my mind much like a dog works over a bone. It’s about worldviews.             As you know, there are many worldviews out there. As Christians, we typically break them down as falling into two categories: a Biblical worldview and a Secular worldview. Recently, I was reading something that suggested that there are really three worldviews.             A) First there is a pessimistic worldview. Those who hold this worldview are obsessed with the failure of man. Oswald Spengler’s The Decline of the West is an illustration of this approach. Spengler maintains that every civilization goes through a cycle of birth, adolescence, maturity, decay, and ultimately death. Many believe that Western Civilization is in its period of decay and will soon, along with Christianity, ultimately die. Most Existentialists and Environmentalists would fall into this category. They are obsessed with the fact that man continually fails, harms, destroys and eventually kills everything that he touches. The argument against the opening up of more territory for oil exploration is essentially a pessimistic worldview argument. Fear mongers, those who see danger in nearly everything, would be of a pessimistic worldview.             B) Secondly, there is an optimistic worldview. Those who hold this view see culture, society and history symbolized by an ascending graph or successively rising levels of a spiral. Many optimistic worldviewers are also humanists. They see man as the main and determinative factor in culture and history and usually accept both biological and social evolution. They believe that man and civilization are progressing and improving. Karl Marx belonged to this optimistic school, teaching that a series of class struggles will end with the victory of the workers and the establishment of a classless society. Those who hold an optimistic worldview believe that man can redeem himself and can solve any problem that he might encounter. With the coming elections this fall, you will hear a lot of rhetoric from those who hold an optimistic worldview. Most politicians running for office seem to hold this worldview...just elect them and they will usher in Paradise.          C) Thirdly, there is a pessimistic optimistic worldview. And no, there really aren’t those who can’t make a decision. This really is the only option open to the Bible-believer. We agree with the pessimists in emphasizing the failure of unregenerate man. We know that man, because of his sin nature, only damages anddestroys. At the same time, in light of Scripture and God’s grace, we are optimistic regarding man’s future. The pessimistic optimist then views life, society and culture through the lens of Scripture and seeks to find the glory of God in every area. All is viewed in light of the continued conflict between good and evil, God and Satan, in which man is helpless apart from the grace of God. The work of Christ on the Cross is the final guarantee of the eventual victory of the divine plan for man and the earth. This victory will be ultimately culminated when Christ returns. We are optimists not because of man but because we have faith in an awesome God Who will eventually right all wrongs. It’s not “look at the what the world is coming to” but “look Who is coming to the world!”               All of the sin and evil that you and I deal with on a personal or social level are because of man’s failure. Because man is a sinner by nature, we must be pessimistic about man. But praise God! That is not the end of the story. Man can be redeemed, regenerated and transformed. By God’s grace and His Spirit working in man, He does grow and become holy, righteous and just. It’s not because of who man is but what God does in his life and will ultimately do in all creation. As believers then, we can be very optimistic because we are looking for what Scripture calls “the Blessed Hope” when King Jesus returns and makes everything right. And until then, we can be optimistic because His Kingdom is advancing one believer at a time. We are pessimistic optimists because we know the end of the story.