Everyone in the city seems to hustle just to survive. Sometimes the word “hustle” has a positive connotation: it’s a way to make a living. In the sports world, “hustle” refers to effort—moving with maximum intensity, purpose, and speed. Or it can have a negative meaning, referring to a con used to make money. Someone misrepresents what he’s offering in an attempt to get ahead, taking advantage of the hope of a person too innocent to know better.
The challenges believers face can create a sense of hopelessness, cynicism, and despair, making us question God’s faithfulness in a broken and divided world. Looking at social media feeds, news headlines, the struggles of life, and the reality of the world’s brokenness can cause us to wonder if our hope in God is a hustle.
In Hope Ain’t a Hustle: Persevering by Faith in a Wearying World, Irwyn Ince reminds us that God isn’t a hustler. He isn’t playing a cruel joke by providing people with unsustainable expectations in a hard and hostile world. Instead, Ince argues that Christian hope is grounded in a “confident trust in God and his promises” (8). A hope rooted in Jesus isn’t absurd; it’s the only way to live.
Multifaceted Community of Hope
Ince, coordinator of Mission to North America for the PCA, uses the New Testament book of Hebrews as his foundation. The author of Hebrews, whom Ince calls “the Pastor,” writes to a church experiencing persecution and questioning whether following Jesus is worth it—Is hope a hustle? He tells them the eternal hope we have in Jesus is greater than the hope of this world’s temporary comforts. Ince argues that Christian hope is grounded in God’s covenantal promises through Christ’s redemptive work as the glorious Prophet, Priest, and King. Hope is a gift from God that provides a sanctuary for our souls and our lives. It must be cultivated and protected. As Ince argues, “Sacrificial Christian love demonstrates to the world that as unreasonable as Christian hope might appear to be, it is rooted in something far better than anything this world has to offer” (73).
A hope rooted in Jesus isn’t absurd; it’s the only way to live.
This hope isn’t found in isolation but within the multifaceted diversity of Christian community that often comes at a high cost. Christ’s lordship assures believers our hope isn’t disembodied. In him, we have a tangible hope for real life, best experienced as God’s family—the church. And yet, there are “deep divides in the American church.” He notes, “our current culture of contempt makes it difficult to hold on to hope” (8). These divides are often seen through racial disunity within the church.
In 2015, I was a college football chaplain in Charleston, South Carolina. I remember the shooting at Mother Emanuel AME Church where nine people were murdered by a white supremacist. I had friends at that church who were close to the families of the victims. I witnessed in my community the power of Jesus in the middle of unspeakable pain and tragedy. It was evident through surviving family members’ forgiveness of the perpetrator and proclamation of the gospel.
My hope––and the hope of other believers both locally and abroad––was strengthened by seeing others persevere in their faith in Jesus. He’s the only one who can change sinners into saints, as he brings saints together in his family despite our earthly differences. Ince observes, “We naturally desire to build community with others based on all sorts of preferences and affinities. But that’s not how God operates” (74). Our hope in Jesus reminds us that God provides a love and power that seals us in our shared identity as brothers and sisters in Christ. It compels us and empowers a unity that transcends the dividing lines of our society. Our hope provides a vision for the beautiful community embodied by the local church. It’s a certain hope that helps us persevere.
Perseverance in Hope
An athlete has confidence before what seems to be an easy victory. The game hasn’t been played, but everyone is certain of the outcome. However, the score is still unknown. And sometimes the figurative David knocks out Goliath. That’s what makes sports exciting: our hope is uncertain until the final whistle.
But as Christians, our hope is based on what has happened through Christ—not on possibility but on the reality of his redemptive and reconciliatory work. This hope is sure. Ince offers encouragement, noting that we receive assurance through “hope that brings joy to the heart even though we’re not happy about our struggles or the disappointments we face” (127). This is the sort of hopeful endurance Jesus showed on the cross (Heb. 12:1–3).
Hope is central to the Christian life. It requires total commitment to Jesus. This seems easy when things are going well, but what about when you’re exhausted? In the world of college football, I’ve experienced the joys of winning and the sorrows of losing. I don’t remember how tired we were during our championship seasons; I remember getting our rings at the end. Endurance was the price for winning. Ince reminds us, “We need to endure because endurance is ultimately what distinguishes us as belonging to Jesus Christ” (127). Just as at the ring ceremony we find joy in enduring a season, so we’ll find joy in enduring the storms of this life when we participate in Christ’s championship ceremony.
Perpetual Hope
How do we stay encouraged to remain faithful when division defines every aspect of life and culture?
We’ll find joy in enduring the storms of this life when we participate in Christ’s championship ceremony.
Ince answers this question using the image of running. We run in unity with God’s people. We drop the weight of sin to run better. We run with the finish line in mind, which we want to reach together. We run despite the burdens and reproaches of this world.
My favorite part of running is when I’m done. Running is exhausting. Ince reminds us that the race of the Christian life is hard, but it’s worth it even when people resist our message of hope. He writes,
Jesus bore reproach because his message was not comfortable and did not conform to the acceptable teaching of the day. His people will, therefore, also bear reproach because they carry his same message. Yet they endure because they understand that they do not have an abiding city. They seek after the city that is to come—home. (191)
There’s something about running with the hope of getting home. As Christians, we live with hope in Jesus, knowing each step we take is a step closer to home. Hope Ain’t a Hustle is an extended exposition of Hebrews, articulating a shepherd’s heart for God’s people to persevere in hope. Although times change, the human condition remains, and we’ll continue to deal with the issues that sin creates. Ince reminds us hope ain’t a hustle; instead, hope is something we hustle to.
The Gospel Coalition