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It started out as a few pamphlets back in the 1800s, but in no time at all it spread over one-third of the globe. What was it and what does it have to do with the problems you face in your life today? Well, hang in there because in a moment I’ll tell you all about it.
When Karl Marx was born in May 1818, the world was changing at an alarming pace. The long years of the Dark Ages had come to a close and the human race was exploring new frontiers of scientific and technological discovery. The first couple of decades of the 19th century saw the invention of the battery, the steam-powered locomotive, the first electric light, the art of photography, the stethoscope, the typewriter, the telegraph, and the sewing machine, just to name a few.
It was a world still in transition from the old feudal societies of the Middle Ages to the technological revolution. And one of the things that was slow to disappear in Western civilization was the dramatic financial inequity that existed between the various layers of society. Working conditions for the average laborer were often pretty lousy. And as the economy shifted from agriculture to factory-based industries, more and more children between the ages of six and 12 were to be found laboring alongside the adults, sometimes as much as 16 hours a day.
And one of the reasons that factory owners found children so useful was not only because of their minimal pay, but because their small size was handy for operating little machines or fitting into tight spaces.
That was the world that Charles Dickens wrote about so vividly in “Oliver Twist.” And it was also the world that helped shaped the mind of Karl Marx, who then went on to shape the philosophies of the rest of the world. In fact, the thoughts that poured from Marx’s pen sparked revolutions around the world and—at one point—as much as one-third of the Earth’s geography was subject to communistic thinking of some of some variety. And even though the Soviet Union came unhinged a few years ago, some communist regimes continue to this day.
Now, it’s going to be tough to boil down the thoughts of Karl Marx in just a few minutes, but we really should take a stab at it. As Marx looked at the social inequity and the human suffering that existed all around him, he struggled to make sense of it. How in the world could life be miserable for so many people? You know, I guess—in essence—Marx was struggling with the same thing we all struggle with: The world, if you look at it, really is kind of a nasty place.
And as the whole world reorganized around the industrial revolution back in the 1800s, this inequity was more obvious than ever, and not only did Karl Marx want to understand the problem of human suffering—but to his credit, he wanted to do something about it. And thus, the modern theory of socialism was born.
In a nutshell, and, again, it’s hard to sum this all up in a few minutes, but here’s what Karl Marx taught: The problems we face in the real world are essentially the result of a massive struggle between those who own the means of production and those who work for those who own everything.
In his landmark pamphlet, “The Communist Manifesto,” Karl Marx put it like this…now, the language is a little dated, but it’s still a pretty good summary. Here’s what he wrote:
“The history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggles. Freeman and slave, patrician and plebian, lord and serf, guildmaster and journeyman, in a word oppressor and oppressed, stood in constant opposition to one another, carried on an uninterrupted, now hidden, now open fight that each time ended, either in a revolutionary reconstitution of society at large, or in the common ruin of the contending classes.”
Now, what exactly did he just say? Basically, he said, society is divided into two groups, those who own everything—he called them the oppressors—and the people who are forced to work for the owners. And when things get bad, said Marx, a little war always breaks out between the classes and the war either fixes the problem or wipes everybody out. Either way, according to Marx, good or bad, the problem has a way of resolving itself.
Now, I know that the diehard socialists listening today are going to cringe when they hear me summarizing Marx in such a simplistic way, but in essence, that’s it. There’s a huge inequity between those who own everything and those who work for them. And in Marx’s mind, that inequity would eventually be eliminated through a revolution that would pave the way for the abolition of private property, and pave the way for an equal society.
In fact, a little later on in “The Communist Manifesto” Marx says this:
“In this sense, the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: abolition of private property.”
Well, you’ve got to ask the question, how would that fix the problem? In Marx’s mind, if everybody owns the means of production together, then we all benefit from it. And that’s why Marx said things like: “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.”
In Marx’s mind the human race, to a significant degree, could diminish the problem of suffering if only everybody selflessly contributed to the welfare of everybody else, and if they controlled their personal greed and only took from society what they actually needed. Now again, I know that’s kind of a simplistic summary of Karl Marx, but basically that’s it. And, to be honest, on paper it sounds pretty good.
