Religion is the Opiate of the People
By Buddy Hanson The Covenant News ~ September 05, 2009
Georg Hegel was a 19th century German philosopher who wrote Philosophy of Right in 1844. Upon reading it Karl Marx concluded that, "Religion is the opiate of the people." With the exception of Christianity, Marx's assessment is correct because all other religions are mental shams that are designed to help a person "cope" with all that life throws his way.
Christianity, on the other hand, goes beyond soothing our feelings in tough circumstances to presenting us with a prescription to change the circumstances. Unfortunately, many in the church are attempting to make Marx's statement true by teaching that the only purpose of God's Word is to "comfort us" in the various unpleasant circumstances in which we occasionally find ourselves. This leads to ultimate question of:
"Is Marx right, or is Jesus right?"
By living as though Christianity is not different from any of the false religions, we create a couple of problems:* First, we don't trust our beliefs enough to apply them to our daily vocational decision-making. This means that whenever we tackle cultural problems we invariably turn to any source of "wisdom" except God's! No wonder non-Christians look upon us as being "culturally irrelevant!" That is a title we have shamefully earned by confining our faith to the inside of our homes and churches. Such behavior, however, has no biblical basis. Peter reminds us that we should publicize, not privatize, our faith:
You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. 1 Peter 2.9
Indeed, we should "declare the praises of God" for all He does for us, but before we can begin to praise Him, we must stop conforming our behavior to the ways of the world. (Romans 12.1-2) We have been mercifully called into God's family and Christ's Kingdom to serve our holy God and have been given the charge to bring about "His will on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6.10) Instead of being humbled at being selected to have His truth revealed to us, and instead of appreciating the fact that we have the Holy Spirit guiding us into an accurate understanding of His Word, we cower behind unbiblical excuses such as:
"I don't want to push my beliefs on others." Or,
"We shouldn't mix religion with politics." Or,
"Since Satan is in control of the earth, all we can do is take a brave stand for His truths, and wait for Jesus to return and rescue us from this cruel and sinful world."
People who make such excuses should ask themselves why God revealed and then preserved His inerrant instructions for living if He didn't intend for us to "subdue and rule over the earth" by following them. (Genesis 1.26-28) They should ask themselves why Jehovah and the apostle Paul tell us that our obedience will enable us to "crush Satan's head," (Genesis 3.15; Romans 16.20) or why Jesus promises that "the gates of Hades" will not be able to stand against the onslaught of His church. (Matthew 16.18) Or, why Paul tells us that we have been called into Christ's Kingdom to "overcome evil with good." (Romans 12.21)
To listen to such misguided arguments, you would think that God's intention was to merely write a best-selling devotional guide, instead of an instruction book that details how we can live, work, play, raise our families, self-govern ourselves, and worship Him according to His perfect and holy wisdom, instead of according to our imperfect and sinful wisdom. Indeed, how we can live in order to "put all of His enemies under His feet," so that Jesus can then make His glorious return. (1 Corinthians 15.25)
These optimistic and glorious promises of God to us may sound strange to those who spend most of their Bible study on the speculation of when Jesus might return, but they certainly didn't sound strange to the Protestant Reformers, or to America's founding fathers who spent their time studying God's revelation. Instead of spending their time escaping their culture, they spent their time engaging it with biblical ethics, and God responded by enabling them to "Christianize" Western Civilization.
If you are addicted to biblical speculation, then God's Word will serve as your "opiate" to escape the accountabilities to which God has called you. On the other hand...
If you are addicted to biblical revelation, then God's Word will prepare you to present and defend the faith and to "Make the nations HIs disciples" by living according to His revelation? (Matthew 28.18-20; Revelation 11.15)
If all of this sounds too good to be true, stay tuned, and next week
we'll take a look at "God's Plan for Governing the Earth."
* Those who say they believe that Christianity is the one true
religion, but who live as though it isn't should be asked to give a
biblical explanation for the ungodly testimony they present to their
non-Christian neighbors on a daily basis.
Buddy Hanson is President of the Christian Policy Network and Director
of the Christian Worldview Resources Center and has written several
books on the necessity of applying one's faith to everyday situations,
circumstances and decision-making.