Pastor, here’s how to answer “What does it matter?”

You’ve heard it from a weary deacon, a young man scrolling the news at midnight, maybe from yourself on a Monday after a hard Sunday: “What does it even matter?” Have you seen the stock market? Inflation? Gas prices? I tried this and failed. I tried that and failed. It sounds like honest exhaustion. It’s a sermon of the serpent, and it’s where defeatism finally ends up. Here’s how I answer it as a pastor.

What nihilism is

Nihilism is the belief that nothing ultimately matters. No reward, no meaning, no heaven where every tear is wiped away. It’s defeatism’s terminus. Once you expect the church to lose and the world to get worse, it’s a short walk to “Who cares? It’s all for nothing.” It’s the same pattern you see elsewhere: licentiousness ends in hedonism, legalism ends in cultism, and defeatism ends in nihilism.

Underneath it is disbelief: that God rewards, that God provides, that God comes through, that there’s a heaven at all.

The serpent’s question

The hiss is “Did God really say He rewards those who seek Him?” Because Scripture says it plainly: “Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him” (Hebrews 11:6). It’s “Did God really say?” all over again, with a little “Surely you will not die” mixed in. If nothing you do carries consequence or reward, then nothing you do really matters.

Step 1 — Name the relief nihilism offers

Here’s why the black pill is so tempting. When you look at all the problems, it’s hard not to list them. I do good things and bad things still happen. I work my hardest and it doesn’t always work out. So you take the black pill: worthless, meaningless, all of it. And it feels good. Not like a high, more like relief. If nothing matters, I can stop trying.

Name that for your people. And know that there will always be plenty online to confirm a nihilistic stance. Evil is trending. Evil is in the news. You can dwell on it until it eats you alive on the inside. Paul gives another way: whatever is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, “think about such things” (Philippians 4:8).

Step 2 — Preach reward without embarrassment

The truth is, “a man reaps what he sows” (Galatians 6:7), whether in this life or the next. Look at the hall of faith in Hebrews 11. Some of those faithful people saw the results of their faithfulness. Others didn’t. But a day is coming when God will ask what we did with our lives, and to the faithful He’ll say, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21). Scripture isn’t embarrassed by reward, and you shouldn’t be either.

Step 3 — Remember who you’re working for

You are not working for yourself. You’re not working for your church board. You’re not working for your spouse. “It is the Lord Christ you are serving” (Colossians 3:24). He is your boss, and you will answer to Him. So humble your heart and say, “It matters to God, so it matters to me.”

What you do matters. How you act matters. How you treat your wife and kids matters. How you lead your church matters. Even when you don’t feel like it does, it does. Take ownership of it.

Step 4 — Give people an eternity worth persevering toward

There’s suffering in this life, and there’s pain we’ll endure. Don’t let the suffering turn into nihilism. Jesus, “for the joy set before him,” endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2). We can take our lashes and our hard seasons because in the end we will spend eternity with God, and He “will wipe every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 21:4).

Some days there’s wind in your sails. Some days everything holds you back. Either way, keep going. The devil wants you to quit. Don’t quit.

So what does it matter? It matters. A man reaps what he sows, and “your labor in the Lord is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58). How you speak, how you treat people, how you lead: do it, don’t stop, and keep going in Jesus’ name. There is always hope in Him.