On Politics and Laughter
Oil and water don’t mix, and usually, neither do politics and laughter. But I want to bring these two topics together because the Bible does.
In Psalm 2, we see politicians scheming against God. We are told that the “nations rage,” the “peoples plot,” and that the “kings of the earth” and their “rulers” are meeting together to strategize against the Lord and His Messiah (v 2). The rich and powerful want to eliminate God’s authority and establish their own. They do it by attempting to throw off God’s law (v 3).
Sound familiar?
In our day, politicians are doing the same. God’s wisdom is despised. His word is ignored. Who among our leaders really is concerned about holiness? Policies are godless, destructive, and dehumanizing. Can you believe we are still actually fighting over whether it’s valid to kill babies in the womb? That our laws protect men competing in women’s sports? It’s hard to say how much lying and cheating and stealing is happening in our government, but it’s easy to say a lot. And, considering our nation’s current trajectory, a plunge into a new dark age doesn’t seem far fetched. And civil war? I hear people talking about that too. It is true that it’s either Christ or chaos. Since our nation has rejected Christ, it has asked for chaos.
This is why many Christians don’t laugh when they talk politics. They’d rather hurl. But this is where laughter comes in. When God looks down at the chaos of a world in rebellion, he laughs. Psalm 2:4: “But he who sits in the heavens laughs.” The laughter of God indicates his utter lack of intimidation. He is not afraid of the kings of the earth. He is not afraid of their strategic plots to overthrow him. In fact, it’s almost amusing to him.
Laughter seems to be an expression of fearless joy. The wise woman described in Proverbs 31 is a woman who “laughs at the days to come” (v 25). The anxious heart doesn’t laugh. The worried heart doesn’t laugh. Angry, vengeful, hate-filled hearts don’t laugh. Fearless joy laughs.
We are on the eve of what feels like a consequential presidential election. The politicians are scheming. Campaign managers are wringing their hands. Millions of American citizens look ahead with a nervous pit in their gut. Will there be riots? Probably. Only God knows. Yet, he is laughing. He is unmoved, because even their best efforts against him will only serve his purposes. Remember: the greatest evil ever perpetrated by mankind - the cross - became the salvation for the world.
And what about us, Christians? We laugh too. We are rooted in fearless joy, because God is sovereign, evil will be overcome, and though we die, we will yet live. So the next time you think about the sad state of our nation, laugh. This is a practical way to imitate God (Eph. 5:1).
