Cultural-Marxism
Short answer: Cultural Marxism is a contested label, used by some to describe a cluster of critical theories that read society as a struggle between oppressed and oppressor groups, and rejected by others as a vague political slogan. Colossians 3:1-11 addresses the underlying question without using the term. Paul tells believers who have been raised with Christ to seek things above, to put to death earthly practices, and to put on the new self, since Christ is all and in all. That means the church's primary response is not a mirror-image identity politics or a fleshly culture war, but renewed minds, truthful speech, and a community where old divisions lose their ultimate power. Christians may differ on how much of the label is useful, but the passage's priorities are clear.
What people usually mean by cultural Marxism
The phrase cultural Marxism is used in at least three different ways, and confusing them makes every conversation worse. In its oldest and most technical sense it refers to a strand of twentieth-century Western Marxist thought that shifted attention from economics to culture, arguing that revolution would come through reshaping institutions, language, and norms rather than through factory strikes alone. That is a real intellectual history, and it can be studied.
In popular usage the term has expanded enormously. It now often functions as an umbrella for critical race theory, some strands of gender theory, intersectionality, and various identity-based political movements. Used this broadly, it is less a precise school of thought than a shorthand for a family resemblance. Critics reply, fairly, that the umbrella is so wide it obscures real differences between thinkers who disagree with one another.
A third usage is polemical: the label becomes a way of dismissing an opponent without answering the argument. When that happens, the term stops doing analysis and starts doing what Colossians 3 warns against, which is speech that is not shaped by truth. A careful reader should ask which sense is being used before responding.
Colossians 3:1-11 addresses the deeper issue
Paul does not begin with political theory. He begins with union with Christ. Colossians 3:1 says, "If then you were raised together with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated on the right hand of God." The believer's identity is not finally determined by ethnicity, class, or any category of grievance or privilege. It is determined by being hidden with Christ in God.
That does not make social injustice imaginary. Paul goes on in the same letter to name real sins: sexual immorality, greed, anger, slander, and lying. He treats them as moral realities that God judges, not as mere social constructs. The passage is therefore not a denial that power is abused. It is a claim about where the decisive battle is fought and who has authority to define the human person.
When Paul says Christ is all and in all, he is making a claim that no ideology, religious or secular, can match. Every rival account of identity has to answer to him. That is the ground on which the church engages the debate, not the ground of a rival tribe.
Seek things above, not a mirror-image culture war
Colossians 3:2 says, "Set your mind on the things that are above, not on the things that are on the earth." This is often misread as telling Christians to ignore the world. Paul is not recommending withdrawal. He is reordering loves. The mind set on things above sees earthly conflicts in the light of Christ's reign, not the reverse.
That matters because a great deal of Christian response to cultural Marxism has been reaction rather than reflection. The temptation is to adopt the same logic from the other side: sort people into good and bad groups, assign guilt by category, and win with the same weapons. But 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 says, "For though we walk in the flesh, we don’t wage war according to the flesh." The weapons are not identical to the world's.
This does not mean passivity. It means the church argues with evidence, persuades with reasons, serves the vulnerable, and refuses to lie about opponents. If a theory is false, it can be answered. If a genuine injustice exists, it can be named without borrowing a framework that denies the gospel.
Put to death what is earthly in your own life first
Before Paul names social divisions, he names personal sin. Colossians 3:5 says, "Put to death therefore your members which are on the earth: sexual immorality, uncleanness, lustful passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry." The order is instructive. The church does not purify the culture while tolerating greed and lust in its own members.
He continues in Colossians 3:8, "but now you also put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and shameful speaking out of your mouth." Slander and shameful speaking are precisely what much online debate about cultural Marxism consists of. That is a serious problem, because it means the loudest critics can be disqualified by the very passage they cite.
Colossians 3:9 adds, "Don’t lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his practices." Truth-telling is not optional in this discussion. Misrepresenting a writer, inventing a quotation, or exaggerating a threat is sin, even when the underlying concern is legitimate. The old self is not a strategy.
The new humanity breaks the categories
Colossians 3:11 reads, "where there can’t be Greek and Jew, circumcision and uncircumcision, barbarian, Scythian, bondservant, freeman; but Christ is all, and in all." This is one of the most radical statements in the New Testament. It does not abolish ethnic or social difference; Paul elsewhere values his Jewish heritage. It abolishes the division's final authority.
Notice what Paul does not do. He does not say the categories never existed. He does not say oppression never happened. He says that in the renewed humanity, these distinctions no longer define who belongs or who is honored. That is a direct challenge to any framework that treats group identity as the ultimate interpretive key to every relationship.
It is also a challenge to Christians who quietly treat their own political or cultural group as the real people of God. The new humanity is not a tribe. It is a body gathered around a crucified and risen Lord, and its unity is a public argument.
Put on compassion, not contempt
Paul immediately describes the new self's clothing. Colossians 3:12 says, "Put on therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, humility, and perseverance." These are not soft virtues added after the real work. They are the real work. A Christian who is right about a theory but contemptuous toward people is not yet wearing the new self.
