The world is full of bad news. Here’s why Christians can still have hope

Where is the hope?

I’m someone who has a tendency to think my glass is half-full. I know all the benefits of focusing on the positives, and I do gratitude lists as often as I can, but the primeval bit of my brain that is always on the lookout for something that might cause a problem, tends to win out. So, when I read all the articles about war, the possibility of AI killing us, and the realities of climate change, my anxiety goes into overdrive. I don’t think I’m alone. Many young people have said that they are carrying huge anxiety at our future predictions.

All these headlines have got me thinking about hope. What does hope actually mean for us as Christians today? What hope can we offer to the world as we face these threats on a global scale as well as deal with the daily challenges that come with being a human?

The obvious answer is that, through Jesus, people can find hope for eternity, a new heaven and new earth. That’s a crucial element of our faith but it doesn’t take away from the hope we can offer people in the here and now. The hope I believe we are called to, demands that see the world as it is but that we don’t stop there. It asks us to imagine how the world could be, how God would want it to be, and then pray and work to make that vision as much of a reality as possible.

Hope is the biggest catalyst for change

Sometimes I feel like hope has been beaten out of me with the onslaught of devastating news popping up on my phone from around the world. It reminds me of a Cherokee parable of an old man teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he says to the boy. “It is a terrible fight, and it is between two wolves. One wolf is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority and ego. The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?” The old Cherokee replied, “The one you feed”. The point is clear: if we continually focus on the negatives, they will grow bigger and bigger. And while there’s no denying there are lots of horrendous things happening in the world, if we only focus on them, it can lead to fear, panic, anxiety and a crushing hopelessness. We have to remember there are always good things too. Both good and bad coexist and yet we don’t often hear the stories of hope.

In case you haven’t heard this perspective on the world, historian and author Rutger Bregman says: “Over the last several decades, extreme poverty, victims of war, child mortality, crime, famine, child labour, deaths in natural disasters and plane crashes have plummeted. We’re living in the richest, safest and healthiest era ever.”

There are so many positive things to celebrate, such as the fact life expectancy has more than doubled globally since 1900 (from 32 years to 73 years) and you will not find any countries where child-mortality rates have increased. Extreme poverty has halved across the globe, there are far fewer infections of diseases like smallpox, malaria and HIV, and, due to better infrastructure, far fewer deaths from disasters. There have been improvements in access to education, and reductions in child labour and people dying because of the death penalty.

More people than ever have access to clean water and immunisations, and literacy has improved across the globe. The list goes on.

Yes, there are still threats and tragedies that need addressing but we’re also taking huge steps forward. Most of the changes are not reported as they are happening little by little.

This all gives me such hope to see how many things are improving. Many are dedicating their lives to seeing positive change come about. And that hope leads me to think I might be able to do a little bit to make the world a better place. It inspires me to go into prisons, where I see the love of Jesus has transformed people’s hearts and I know they go on to be Jesus to other prisoners and the ripple effect is amazing. I’m not saying we go in for one afternoon and suddenly people’s lives are back on track. That’s a Hollywood version of hope. Change happens in small steps, hope comes as we each do our bit, day by day to bring God’s love, joy, and peace, to the world.

Hope grows with each person we reach out to, each person who is reminded that life is tough but we don’t have to face it alone. Hope is the biggest catalyst for change which is probably why I love entrepreneur and author Jacqueline Novogratz’s philosophy that: “Inspiring hope in a cynical world might be the most radical thing you can possibly do.”