John the Baptist and the Harmony of Interests
The Communist Karl Marx believed in the theory of a conflict of interests. Basically, this meant that within society there were groups with endless conflicting interests who were at war with one and other due to their irreconcilable differences. For example, in factories the workers were against the owners, in terms of classes the proletariat (working class) were against the bourgeoisie (middle class), in families children were against parents and in schools pupils were against teachers. The conflicts in society would only be solved by revolution and the resulting dictatorship of the proletariat (signifying the defeat of the bourgeoisie) – which is the first stage of Communism (Socialism – this is what existed in the former Soviet Union and exists in China today, neither of these regimes ever claimed to be fully Communist, but Socialist, with the aim of being fully Communist). Once every nation in the world has become Socialist then, according to Marx, the state would wither away as an instrument of class warfare, and full Communism would finally exist.
While the Bible recognises that there are different groups and classes of people – rich and poor, elders and laypeople, parents and children, employers and employees – it is the will of God that these groups co-operate for the glory of God, not live in perpetual warfare with one another. Hence, we find that children are commanded to obey their parents (Eph. 6:1-3), yet at the same time parents are not to provoke or exasperate their children but bring them up in a manner that is for their benefit (Eph. 6:4).
Interestingly, as the forerunner of the Messiah, one of the fruits of John the Baptists’ ministry was the promotion of the harmony of interests in society. Thus, Zechariah was told that, before John was born, ‘he will go before him [Christ] in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people for the Lord prepared’ (Luke 2:17). Consequently, in a Christian society, while class differences and variations of rank and status exist, the emphasis is not laid on the potential for antagonism that may exist between these groupings, but on the duty that various groups in society have to work with each other for the glory of God and their own mutual interest. How then do you conduct yourself to those superior, smarter or richer than you? Are you closer to Marx or to John the Baptist?
