Much of my tenure as a minister has seen conversations with individuals worried about the state of the world around us. All of them come at it from a slightly different place, but the question is always almost the same: “how can the world get any better than it is now?”

Not all I’ve had conversations with were without hope. Most had conditional hopefulness for change: a new elected official, a better economy, bigger military spending, like I said, slightly different places.

The thing about these conditional hopes is that they never seem to hold up, do they? Elected officials let us down, the economy is a roller coaster that never stops, and military spending often only succeeds in leading to more issues down the road because the change we want is often temporary and never fully what we wanted.

This reality has led some to just give up, even people of faith. In my corner of the religious world, some say it’s time to focus more on the world after this one and not worry about the “fallen” one we’re in.

The thing about that kind of giving up? It’s not Christlike.

Jesus came into a world that seemed to be without hope for many, including those with deep religious ties. Oppression reigned, war always loomed, poverty crippled, and abuse of leadership was always just a royalty shift away.

“It’s the end of the world as we know it, so let’s just focus on the next,” some might have been heard saying.

The thing about Jesus is that he was not a looking beyond the grave kind of Messiah. His teachings focused deeply on caring for the poor, freeing the oppressed, and healing the world in which we live, right now.

For him, it was never the end because there was always hope that came with no conditions based on rule, might, or fiscal stability.

For Jesus, it was always about believing that restoration, redemption, and resurrection were possible, even in the bleakest of situations and places.

I can’t speak for those whose hope is ground in other things, but I can say for those who exist in the Christian corner of the world: for those who follow Jesus there should always be room for hope. It does not matter who is in office, it does not matter if the economy is flourishing, it does matter if life is always what we want: our hope in the promise of better is not conditional, it’s unconditional.

As we continue into this new year, with whatever apprehension you may be bringing into it, I hope you’ll give yourself space for rethinking any hopelessness or apprehension you’re carrying. No, it won’t be easy… holding onto hope never is… but the alternative is far worse: giving up leads to less hope-carriers, which leads to more fear and darkness.

No matter what’s ahead let’s be like Jesus who taught that the end of the world is not our worry to carry.

Instead, let’s carry hope that tomorrow still has promise and that the Christ driven cultivation of redemption, restoration, and resurrection is always in our midst.