Gerard, my dear friend,Thank you for your most kind response. My apologies that I enraged you, that was not my purpose here. May the Blessings of Jesus Christ be with you today.
Firstly, being a Christian is far from being complacent. You find that you are challenged daily, and in the popular world, you are in-fact constantly ridiculed. That's O.K. however. Once you are saved by the Blood of Christ you no longer have membership in this world so that does not matter, your membership is now in Heaven. Living out your years on this earth, one's primary mission now is to promote the Gospel message for the salvation of souls (hardly a complacent activity).
Secondly, God did not create the "isms" that dominate our life, man did. That is why they are so inadequately woeful and can't be trusted. I would contend that the "isms" like capitalism, communism, et.al. are in fact man-made RELIGIONs. THEY are indeed and in fact the opiate of the masses. THEY enslave man. THEY use him for petty political agendas. THEY work him up in a lather to promote hate and discontent. For proof of this, just browse through this chat page. People worship their ideologies. Interesting to note, also, many of these authors identify themselves with religious (earthly worship) titles and organizations. THEY are truly the religious ones, and THEY have truly succumbed to the opiate of their own man-made religious "ism". I'll even venture a guess that there are exact and repetitive actions, oaths and manifestos to recite, required for membership in these organizations. Sounds like rituals, "prayers" and a religion to me. Big time! Isn't it rather the ideologues who in-fact cower before the "almighty leaders" of man-made religion?
Now, did Jesus teach us to be religious? Contrary to popular belief He did NOT. In fact, the most harsh criticism that He ever levied was TOWARDS the religious of His day. (Example, Matthew 23 "You hypocrites") Why? Because He was teaching us that it is not of OUR works that we are saved (or even our apparent "goodness" for that matter) it is by the Grace of God only. He was saying that no earthly practice, ritual, or act will warrant you any favoritism in the eyes of God. We are all sinners and none of us can boast.
If we are NOT to become religious, what did Jesus teach us to become? He taught us to become Godly in His ways. There is a major difference between being religious and being Godly. A modern day example is Bosnia. There are many devout religious people there (Catholic, Orthodox, and Muslim), but how many Godly people are there amongst the factions? Woefully few I surmise. The point is that "religiousness" just doesn't get it. Love of God does. Godliness demands obedience to Christ because you love Him.
Finally, Christ and socialism. It is absurd to say that Christ is, or ever has been, influenced by any of man's "isms". He is omnipotent, and sovereign. Marx, or any of us for that matter, have nothing (absolutely zero) to offer Jesus in the way of "advice". Moreover, Christ did not come here to take up the political banner of any man's ideology. It is an affront to Him to reduce Him to that. (Sorry Karl, and anyone else, if that injures your pride.)
May I pray for you? Dear Heavenly Father, forgive me for my offenses against my fellow man. Thank you for the opportunity to share your most Holy Word with these dear ones. Bless them and lead them into Your Eternal Kingdom, in Jesus' Name. Amen.
Well, my dear friend Gerard. May the Lord Jesus Christ richly Bless you in all things.
"But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well." Matthew 6:33
Robert M. Mitrocsak
