At this point in our history one of the greatest balancing acts of our spiritual integrity is being aware of what is happening in our world, yet not losing our hope. Hope in God can only be defined and tested in what appears to be a hopeless situation. That tension is needed to bring a biblical definition of what true hope is like.

A theology of avoidance or dismissal of what is causing hopelessness is a course fraught with error. The voices that will lead us to a place of hope in this season of social disruption will speak the truth in love even when it is not popular, especially among theologians of dismissal and avoidance or with those who have allowed themselves to be so overcome with a daily diet of dreadful news they cannot imagine a future filled with hope.