God is not a hustler.
And the hope he calls us to cannot be built on naive expectations that people will start seeing things the way we do. Our longing cannot be built on the arrogant assumption that we are completely right in the positions we take. It cannot even be built on an expectation of steady improvement. If the arc of the moral universe does indeed bend toward justice, that arc will never be smooth and straight from a human perspective. It will have twists and turns, ups and downs, starts and stops. Our hope, if it is to be enduring, must be rooted in the glory of Jesus Christ.
This kind of hope is enabling for how we live and is embodied in our daily decisions. It’s about an enduring hope that’s able to carry us through the aspects of life that make it seem as though we are being hustled.
The recipients of the New Testament book of Hebrews, an extended pastoral exhortation, were hoping for an end to their suffering for following Jesus Christ. They earnestly desired relief. In an attempt to take control and secure that relief, they were willing to compromise their faith.
Their pastor told them that they had need of endurance (Hebrews 10:36).
He didn’t just point them to some kind of wishful thinking. He pointed them toward the present reality of Jesus Christ, the great high priest, seated at the right hand of the Majesty on high. Because of this, they weren’t waiting around for the “sweet by and by” to arrive. They were called to a life now that demonstrated the longing and ambition they had been brought into. It was a life of striving for peace with everyone and striving for holiness (Hebrews 12:14). It meant not allowing a “root of bitterness” to grow up among them in their relationships with others (Hebrews 12:15).
Are you experiencing hope fatigue?
Are you wearied by our culture of contempt? Are you exhausted by being in a continual state of outrage? I invite you to walk with me in this exploration of Christian hope as the ultimate antidote for the fatigue, weariness, and exhaustion engendered by our current climate. This hope is not a hustle.
Living in a broken and imperfect world means that threats to our deepest longings for peace are the norm. Jesus tells his disciples in John 16:33 that in him they have peace, and in the world they have tribulation. What are they to do in the face of the norm of trouble? Take heart, he says, “because I have overcome the world.” Taking heart is the language of hope. We will press forward from the norm of trouble to the paradox of hope.
Christian hope seems unreasonable because very often we will not experience victory in this life. Christian hope informs this life by being a forward-facing and upward-gazing perspective as our great high priest intercedes for us.
Those who have hope of eternal life strive for godliness in this life, individual and corporate, for the benefit and blessing of others. Hope is the necessary means of our endurance, bearing witness to Christ in a divisive world. This kind of hope is not a hustle.
Irwyn L. Ince Jr. is the coordinator of Mission to North America, part of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). Formerly, he was a pastor at Grace DC Presbyterian Church. He is also the author of The Beautiful Community and Hope Ain’t a Hustle.
Adapted from Hope Ain’t a Hustle by Irwyn Ince. ©2024 by Irwyn L. Ince, Jr. Used by permission of InterVarsity Press. www.ivpress.com.