THE TANGLED WEB

"Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ." Colossians 2:8

The great inventor, Thomas Edison, was an aficionado of expensive cigars from Havana, Cuba, and he proudly displayed them in a humidor on his desk. Visitors to his office were impressed and often helped themselves to his premium cigars, which began to annoy him greatly. Seeing this frustration, his secretary suggested he have cigars made from cabbage leaves and substitute them for the Havanas. Edison agreed, but then forgot about the whole thing and didn't remember until later, when he asked his secretary why the bogus cigars hadn't arrived yet. She told him they had arrived and had been given to his manager who, not knowing they were fakes, had packed them for Edison to take on a trip. Edison began laughing hysterically and said, "I smoked every one of those cigars myself!"

This reminds me a favorite saying of my dear mother who would often warn, "Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when we practice to deceive!", and oh how true that is! This is especially true for the Church today, because at some point in the past, "...many deceivers have gone out into the world... (2Jn 1:7)", and oh what a deceptive web they have weaved! As a result, Christians more and more, are departing from the truth of Scripture, and fully embracing the deceptions of modern sociology and humanistic thought. What was once a passing flirtatious interest and curious fascination for Christian scholars, pastors and seminarians, has now become a fully enveloping system of neo-orthodoxy, which has snared unsuspecting believers with its false promises of compassion, empathy, and good will toward his fellow man.   

I always chuckle when I read the quote of Winston Churchill, who said, "The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter." Likewise, the best argument against Christians having anything at all to do with modern socialism, would be to have a five minute conversation with its three founding fathers; Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, and Max Weber! We don't have time to fully explore their philosophies here, but suffice it to say that, we have good reason to be suspicious of the application and appropriation of socialism into the mix of theology and practical Christian experience.

Have you ever noticed that, "Nobody talks so constantly about God as those who insist that there is no God. (Broun)” Not surprisingly these, “Fathers of secularization theory”, all held major animosity toward the Christian faith in particular, theorizing, “…that the more advanced and educated a society became, the less it would need that, “opium of the masses”... (Zylstra)” How ironic it is now that Christian colleges and seminaries are now fully embracing their philosophies and incorporating them into theology and ministry programs. It would be funny if it were not so tragic! 

Remarkably, “A significant element of [Marx’s] theory ...was his view of human nature. Unlike Christian views of human beings as originally good but now sinful, or other philosophies that assert that the intrinsically good human race has been somehow corrupted, Marx began with the idea that human beings are, at root, socially created, neither inherently good nor bad. (Howell 229)” This denial of the fall of man in the garden is a catastrophic failure for any system of philosophy that seeks to understand the folly of man's ways. 

Human nature, he argued, "...is a flexible capacity that changes over time. Anthropologists have also drawn from his idea that social conflict caused by inequality is a key organizing principle for culture. (Howell 229)” Sound familiar? Obviously, this is an overriding principle that still governs their work to this day and we see it being marched up and down the streets of our cities every weekend. They say, "Its not man's sinful nature that is the problem, (as the Bible describes it), it's the Marxist notions of social inequality that we must address!", and the modern church is falling for it, hook, line, and sinker! 

At the core of their socialistic thought, both Marx and Durkheim believed that the, “…phenomena of religion is the product of underlying social or material causes, not reflections of spiritual or metaphysical causes. (Howell 230)” Translation? The philosophy that drives socialism, rejects any possibility of spiritual or metaphysical realities that justify systems of faith! So, in essence, they are claiming that your Christian Faith is not justifiably grounded in spiritual reality, it is just a made up social construct. 

Unbelievably, that is exactly how this theory is being implemented into the Christian faith and no one seems to mind. Why don't they mind? Because many Christians today have lost hope in the return of their Savior and the spiritual reality of an eternal heaven, and are now content to embrace the transient nature of this material existence on earth. They've abandoned the spiritual truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and are replacing it with material needs of the social gospel of secular humanism. 

These systems have failed repeatedly though, why do we waste our time with them? As George Bernard Shaw, renowned free thinker and liberal philosopher bemoaned in his final writings; "The science to which I pinned my faith is bankrupt. Its counsels, which should have established the millennium, led, instead, directly to the suicide of Europe. I believed them once. In their name I helped to destroy the faith of millions of worshipers in the temples of a thousand creeds. And now they look at me and witness the great tragedy of an atheist who has lost his faith." ~Shaw

How can we as Christians embrace these theoretical constructs which fundamentally deny the biblical principles of the fallen nature of mankind, as well as God’s plan of redemption? Why are we compromising with such a flawed understanding of human nature which has resulted in the revolution and overthrow of sovereign nations, and the murder of tens of millions of men, women, and children? 

Christians, more than ever, must wake up and defend our churches from the encroachment of these kinds of doctrines coming into the church, while still being faithful to share the love of Christ and care for the needs of people inside and outside of the church!

"Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ." 

Colossians 2:8 (NKJV)

By Pastor Glen Mustian

Works Cited:

Heywood Broun. http://www.sermonillustrations.com/a-z/a/atheism.htm

Howell, Brian M.. Introducing Cultural Anthropology: A Christian Perspective. Baker Publishing
Zylstra, Sarah. https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2017/april/