Pessimism 548
Intro. 1) Do you know what I hate?
a) O.K. - I know I'm not supposed to hate …
b) But everybody has a list of “Don’t you just hate it when …” stuff
Like: Don’t you just hate it when - you’re in a hurry in the morning and the only clean underwear are in the dryer but not quite dry but you wear ‘em a little wet anyway and it’s really, really cold outside and your underwear freezes?
c) Well … do you know what I hate?
2) I hate it when I catch myself being Pessimistic.
a) I once lived in an area where lived
the most pessimistic people in the world - cotton farmers.
b) One guy I knew was particularly pessimistic.
(1) “What a beautiful day the Lord has made.
How the cotton will grow today.”
“Yeah, but if don’t rain soon the cotton will burn up.”
(2) “Thank God for the rain. Look at that happy cotton.”
“Yeah, but if it keeps on raining – the roots will rot.”
(3) No matter what you said to that guy –
he would contradict it.
Every attempt at joyfulness was turned away.
c) Eventually - one of his buddies could take it no longer.
(1) He would find something to show the old coot
that could not possibly be seen as a negative.
(2) One day - at a dog show - he discovered the perfect thing
(3) He could hardly wait to take the old sourpuss
out to their favorite duck blind
(4) He could hardly wait to show off his miraculous new dog
d) Finally the day came.
(1) They were in the blind.
(2) They had a duck down in the pond.
(3) And the excited farmer said, “Go get ‘em boy.”
(4) At that - the dog climbed out of the blind and
walked across the top of the water to the fallen duck.
(5) Anxiously - he awaited the pessimist’s response.
(6) “Huh” the pessimist smirked, “that dog can’t even swim”
3) A negative person has kind of a “Dark” perspective on life:
a) He talks about the negative qualities of his:
friends - job - family - the church
b) He views the future as:
limited - full of problems and trouble
c) When he does something good and serves someone else, he spoils it by griping about how nobody else is doing anything
d) When he makes a mistake - or if anyone else makes a mistake - he magnifies the situation and turns minor errors into big issues
4) You've probably heard the old saying:
“Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”
a) That is so true.
b) We are the by-product of our thoughts.
c) Eventually our thoughts:
… find their way into our hearts
… then onto our faces
… then out of our mouths
… and into our behavior
5) Proverbs 12:25 “An anxious heart weighs a man down,
but a kind word cheers him up.”
6) Some of us have an anxious heart because we believe
every negative thing we hear. Listen to this quotation:
a) “Our earth is degenerate in these latter days. There are signs that the world is coming to an end. Children no longer obey their parents. Everybody wants to write a book. The end of the world is near.”
(1) Does that sound like a contemporary writer?
(2) Is this a commentary about the youth of today?
(3) These words were written by an Egyptian priest centuries before the time of Moses.
b) Listen to another great public figure:
“The children love luxury, they have bad manners, contempt for authority, they show disrespect for elders and love to chatter in place of exercise. Children are tyrants, not the servants of the households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, and tyrannize their teachers.”
(1) Who verbalized all of this insight about modern youth?
(2) It was Socrates - who died 400 years before Christ was born
c) Do we think it is new to be negative and pessimistic?
(1) In this world - things adapt and survive.
The world goes on in the same manner whether we waste time griping about it or not.
So - what’s the point of wasting time griping about the way things have always been?
(2) Human society has survived for thousands of years - even with children being what children are.
d) The laws of aerodynamics conclude that bumblebees can’t fly.
(1) The size, weight and shape of their body
in proportion to their wing span render flying impossible
(2) We can preach that argument till doomsday –
but bees go on flying anyway.
e) Brethren - the world keeps spinning
despite our pessimistic objections
f) Pessimistic verbiage is a waste of time -
besides that - it annoys everybody around.
7) You don’t want to be a Pessimist - do you?
Let’s see what causes a person to be a pessimist.
Maybe we can conquer Pessimism at it roots.
The first seed of Pessimism is:
I. Perfectionism
A. If you think things should be “Perfect” –
then you’ll find plenty to be negative about.
1. Now - there’s nothing wrong with doing things right
(to the best of your ability).
2. But that’s not all that’s involved in “Perfectionism”.
a. If things aren’t flawless - then they’re mediocre.
a ball game – a trip – a household project – a party
1) The perfectionist examines everything
under a magnifying glass.
2) The smallest defect is amplified into total badness
3) Consequently - no thing and no one measures up.
b. Not even the perfectionist can measure up.
1) He eventually discards his own merits as useless.
2) He lives in total fear of ultimate failure.
3) He becomes critical and jealous of those who are happy with their inferior lives
4) He becomes a miserable and unlovable person.
