Socialism, The Opiate Of The Danish Masses - My Life In Denmark (Part 13)

I'm not sure if Karl Marx ever realized how upside down his famous statement was. It is actually when many of Marx's socialist ideals get put into practice, for an extended time, that you get to see a general populace that is both sedated and pacified. This is strongly evident in Denmark where the state has taken on the role of national nanny. Never in my life have I encountered so many passive and indifferent men who have been sedated under the narcotic of a massive welfare system.

In Denmark, work is an option that someone may take should he find the place of employment that meets his specific requirements. And why be entrepreneurial and visionary when the state circles your profitability like a vulture with its ravenous claws of taxation. Mediocrity is the happy middle road winding its way through this socialist landscape.

Options abound for those who get their fix from the state. You can take a job and work at your own pace. No worries, the union will make sure that you cannot get fired . . . that is unless you want to take a two year holiday courtesy of your employment insurance. Why have initiative, why be industrious, why care for your neighbor - when the government can do it all for you.

Marx never understood that it is actually a biblical worldview flowing out of a genuine Christian conversion that generates a sense of drive and destiny in the individual. A willingness to risk one's life for the sake of a transcendent and worthy cause. Indeed it was Paul who said:

But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith — that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let those of us who are mature think this way, and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal that also to you. Only let us hold true to what we have attained. Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us (Phillipians 3:7-17).

Paul even admonished the Christians at Thessalonica that if a man does not work then he should not be fed (2 Thessalonians 3:10). Christians are a people so enraptured with the ultimate sacrifice of their Savior that they joyously enter in to a life of self sacrifice and labor that they may be salt and light in an evil generation.

This all relates specifically to the work of planting a biblical church in Denmark. There are those who profess Christ and as such can agree with the need for sound biblical churches. But when push comes to shove, many professing Christians are still dangerously contaminated from years of being assimilated into the socialist machinations that drive this country. Many are unwilling to venture away from the secure surrounds of an apostate church where the gospel never gets preached. Some are overly fond of the state sponsored day care centers that raise their children. Even the Lutheran priests are on the state payroll - so why take the risk of opposing anything unbiblical.

It was five hundred years ago that Europe saw men like Martin Luther put his life on the line before the evil Roman Catholic empire when he said:

To renounce these writings would be unthinkable for that would be to renounce accepted Christian truths... The second group of my work is directed aginst the foul doctrine and evil living of the Popes, past and present... Through the laws of the Pope and the doctrines of men, the consciences of the faithful have been miserably vexed and flayed. If I recant these books, I will do nothing but add strength to tyranny and open not just the windows but also the doors to this great ungodliness... Unless I am convinced by Scripture and by plain reason and not by Popes and councils who have so often contradicted themselves, my conscience is captive to the word of God. To go against conscience is neither right nor safe. I cannot and I will not recant. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me.

How did Europe go from from reformers willing to risk their lives to priests who won't risk their jobs?

God has graciously blessed our new fellowship of Kristuskirken beyond my wildest pessimistic expectations. But I remain equally surprised to see how unwilling some people have been to leave the "safety" of their apostate surroundings nor their socialist safety net. Christian men of Denmark - please wake up, man up, and get off the drugs! Your nationality is no longer Denmark if you belong to Christ - you are strangers and aliens in a foreign land looking for a city whose builder and maker is God. Becoming a Christian means becoming a part of one culture - a biblical one with a worldview to match.

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