Was Jesus a Socialist?

This is the first real post on here. You might be thinking, "What kind of title is that?!" Before you get the stones, pitchforks, and torches, read on. Then if you want to string me up at the end, then you will have to catch me. ;)

Let’s begin:

This is something that has been weighing on my mind for the last couple of years or so. Those who know me pretty well know that I tend to go on these rants about society, government, religion, etc. This post is going to touch on all three, if not more. Bear with me if I start to ramble or sound soap boxy, I don’t mean to. If any of you have any complaints, corrections, or comments, please feel free to let them fly; that is the point of this blog, to air out any concerns, thoughts, and ideas, and then learn from them or grow from them both spiritually and intellectually. So, I hope you enjoy.

Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary defines socialism:

1: any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods
2 a: a system of society or group living in which there is no private property b: a system or condition of society in which the means of production are owned and controlled by the state
3: a stage of society in Marxist theory transitional between capitalism and communism and distinguished by unequal distribution of goods and pay according to work done

Under this system, the state (government), takes it upon themselves to take all of the products, goods, and revenue of the nation and divide among the citizens. It’s goal is to take from the industrious and wealthy, (the have’s), and redistribute the wealth among everyone, including the less productive and less wealthy (the have not’s). The idea is to do away with class warfare, and give everyone an opportunity to live, albeit not as richly.

In a nation that has only known this type of government, this can work or looks good on paper anyway. But, let’s consider the United States. This country is essentially made up of 3 classes. The upper class is made up of people who have mastered their trade or skill, invented something that has improved the way we live, or has been just plain lucky. The middle class is made up of people who work long hard hours at their jobs; some of them even work multiple jobs. These people work hard to basically ‘survive’ or ‘get by’. The lower class is made up of people who may not work as much, for whatever reason. There are people who may not be able to work at all due to injury/illness. Then there are the people who choose not to work. There are varying degrees in all three of these classes; these are just some quick broad descriptions.

If the government were to come in and decide that they wanted to come in and ‘redistribute’ the wealth of the people, there would be some pretty unhappy people. There would be some serious class warfare going on; at least an increase of class warfare. We have been a capitalistic nation or a free market for so long, for the government to say that the income your hard work, intelligence, or good fortune has brought you needs to be ‘spread around’ would be a kick in the pants.
Karl Heinrich Marx (May 5, 1818 – March 14, 1883) was a German[1] philosopher, political economist, historian, sociologist, humanist, political theorist and revolutionary credited as the founder of communism. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_Marx) He is also credited with coining the phrase “From each according to his ability, to each according to his need” in his 1875 Critique of the Gotha Program. This basically means that every person should give to society from there own earnings depending on their abilities. It also says that each person should be able to take from society according to what they need, regardless of how much they contribute.
Like I said a moment ago, this looks good on paper. This might work in a nation that was founded with this principle up front, but to jump ship from a free market society mid stream and switch over to this, would cause some serious problems.
To quote the words of the great philosopher, Coolio, in one of his works “Fantastic Voyage’, “If you don’t work then you don’t eat…”

Now, let’s look at what the Bible says. I have 2 main scriptures I want to focus on. The first is Acts 4:32-35; this is out of the NIV translation:

32All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. 33With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. 34There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales 35and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.

The second is the story about the wealthy young man that comes to Jesus asking about eternal life. He explains that he has kept all of the commandments that Jesus said one must follow in order to have eternal life. He was feeling pretty good about himself until Jesus dropped the bomb on him. We pick up the story in the 19th chapter of Matthew verses 21 and 22:
21 Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22 But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
Right now, someone might be saying, “Aha! See, Jesus is talking about the redistribution of wealth, and the passage out of Acts supports it. Socialism must be biblical!”
I might almost agree, but there are just a few differences. When Jesus is talking to this man he says, “Go…” This word in the Greek is Hupago. It means to depart or go away. This is a verb. It requires an action. Jesus did not tell the man to wait for a tax increase, pay his taxes accordingly, and then the ever so trustworthy government will give to the poor. He told him to ‘hupago’ and sell his possessions, and then give that money to the needy people in the area. Then, he was to follow Jesus, and then he would have eternal life.
It is the same with the early believers in the book of Acts. From time to time they would sell some of their possessions and give that money to the Apostles, and they would give where the needs were. This is close to a state run program, except that the church gave to the needy on behalf of the givers. I can pretty much guarantee 99% of the time the church has a better idea as to what is needed in it’s community as opposed to the government.
See, we as Christians need to do a better job of following Christ. We need to look at the world through His eyes. We need to have the love and compassion that he has.
There is a song by Brandon Heath called “Give Me Your Eyes”. In the chorus he says,
Give me your eyes for just one second
Give me your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me your love for humanity
Give me your arms for the broken hearted
Ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me your eyes so I can see

See, if we will just stop and look out beyond ourselves, we will see the world. We will see people that are hungry, hurting, and alone. We will see the people who just can’t seem to get by. If we ask God to give his love for these people we might actually ‘Go’ and do something about the problems of the world.

