I had a fascinating
interaction with a man in his 20’s the other day in a
restaurant. He had several visible tattoos, and being a fan of
inked skin, I took a second look at a phrase written across the
length of his inner forearm that started with “God.”
Also being a fan of God, and a life-long student of what people
think of Him, I asked the man to show me the phrase on his arm.
Like any good tattoo aficionado, the guy proudly showed me his
arm and carefully quoted the phrase written "God is a comedian
playing to an audience too afraid to laugh."
“That’s awesome” I said, “Who said that?
“Voltaire” he replied.
He then went on to explain that he grew up with many friends who
were very strict Catholics and Christians who have a very rigid
view of life and never seemed to have any fun, so he found this
quote from Voltaire that seemed to make sense to him. So much
so, he had it permanently etched on his arm. I’d call that a
pretty compelling life statement.
That brief interaction with this young man deeply impacted me as
a Christian leader. From this young man’s perspective, with his
life experience, this statement was brutally honest. And from my
perspective, quite true.
When you really think about it, this statement establishes the
existence of God and clearly describes a God who is actively and
creatively attempting to interact with His creation, human
beings, in an effort to bring them joy. Most would agree this
would qualify as classic Christian doctrine. The problem,
however, is clearly not with God, but with us . . . the Church,
those who have the responsibility to represent God in their
culture and context, which is a terrifying task. We, His church,
Catholic or Protestant, over the centuries have painted a
picture of God which is smeared and ugly and unbalanced. And
more than that, we God-fearing people have some kind of duty to
make sure that everyone else around us is equally as miserable
as we are, because in our world, God has eliminated the ability
to have fun.
Now I will admit, that painting a picture of an eternal,
limitless deity who defies description is quite a daunting task,
but I do know this: our job is less about describing God and
more about reflecting his nature in our lives. We are not the
prosecution who needs to make the perfect case. God can handle
that one on his own. We are merely to be a witness to describe
what we have seen, heard and experienced.
And when talking about a life of joy, I don’t know where we went
wrong, but when you really look at the big picture it was God
who created pleasure, joy and fun in the first place. In our
quest to be holy and pure, we God-followers forgot that God is
the author of pleasure. G.K. Chesterton wrote “Joy, which was
the small publicity of the pagan, is the gigantic secret of the
Christian.” Why does all the bad stuff that happens in the world
get blamed on God, while we humans get to take credit for
anything that is good or pleasing or fun?
If the atheist challenges the believer with the existence of
evil under a benevolent god, then the believer must challenge
the atheist with the existence of pleasure in a random,
meaningless world.
Voltaire (who penned our tattooed phrase in question) was a
French philosopher and writer, who actually was named
François-Marie Arouet. Born in Paris in 1694, Voltaire grew up
in an18th century Europe most noted for its’ dichotomy of
religious institutionalism and emerging immorality. Voltaire was
a noted free thinker and proponent of such radical ideas as
freedom of religion, civil liberties and the evil of censorship.
For sharing these ideas in his early twenties, he was imprisoned
in the infamous Bastille, a Parisian castle converted into a
prison to house enemies of the state and church. Though Voltaire
often refuted the authenticity of the New Testament, he often
quoted it quite eloquently to make his case for freedom and
civil rights.
Voltaire is commonly looked at by modern Christians as an enemy
of God and the church. But does anyone ever stop to look at what
formed Voltaire’s worldview? Does anyone stop to consider the
fact that the church and state in his time had a pretty jacked
up view of freedom and thought and expression and fun. If
history has taught us anything, it has been that God Himself has
hard-wired us humans to seek freedom of thought and expression
and joy, and when revoked, it is outside God’s perfect design.
This desire for freedom and joy is so incredibly strong that I
think it can begin to explain the millions of people over the
course of human history that have fought and died to attain it.
Often forgotten is that events such as the Enlightenment, the
Reformation, the American Revolution, and the French Revolution
are evidence of humanity’s quest for freedom and joy.
I think there’s another revolution going on in America. There’s
an entire generation of young people who have a longing for
truth and are instinctively seeking a relationship with God, but
are lacking a competent representation of who God is in the
flesh. Jesus Christ was the universal champion at fighting
against a political and religious system which had lost touch
with freedom and joy. He just didn’t fight fair. He was
God-in-the-flesh to reveal to us simple humans a pattern of how
to really live free...and really have fun.
And we, the Church, God’s “Plan A” for His message of hope, have
the daunting task of being a living, breathing, joy-filled
representation of what a people connected to God can be. Even
though we, the Church, have such an incredibly checkered past
full of murder, idolatry, theft, greed, violence, power,
mistrust, and hypocrisy, God is still choosing to use her. That
is incredible.
I am so glad to have some glimpse of a God who is full of joy
and laughter and good jokes and I hope to be part of an audience
who can laugh and find joy. God is clearly more that just a
comedian, but I do believe that might be a nice place to start.
Voltaire was right...
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