Marry. Cry. Rejoice. Buy.

And do politics as though you were not doing politics | John Piper

Illustration by Krieg Barrie

Politics is like marrying and crying and laughing and buying. We should do it, but only as though not doing it. Here is a strange text:

The appointed time has grown very short. From now on, let those who have wives live as though they had none, and those who mourn as though they were not mourning, and those who rejoice as though they were not rejoicing, and those who buy as though they had no goods, and those who deal with the world as though they had no dealings with it. For the present form of this world is passing away (1 Corinthians 7:29-31).

This sounds bizarre. First it says: Don't flee the world. Marry. Cry. Rejoice. Buy. Deal. But then: Do it all as if you weren't doing it. So with politics. How does this work?