A Look At Broken Culture: Socialism

Matthew 6:19-21, 25-26, 31-34

Karl Marx was a slob and a bum. He tried to make a living by peddling his ideas, which resulted in his family living in poverty. Eventually the poverty and all out messy living conditions, along with the deaths of 4 of their children, led his wife to commit suicide. Marx was a bitter man who felt that the world owed him what he himself was unwilling to actually work for. He hated God and all religion. In his mind, religion was the root of all the world's woes. Since family was firmly grounded in the Bible, he thought that family should be destroyed. Instead, he wanted everyone subject to the government. A government that would take from the wealthy, and redistribute that wealth to the poor. In his mind, everyone would live on a level plateau. Many have tried, but there has never been a single example of Marx's ideas being successful in lifting anyone out of poverty. Instead, it drives everyone, except the most wealthy, into abject poverty.

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“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also...25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?...31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Matthew 6:19-21, 25-26, 31-34

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Marx's revolution between the working class and the wealthy never came. Now, disciples of Marx are trying a new approach. Rather than class warfare, they are trying to wage cultural warfare. This is sometimes called Neo Marxism, and other times it is referred to as Cultural Marxism. When you hear about Critical Race Theory, Social Justice, Black Lives Matter, Social Oppression (Oppressed groups), majority and minority groups, etc. you are getting a line of cultural Marxism. It fronts as being loving and concerned with the wellbeing of others, but in reality it is a cancer that destroys everything it infests. It is completely unBiblical.

The entire premise of Marxism is about wealth acquisition and accumulation. Jesus said do not accumulate wealth. The focus is on self instead of others. For the Christian, we are to use what God has blessed us with to care for those in need. Need is not a pair of brand new Jordans, but it could be a brand new pair of shoes from Walmart. The one who is actually in need will appreciate what they are given. The one who is greedy will be insulted if it is less than their expectation.

In Philippians 4:10-13, the Apostle Paul said that he had learned to be content in whatever state he found himself. He could be content when full and when hungry. He could be content when he had money and when he did not. He trusted in God to provide for his needs in His good timing. Paul was laying up treasure in heaven (Matthew 6:20). He knew that the more things he owned here in this life, the more tied down he was to this life.

In another letter, this one to his young disciple Timothy, Paul said: "Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them..." (II Timothy 3:12-14). People are going to mistreat you. We do not seek to retaliate or take from them what we feel entitled to. We will suffer hurt in this life. As a matter of fact, Cultural Marxism seeks to malign the name of Jesus and His followers. It is persecution.

Please understand, these people are not our enemies, they are the mission field. They are the ones we are called to preach the Gospel to. They are the Roman Empire that we are to evangelize. While we stand against their philosophies, we must do so with love. This love must first and foremost be for Christ. Then, as we love Christ, that love pours out on those around us. We tell them the truth, even if they do not want to hear it. Let us say as Paul said to the church in the middle of pagan Rome, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek" (Romans 1:16).

Father, so often we are tempted to adopt the philosophy, "When in Rome, do as the Romans". You have called us to be in the world, but not of this world. Jesus said that if we were of the world, the world would have loved us (John 15:19). Help us to stand firm for truth, to do so with love, and we pray that we will see people saved in this world.