Colossians 3:13 continues, "bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, if any man has a complaint against any; even as the Lord forgave you, so you also do." The church's willingness to forgive is a witness that no political program can replicate, because it flows from the cross.
Colossians 3:14 adds, "Above all these things walk in love, which is the bond of perfection." Love is not a slogan that relativizes truth. It is the manner in which truth is held and spoken. On this point, faithful Christians who disagree about politics can still agree, because the command is not negotiable.
Engage ideas with truth and courage
None of this means Christians should ignore ideas. Paul reasoned in synagogues and marketplaces. False teaching about human identity, guilt, and community has real consequences for real people, and it deserves a serious, charitable, well-researched answer. The church should produce thinkers, not just slogans.
Ephesians 6:10-20 reminds believers that the struggle is not ultimately against people. Ephesians 6:12 says, "For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world’s rulers of the darkness of this age, and against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places." That reframes the fight. People are not the enemy to be destroyed; they are neighbors to be won.
1 Peter 3:15-16 gives the tone: be ready to give an answer, with gentleness and respect, keeping a good conscience. The goal is not to win an argument at any cost. It is to commend the truth by the way we hold it, so that the message and the messenger match.
What this means for ordinary church life
The most practical implication of Colossians 3 is local. A church that genuinely practices these verses, where the old self is being put to death and the new self is being renewed, is already a counter-witness to every ideology that reduces people to categories. That does not require a political program. It requires honesty, forgiveness, and love in the room.
Second, it means teaching members to think, not merely to react. Many believers repeat phrases about cultural Marxism they cannot define. That is a failure of discipleship, not of politics. Pastors can help by explaining terms carefully and by modeling fair representation of opposing views.
Third, it means patience. Renewal is a process. Colossians 3:10 says the new self "is being renewed to knowledge after the image of its Creator." The church is being changed over time, and so are its members. The response to a confused age is not panic but steady, renewed, truthful living.
Biblical fidelity check
Colossians 3:1-11 establishes several things plainly: believers are raised with Christ, their minds are to be set above, sin is to be put to death, and the new humanity transcends ethnic and social divisions with Christ as all and in all. It does not mention cultural Marxism, critical theory, or any modern political movement. It does not prescribe a policy program, a voting pattern, or a strategy for cultural engagement. Reading a modern label into the text is an application, not an exposition, and should be labeled as such.
A common misreading is to treat this passage as a mandate for culture-war victory or, conversely, as a call to political silence. Both go beyond the text. The passage commands holiness, truthfulness, and love, and those commands constrain every political posture a Christian might adopt. Another misreading is to use the new humanity language to deny that real injustices exist; Paul never does that. He denies that such divisions are ultimate, not that they are real.
Other passages that speak to Colossians 3:1-11
Romans 1:18-32 describes humanity suppressing truth in unrighteousness, which explains why any ideology, religious or secular, can distort reality. 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 shows God overturning human wisdom through the cross, so that no faction can boast. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 defines the Christian's weapons as non-fleshly and aimed at arguments and pretensions, not people. Ephesians 6:10-20 locates the real conflict in spiritual realms. 1 Peter 3:8-17 calls for gentleness and respect while suffering for what is right. For closer studies, see What Does 1 Corinthians 1:10 Mean? Context, Theology, and Application, What Does 1 Corinthians 1:9 Mean? Context, Theology, and Application, 1 Corinthians 1: Called, United, and Boasting in the Lord, and 1 Corinthians 10: Warnings and Freedom.
Frequently asked questions
Does Colossians 3:1-11 condemn cultural Marxism by name?
No. The passage never uses the term, and the term did not exist when Paul wrote. What the passage does is set the terms for evaluating any framework: it insists that Christ is supreme, that sin is real and personal, that truth must be spoken, and that the new humanity transcends group divisions. Those commitments will rule out some ideas and correct others, but the text itself does not name a modern movement. Any application to current debates should be presented as application, not as the plain meaning of the verses.
Should Christians study critical theory and cultural Marxism at all?
Yes, with discernment. Paul reasoned with opposing viewpoints rather than ignoring them, and 1 Peter 3:15 calls believers to give a reason for their hope. You cannot fairly answer an argument you have not understood. Studying a framework does not mean adopting it. The danger is not knowledge but absorbing a system's assumptions without noticing. Read primary sources, compare them with Scripture, and be honest about what the sources actually claim rather than relying on secondhand summaries from either side.
How should a Christian respond when accused of being influenced by cultural Marxism?
First, consider the charge honestly. Colossians 3:9 forbids lying, so self-examination is appropriate. If the accusation is accurate, repent. If it is not, answer with gentleness and respect, as 1 Peter 3:15-16 directs, without returning insult. Define what you actually believe, cite your sources, and refuse to mirror the hostility of the accuser. The goal is not to win the exchange but to keep a good conscience and commend the truth. Faithful Christians disagree about how much the label applies, so leave room for that disagreement.