Imagine a world where nobody took more than they needed, and they spent most of their time working for the good of everybody else. I have to admit, I wouldn’t mind living in a place like that, if it really existed. But the whole problem with Marx’s theory—and I think that almost a century of failed communist experiments will bear this out—the problem is that it essentially denies the real cause of human suffering.
You see, Karl Marx was a big believer that who you are as a person is basically shaped by the environment you grew up in. To a large extent, he was absolutely right. Where you live and the circumstances you grow up with have a lot to do with the way you’re going to participate in everyday life.
But where Karl Marx and the Bible part company is over the idea of inborn human behavior. Marx hated the idea that we might be born with certain incurable tendencies. But the Bible underlines one thing that we all have in common: a sinful heart. Listen to the words, for example, found in the writings of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 17:9):
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?”
According to the Bible, there really is an underlying problem with the human race. Our hearts are desperately wicked. And according to what we just read, the problem is actually so bad that we can scarcely understand it. When it comes to talking about sin, the Bible doesn’t just make it a list of dos and don’ts, even though that’s an important part of what sin is.
The problem runs much deeper than simply the things we do. Sin is actually something that runs through our veins as human beings. Our rebellion against God has corrupted our hearts and minds so profoundly that sin is now also something we are. And according to what the Bible teaches, that’s the reason we find so much pain and suffering in this world.
Now, I know that some people simply refuse to believe it. But it doesn’t take a lot of observation to figure out that there’s something wrong with the human operating system. Marx would argue that things like crime and violence are the result of the environment we live in, and to some extent we know that’s true.
But, you know, you can take a group of babies and raise them on a tropical island somewhere in the South Pacific with none of the hardships of everyday life or none of the influences of modern thought. You can pamper those kids with all the advantages in life and still you know those kids are going to do wrong things. Why?
Well, it’s because according to the Bible, we were all conceived in iniquity. Sin is such a fundamental part of who we are and how we function as human beings that no matter where you run—no matter how hard you try to eliminate problems—the ugliness that lies in our hearts keeps bubbling up to the surface.
Consider the fact that not all thieves, pickpockets and terrorists are from poor families. Why is it that wealthy frat boys at Ivy League colleges still do wrong things in spite of all the advantages they received in life? And why does Osama bin Laden seem to think it’s a moral triumph to fly innocent people into skyscrapers when he has a huge personal fortune and a good education?
The facts are that no matter what your advantages are in life, you are still a sinner. You could eliminate every environmental factor that causes you personal misery today, but tomorrow you’re still going to do something wrong. Why? It’s because you’re a sinner. The problem is so universal that the Bible puts it like this (1 John 1:8):
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
In the book of Romans, we find this famous statement (Romans 3:23):
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
Now that’s about as clear as it gets. But there’s still another passage in Romans that really underlines the problem in a way that everybody, if they’re really honest, is going to have to admit is their own personal experience. Listen to this sampling of verses from that chapter. It says (Romans 7:14, 15, 19, 22-24):
“For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do…for the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice…for I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”
Now, there’s a lot packed in there and it’s confusing reading, so I’d encourage you to go back and look at that chapter again a little later today. It basically says that often we do the things that we don’t want to do, and the things we want to do, well, we don’t do those. And if we’re honest, that’s something I know you can relate to, even though you might not want to admit it to the people around you.
Every one of us has this inborn sense of right and wrong, and even though it sometimes gets horribly corrupted by the lifestyle choices we make, we’re still aware of what our basic faults are. And even though we promise ourselves we’re going to change, and even though we know better than to cave in and do that wrong thing again, we still do it. Then we hate ourselves for it and we wish we could do something to break free from the awful cycle of being sinful.
The whole root problem is the wickedness that was planted in our hearts when we first broke away from God. In the beginning we existed in a faith-based relationship with God. H was our Heavenly Father and we trusted that his Word was always best.
But then, as we shifted our focus from the throne of God to what we perceived to be in our own best interests, a radical change took place in the human heart. We severed the relationship with God. We broke the faith that we used to have.