5) He becomes isolated because nobody wants to subject themselves to his perfectionistic, pessimistic scrutiny
B. Beloved - God loved us, even when we were sinners (Romans 5:8)
1. He wants us to improve - but He gives us time and grace.
2. Our quest is to become like Him - but He knows we never will.
3. And that’s ok - the world goes on - the church survives - people will still go to heaven - despite their imperfections because of God’s grace
C. Perfectionism is a root of Pessimism. Another one is:
II. Criticism
A. If the Pessimist could just be quiet about the imperfections of life –
he could be bearable - but he can’t.
1. His biting criticism cuts down any hopeful attitude.
a. “Impossible”
b. “That’ll never work”
c. “We tried that before … it didn’t work”
d. “Nobody’s gonna go for that idea”
e. “Nope, nope, nope, nope, no”
2. I worked with a guy like this one time.
a. He was an optician - subbing as a carpenter’s assistant.
b. His problem was a lack of knowledge.
c. He didn’t think things would work because
he didn’t know how things were done.
d. Every assignment given to us he doomed to failure.
(But we accomplished them all.)
B. The Critical Pessimist rarely
has any solutions - only prophecies of failure
a. Nobody wants a guy like this on their team.
b. You don’t want to be a guy like this, either
c. Criticism is a root of Pessimism. Another one is:
III. Moodiness
A. Pessimistic people are usually not always pessimistic.
1. Sometimes they’re really, really happy and excited.
(That’s on a day when
absolutely everything is going their way)
2. Usually they’re sullen and skeptical.
B. The experts say that this is a prescription for depression.
1. Did you know that depression is a leading cause of suicide?
2. Did you know that suicide is the 10th leading cause of death
in the United States?
a. There are 24,000 suicides every year.
b. A suicide is accomplished every twenty minutes.
c. For every successful suicide, there are 10 unsuccessful
3. This is why pessimism is more than annoying, it’s dangerous.
C. The pessimist seldom experiences healthy, cleansing sadness.
1. Why? Because there’s a lingering, prolonged sort of grief
which is always with him.
2. It dulls his senses to true grief which is natural and purifying.
3. Without the cleansing of genuine grief -
lasting happiness can never find a place to settle in his life.
D. The apostle Paul was not a pessimist.
1. It’s true that he had his share of troubles and hardships.
2. But he maintained a sense of optimism through it all.
3. “We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed;
We are perplexed, but not in despair;
Persecuted, but not abandoned;
Struck down, but not destroyed;
Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing;
Poor, yet making many rich;
Having nothing, and yet possessing everything.”
(II Corinthians 4:8-9; 6:10)
Concl. 1) We try to excuse ourselves today for being pessimists.
a) We point out the immorality in the world.
b) We point out the crime in the world.
c) We point out the economic distress and disease.
d) We point out the wars and famines and abuses in the world.
e) We use words like pornography and malpractice,
and infidelity, and scandals.
f) And then, there’s the current fear of terrorist activity
2) But listen, is any of this really new?
a) Has there not always been immorality and disease and fear?
b) God was God back then and He is God today.
c) Godly men and women survived these trials throughout the ages and we shall continue to do so.
d) It is counter-productive for us to set our minds upon negative things
3) Paul said to think about things that are true and honorable and right and pure and lovely (Philippians 4:8)
If we do this, then we can overcome any obstacle and live a peaceful life
4) In the summer of 216 BC, the army of Hannibal
destroyed the great Roman army under the consul Terentius Varro.
a) This came at the end of 18 months of fierce battles.
b) 60,000 Roman soldiers had died in these battles.
c) But none of this was able to shake the mighty Roman spirit.
(1) The Roman senate extended thankfulness to Varro
“because he had not despaired of the commonwealth.”
(2) When Hannibal camped not more than three miles from
the wall of Rome, the ground on which his army camped
was sold for full market value in the city
(3) All of this was the Roman way of showing the confidence she had in herself and in her future.
5) Today, many in the church are too hasty to concede that “all is lost”.
a) Doom and gloom is too quickly uttered.
b) In these days, as it has been in all other days gone by,
we need to remember that we serve the God:
Who made the world and all things in it.
He is the Lord of heaven and earth.
He does not dwell in temples made with hands.
He is not served by human hands, as though He needed anything
He gives to us all life and breath and all things.
He determined every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth.
He determined their appointed times,
He determined the boundaries of their habitation.
Acts 17:24-26
c) We are His creation and we are in His hand.
We must be humble before Him.
We are not - and never will be - perfect.
We must not be critical.
We can’t afford to be moody.
This will keep us from being pessimistic.
And that will please our maker and redeemer.