If we sit back and wait for the corrupt government of our nation to do something for the needy of the world on our behalf, we then have to accept the consequences of that decision. By that, I mean, we get stuck with the class warfare that both Capitalism and Socialism create.

Let me unpack this for a moment. With Capitalism you have a free market society. Within this you have the choice to work as much or as little as you want. With this you have the opportunity to make as much money as you can. You then have the option to do what you want with that money. You can either save it for a rainy day or retirement, or you can buy all of the stuff you want. You can do your best to keep up with that pesky Jones family, who seems to have everything. Or you can give to the less fortunate. One bad thing with Capitalism is that it breeds greed. In an attempt to obtain as much as possible, we tend to lose focus on those around us and focus more on ourselves. Society today tells us that you have to drive a certain type of car, wear a certain brand of clothes, live in a certain size of house, or have the latest gadget in order to be successful. Unfortunately, there are people who just get left behind. This can cause resentment on the have not’s behalf towards the have’s, and the have’s can look down on the have not’s because they don’t have what they do. This leads to class warfare.

With socialism the government decides that everyone needs to be equal. They impose taxes and other laws that take from the have’s, and then ‘share the wealth’ with the have not’s. Even if a person does not do their fair share of the work, they still get an equal piece of the proverbial pie. Some of them do not do anything to better society. They certainly are not required to do something on the behalf of the haves. If I can quote the great poet and modern day prophet, Coolio, again, he says, “You can’t help me if you can’t help yourself.” This type of environment causes class warfare for other reasons. The have’s will resent the have not’s for getting a part of something they did not put into. They will also resent them and the government for taking what they had worked so hard to gain. The have not’s will develop a sense of entitlement because the government says they are entitled to everyone else’s prosperity.

We as Christians need to do what the Bible says, and give with a cheerful heart. Jesus told us as believers several times to give to the widows, homeless, less fortunate, and sick and injured. If the church as a whole was more focused on doing what Jesus told us on a daily basis and on a global level, we would not need the government trying to force benevolence on us.

So in closing, I do not believe that Jesus was a socialist by definition. He does want us to pay our taxes and he wants us to help the needy, but he wants us to help out of the abundance of our hearts. This is just something that we all need to think about, especially me.

Relevant Magazine is a very good source to keep up to speed with things that are going on in the world, and organizations that are working to spread the love and message of Christ. They have a new project called Reject Apathy that is a place for people who want to change the world the right way to get involved. It is very new, so new that their website rejectapathy.org is not up and running as of today. You can read about it in Relevant Magazine, or online at relevantmagazine.com. I highly recommend this magazine to anyone who likes to keep up on things related to our culture and God. Hope you have enjoyed this as much as I have enjoyed writing it. Please give me any feedback good, bad, or indifferent. Take care and God bless!!!!
Jason

*It has been brought to my attention that I need to clarify some things that might be a bit confusing. Someone asked me when I was talking about "corrupt goverment", if I was referring to our current administration or a paticular party. They felt that I was broadcasting that I am a Republican or that I hate the Democrats. Neither of these could be more false. I do not consider myself a Republican or Democrat. I personally don't trust either party as they are run today.
I could fill a completely different blog on my political views, but I will spare you today.
Just know that when I talk about corrupt goverment, I am talking about politicians who promise to help the people with our tax dollars then turn around and help the special interest groups. I think both parties are guilty of this. Maybe someday I will elaborate more, but until then, be blessed and look for ways to be a blessing to others. I truly love all of you, and hope to hear from you.
Jason

New Blog

Hey there! I'm Jason, (if you didn't already know that). I started this blog originally on MySpace, but since not everyone has a MySpace, I decided to put it on here as well. The purpose of this blog is for me to put into writing the things that God places on my heart. Also just random thoughts about life that might come up. My passion is my faith and my ministry, so usually posts will have to do with those. Please feel free to comment on each post. I am open to good comments and negative comments. This is something I hope to help people, including myself, to grow in our walk with Christ. If someone doesn't know Him, then I hope that I can illustrate Him so maybe someone will want to get to know Him. So like I said, write back. It might help me. The things that I write in here are not me pointing my finger at the world. That is why it is called 'Face in the Mirror'. When I look in the mirror I hope to see Christ in me. Also, when people look at me, I hope they see Him and not me. This is for everyone. I hope you enjoy it, and I hope it helps. Take care and God bless!!!