The Eighth Deadly Sin

I’m not sure who first identified and named the seven deadly sins, but I think they missed one. Maybe this eighth deadly sin couldn’t even exist until the explosion of Carl Bernstein, Richard Nixon and Watergate contaminated the way we do journalism. And until the media filled the airwaves with noxious spewing of toxic talk. And depleted the protective ozone layer of trust. And left good people exposed to the harmful ultra-virulent rays of suspicion.

Maybe this eighth deadly sin couldn’t exist until the world became a place where we triple-lock our front doors and still pay monthly for security systems. A place where we have to inspect Halloween candy for embedded razor blades. A place where ordinary tourists might be terrorists, or star athletes could be steroid users.

Yes, lust, gluttony, and greed deserve their place among the seven most deadly sins along with sloth, wrath, envy and pride. But the list should be expanded to eight to include today’s newcomer — cynicism.

Cynicism is the assumption that everyone is motivated by self-interest, so brace yourself to be taken advantage of by someone.

Cynicism is not unfounded. It is based on disappointments like Ted Haggard, pastor of the New Life megachurch, who ironically couldn’t overcome his old life. It is based on the fear of not being able to use a public restroom without someone in the next stall touching your foot for sex — maybe even a U.S. senator.

If at any moment virtually anyone can do almost anything to take something from you, then there’s reason to be cynical. You can’t even be sure some teenage hacker from halfway around the world won’t steal your identity and ravage your credit.

It is hard to calculate but impossible to overestimate the toll our incessant exposure to the world’s evils has taken on our ability to be hopeful and trusting of other people.

Yes, cynicism is deadly. But is cynicism really a sin? It can be.

For example, according to scripture the failure to love the truth and live by it is sin. One truth we are duty-bound to live by is that God can change anyone.

The story of Zacchaeus and how Jesus related to him is a prime example of this truth in conflict with cynicism. Jesus saw an enterprising little man who climbed his way above the crowd; the town saw only a conniving little man who cheated his way to the top.

So when Jesus gave Zacchaeus special attention, the crowd muttered their disapproving cynicism. That word “muttered” is the same word used of the Israelites who grumbled about their seemingly hopeless, God-abandoned plight in the wilderness. The townspeople looked at Zacchaeus and saw an incorrigible, conniving cheat. This is cynicism. And this is the exact opposite of how Jesus relates with people.

All Jesus did was to turn His face toward Zacchaeus, call him by name, and enter his house. As a result, the apparently incorrigible Zacchaeus became a new man. Such minimal ministry; such maximal impact!

Today we experience widespread cynicism. It’s as if we see the whole world as Zacchaeus. Powerful. Conspiring. Incorrigible. Our cynicism leads us not to expect the possibility of large-scale changes in the world.

And yet, according to Jesus, God so loved the world that He gave His only Son for the salvation of anyone in the world.

If this was God’s desire, based on His love, would He have devised a plan that had little chance of success? Or one that would yield meager results?

Of course not.

That means any cynicism about the world being beyond hope is contrary to the ways of God. We have to change how we view the world. It is not too big. It is not too powerful. It is not too evil. It is not too hopeless.

If we set aside our cynicism — large-scale changes are not impossible — we are more likely to hear God’s plans and follow Him onto paths that bring about not only personal transformation but also transformation on a regional, national and global scale.

Wouldn’t it be great if at least God’s people erased this eighth sin off our list? That’s not impossible.