So now, we find ourselves operating on our own, and the driving force that powers our minds is sinful pride and selfishness. And apart from God, that’s a problem you’re never going to fix.
Just consider that famous passage from the book of Jeremiah where God describes for us the impossibility of fixing our hearts. Listen to this (Jeremiah 13:23):
“Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil.”
Now, that’s basically the reason why the communist experiment ultimately failed. It simply refused to take into account the fact that people themselves are basically sinful, and that they’ll continue to be selfish even if economic inequities are temporarily done away with. And nothing points this out more clearly than the way that communist governments play out in real life.
Those who’ve lived under the communist system have discovered firsthand that no matter how much you seem to close the economic gap between the higher and lower classes, somebody still always seems to make off like a bandit. You might get 95% of the population living comparable lives to each other, but there’s always that 5% that continues to get rich off the backs of the rest.
Nicolae Ceausescu, the former dictator of Romania, is a great example. While he was busy preaching communism to the rest of the country, he continued to live in one of the most decadent palaces in the world. The people got poorer and poorer and their leader got richer and richer.
So it seems that in Romania at least, communism actually made human inequity and the problem of suffering worse. Well sure, there were more people who existed on an equal footing, but that’s because they were all suffering from dire poverty.
Does that mean we just shouldn’t try as human beings? Well, of course not. The Bible recognizes the plight of the needy and God makes it very clear that he expects us to do something about it.
Proverbs chapter 28 says this. Listen carefully (Proverbs 28:27):
“He who gives to the poor will not lack, but he who hides his eyes will have many curses.”
I don’t think it gets much clearer than that. Our collective human sin made the mess we live in, so we’re all responsible for those who are suffering. And if you search through the pages of the Bible carefully, you’ll discover that you don’t find much mention of governments being responsible for taking care of your neighbor. By stark contrast, the responsibility falls on you.
You’ll notice in Matthew 25, when Jesus commends those who fed the hungry and visited those in prison, He doesn’t say, “Good for you, you voted for a government that made a real difference taking care of social inequity.” No, that’s not what Jesus says. He gets much more pointed. Just listen to what He says to those who refuse to help people in their time of need (Matthew 25:44, 45):
“Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’”
Nothing could be clearer than the Bible statements that we’re all responsible for those who are suffering all around us.
In no way, shape or form does Jesus let us off the hook because the human race isn’t going to fix the problem all by themselves. And the underlying fact remains the same. The problems in this world are not caused by outside circumstances, they’re caused by us. And short of a miracle, we’re not going to fix it.
That’s why I find it a little disturbing when I see Christians who have replaced the basic Gospel message with something known as the social Gospel. Somehow, during the latter part of last century, some of us in some circles have reinvented Jesus as something of a Marxist radical and we’ve changed the Gospel message to be primarily about feeding the hungry and clothing the poor.
Now again, there is no question God expects us to take care of people, but the social Gospel denies, or at least ignores, the root of the problem. The truth of the Bible is that we have a massive sin defect in our hearts and we need a Savior.
You know, I can’t help but notice that Jesus actually said on one occasion that the poor would always be with us. Now, that doesn’t mean that God’s heart doesn’t ache for those who are suffering. And again, it doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t do something to help. But it does mean that Jesus wasn’t expecting a social revolution that would fix the problem of human inequity. As long as we are sinful human beings, and as long as we live in a sinful world, inequity—tragically—is going to be a part of life.
Marxist ideology has proven to be nothing more than a diversion from the real problem. Now, I have to admire the determination of Marxists everywhere to do something about human suffering. But sometimes even a good cause can be a diversion from really ails us. The real problem is us. The real problem is sin.
In a way, Karl Marx was actually motivated by the theory of evolution, which was taking hold at about the same time that he began to write. You can’t help but notice that his concept of class struggle isn’t altogether different than Darwin’s survival of the fittest.
Here is what both theories have in common—they deny the essential problem here on planet Earth: We once had a perfect world and we blew it, and the only real solution for the corrupted human heart is found at the cross of Christ.
Listen, again, I want to stress that I'm not trying to abdicate our responsibility toward our neighbors. The Bible is crystal clear that God expects that from us. But I am trying to point out that human solutions almost never work.
