I mentioned my Bible Class before. At the college preparatory academy I attend the first class of the day is Bible Class. This class replaces HomeRoom as it would be in many schools which are not religiously affiliated. My first year Bible covered the old testament from Genesis to Malachi. My second year it covered the New Testament. My third year was basically psalms, praises, and prophesies. This year the class is called Knowing the Times. The class is inspired by the book by David Lloyd-Jones.
This book categorizes and describes the five or six primary types of worldviews. A worldview is more than a religion or a philosophy or a way of life, it is all three. Google defines a worldview as a "a particular philosophy of life or conception of the world." The Free Dictionary says a worldview is "The overall perspective from which one sees and interprets the world and/or a collection of beliefs about life and the universe held by an individual or a group." The Macmillan Dictionary defines it as "the way that someone sees and understands world events, especially in relation to their religious or political beliefs and ideas."
The class is designed to teach these different worldviews from the texts of the advocates of the views, meaning it teaches from direct quotes from manifestos and leading men and women in the worldview. This is so that what we learn is not prejudiced by the potential bias of the authors of the book. The purpose is, however Christian apologetics. So then we study the Christian viewpoint and perspectives on the same parts of life or readings, and often the apologetics of how to refute some of the premises of these worldviews.
In the class I have been working on a summary of Marxist and Socialist ethical systems. We study these systems from direct quotes, as I mentioned, and I will post some.
"Law, morality, religion, are...so many [prejudices of the upper class] behind which lurk in ambush just as many [of the upper classes' interests]" -Marx
"We know perfectly well that the...landowners...invoked the name of God as to further their own interests as exploiters" -Lenin
"So long as classes exist on the earth, there will be no such thing in life as something good in the absolute sense...what is good for the 'imperialists'" [In this context he means every not socialist, communist, or marxist part of the world] " is disastrous for the working class...." -Khruschev
For those of you who don't know, these are the very founders of Marxism and Leninism. To give you a little background, I am a red-blooded capitalist. That doesn't mean I don't think a commonwealth, or socialistic system wouldn't work in an ideal world. Sharing and freely taking care of ones fellow man is a beautiful ideal. But I also believe in the sinful nature of man, and that such a system cannot possibly function in the world as it is. And I truly believe history backs me up.
But even ignoring my capitalistic tendencies, having read that, don't those quotes sound like the statements of conspiracy theorists. "It's all the upper class." I know many people in the upper class. They don't get together in meetings trying to crush the little guy. Most of them have gained their wealth in ways so varied they don't even resemble one another. They don't travel in the same circles or speak to the same people or attend the same clubs and churches. When exactly did they get together to plan this intentional, large-scale suppression of the rights of the middle and lower class? And not a single one of them that I have met has ever minded that we have the most dramatically graduated income tax in the world in the United States.
I am not so naive as I sound. I know there are good men and bad men from every walk of life. But that does not mean that the wealthy are all bad, or mostly bad. Because they're just not. A wise man once told me the wealthy don't do anything TO the lower class they do something DIFFERENT than the lower class. While this is of course not universally true, I think the villainization of the upper class is a trap. (I also acknowledge that there are many in the world in poverty who need the help of spirit-filled Christians to jump start their life and take control, whether this is from sin or from poverty or from something else.)
FINALLY, I got to the point. Sorry, but I had a little more back story than usual.
The same man who said that told me that we as humans tend to sabotage ourselves. We know that if we step up and put ourselves out there we might fail. Perhaps we are even likely to fail, many times, before we succeed. We need to stop making excuses and get moving.
Abraham Lincoln (and I am sure you have heard this before) lost his job, failed at his own business, and was defeated for eight political positions before becoming president. But ultimately he reunited the country and ended slavery. (while severely limiting states rights and expanding federal control, but we can't have it all can we?) All of us we are bound to mess up at some point. But an error does not become a mistake until we refuse to correct it.
Lamentations 3:36 says, “To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth not." (KJV) Later in the same passage it says "Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to the LORD."
When we find ourself sabotaging ourselves, or even others, we need to turn away from our own doubts and claims and excuses, we need to turn to the Lord. We need to evaluate what we have been doing and seek God through prayer and change OUR path, instead of blaming others for our misfortune.
2 Peter 2:10 says "Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble." We are responsible for our own actions. And 2 Corinthians 5:10 says that when we appear before the Judgment Seat we will all be held accountable for our own actions, whether for good or for ill.
OK, so my example is a little too overarching. I said that not all wealthy people are responsible for the poverty of others, and I am well aware that many of the impoverished are facing circumstances beyond their control. My point, however, is sound. We often seek to make excuses, to take the easy way out. We blame others for our failures and don't own up to our actions if we even take action. Because it is far easier to do nothing. After all, "Those who don't try, never look foolish." -Fiyero But neither do those who do not try accomplish anything.
And to steal another man's wisdom "It has been said that for evil men to accomplish their purpose it is only necessary that good men should do nothing" -Reverend Charles F. Aked.
You may recognize the quote's later version "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."-Edmund Burke.
Matthew 7:3-5 offers an additional admonishment: we should not spend our time focusing on what others do wrong at all but rather make sure our heart, lives, and actions are in the right place first before helping others do the same.
“Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye." Matthew 7:3-5 (NIV)
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