Corruption always seems to bob to the surface. Our best intentions are marred by our inability to take our eyes off of ourselves, and the ultimate solution is found in the promises of God. God knows exactly what we’re living with.
The Bible says that God notices our suffering and even though we don’t deserve it, He’s going to fix the problem we caused. Listen to this remarkable passage found in the Book of Isaiah, where God gives us a sneak peek into a world that’s just about to come. Listen to this. He says (Isaiah 65:17, 18):
“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, and her people a joy.”
Now, here’s the promise of God: There’s another world coming. This one’s been so corrupted, badly corrupted that it doesn’t need fixing anymore, it needs replacing.
Again, that doesn’t mean you’re off the hook when it comes to helping your neighbor or that you can now do whatever you want to this planet because it’s going to be destroyed and replaced.
The Bible’s clear about your responsibility now to bring a little bit of Heaven to Earth. But as you live your life and face the struggles that we all have to face, know in your heart that God has something better planned.
Here, listen to what it says in Isaiah 21, because it’s a verse that would have warmed Marx’s heart if he had only turned to the Bible for answers. It says (Isaiah 65:22, 23):
“They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people, and My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth children for trouble; for they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them.”
God’s promise is this, even though we don’t deserve it, even though this whole mess is the work of our hands, God’s going to turn it all around. One day you’re not going to punch the clock for somebody else; everybody’s going to be self-employed.
Well, actually, that’s not quite true. In the earth made new, everybody works for God. And, you know, when that happens, suffering comes to an end. The base problem of human existence is going to be eliminated because sin will be a thing of the past.
And how exactly does that happen? The Book of Revelation makes it crystal clear. Listen to this, it’s exciting (Revelation 5:9, 10):
“And they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.’”
Now, did you hear that? It’s the blood of Christ that solves all the problems. We don’t have what it takes to clean our hearts, and so the only solution, short of wiping us out, was for Jesus to die in our place, pay for our sins, and then offer to change our hearts as we live in a new faith relationship with Him.
So, when you get right down to brass tacks, it turns out we don’t really need another social program as helpful as some of those programs really are. What we need is to acknowledge the real problem and admit that the only place you’re going to fix that problem is at the foot of the cross.
You know, Karl Marx once said that religion was the opiate of the masses because he believed that Christianity was a tool of the rich oppressor to keep the poor man under his thumb.
But it’s too bad that Karl Marx didn’t do a little more reading in God’s book, because as it turns out, it just might be the case that Marxism is the real opiate of the masses. That theory has us focused on wrong things and we’ve been numb to the real problems and the real crises. Marx actually diverted our attention, and that’s something important to think about.
Let me ask you today: Where’s your hope? Are you relying on governments? Are you relying on others to fix your problems? Or would you like to come to somebody who really knows? Why don’t we pray together?
PRAYER:
Father in Heaven, we know the world is full of suffering and we believe your heart breaks when you see the problems we caused on this planet that you had originally made perfect. Today we want to admit the real problem behind human suffering and we want to ask you, forgive us. Take our hearts. Remake them in the image of Christ for we ask these things in Jesus’ name, Amen.
Scriptures Used in “Opium for the Masses”
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?”
—Jeremiah 17:9
“If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
—1 John 1:8
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”
—Romans 3:23
“For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do…for the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice…for I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?”
—Romans 7:14, 15, 19, 22-24
“Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the leopard its spots? Then may you also do good who are accustomed to do evil.”
—Jeremiah 13:23
“He who gives to the poor will not lack, but he who hides his eyes will have many curses.”
—Proverbs 28:27
“Then they also will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?’ Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’”
—Matthew 25:44, 45
“For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former shall not be remembered or come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem as a rejoicing, and her people a joy.”
—Isaiah 65:17, 18
“They shall not build and another inhabit; they shall not plant and another eat; for as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of My people, and My elect shall long enjoy the work of their hands. They shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth children for trouble; for they shall be the descendants of the blessed of the Lord, and their offspring with them.”
—Isaiah 65:22, 23
“And they sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on the earth.’”
—Revelation 5:9, 10