Are Christianity and Socialism Compatible?

In opposition to God, socialism forcibly takes from one and gives to another. Karl Marx wrote, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.” - Clint Decker

Is socialism a good government system? According to a CNBC survey, nearly 50% of younger Americans think so. Let us look at one example of a socialist program from the distant past. (Image from freepik.com)

Collectivization was a socialist policy instituted under communist Soviet Union leader, Joseph Stalin. One of his programs was “Kolkhozy” (Collective Farms), which became the nationalization of agriculture. The program forced farmers and ranchers to hand over their operations to the government, which included their land, cattle and equipment. Farmers and ranchers then switched from being owners, to employees of their operations, receiving wages from the government. They also had firm production and delivery quotas to meet. The socialist program resulted in a nationwide uprising, as citizens rejected the government’s theft of their property. In retaliation, farmers and ranchers destroyed their crops and cattle. The government responded by executing or exiling thousands of farmers and ranchers. It all caused chaos in the national food system leading to an eventual famine and starvation that killed millions of people in the Soviet Union.

Communist and socialist governments tend to promise much good to win the support of citizens but deliver something very different to the detriment of their citizens.

The Bible is the source of all truth. What does it say about socialism? Is Christianity and socialism compatible?

1. Seizing private property. According to the Bible, God created the heavens and the earth and owns everything within them. He also has commanded mankind to be good stewards of what He has given, which means to be reliable owners of all that has been entrusted to us. Consequently, God established a universal moral law stating, “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15), to protect private property.

In opposition to God, a key tenet of socialism is where the government seizes control or ownership of privately run key areas of society like education, the press, transportation, agriculture, technology, energy, housing or healthcare.

2. Forced distribution of wealth. According to the Bible, Jesus will one day say to His followers, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.’ (Matthew 25:21) This statement reveals what God values. Hard work. Productivity. Excellence. Profit. All to the best of one’s ability.

In opposition to God, socialism forcibly takes from one and gives to another. Karl Marx wrote, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs.” Not only is this a form of theft by the government, but also disincentives how God created us. It discourages the worker from striving for a profit, knowing it will be seized, and dampens the drive to work, knowing one will receive from another, who has been forced to give.

3. A divided society. According to the Bible, “…God shows no partiality.” (Romans 2:11) Though God recognizes the natural physical needs of the poor, sick, widows, orphans and those treated unjustly—God condemns favoritism. Under His divine law, He is no respecter of persons, all will be accountable to Him.

In opposition to God, a socialist government puts people in classes and sets them in opposition to each other, deciding who is the oppressed and oppressor. The rich oppress the poor, whites oppress people of color, men oppress women and so on. And it all leads to a divided society.

Instead of encouraging the God-given natural rights of freedom in every man and woman, socialism suppresses that through government control. Instead of the government being a servant of God, as intended, they become like god.

Finally, to safeguard government control, socialists will stomp out the true gospel of Jesus that speaks the truth about sin and calls all people to repentance and faith in the living God.

A prayer for you – Lord God, I pray you will give me understanding into socialism. Help me to see it with the eyes of wisdom and discernment. Help me to see it laid down against the truth of your Word and reject the lies it teaches. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Lynching in America

Every four days in the 1890s, blacks were killed by white mobs through lynching. From 1877 to 1950, nearly 4,000 took place, and many professing Christians participated. - Clint Decker

July 12, 1898, John Henry James was arrested in Virginia for an alleged sexual assault against Julia Hotopp. The report stated her attacker was, “a very black man, heavy-set, slight mustache, [who] wore dark clothes, and his toes were sticking out of his shoes.” (Image from Milwaukee Independent)

While James was being transported to court on a train to Charlottesville, it came to a stop and the train was surrounded by a mob of nearly 150 people. Despite no compelling evidence proving James’s guilt, the mob kidnapped him mid-morning, then dragged and hung him from a tree in front of small shop and riddled his body with dozens of bullets. No one was arrested for his murder.

Every four days in the 1890s, blacks were killed by white mobs through lynching. From 1877 to 1950, nearly 4,000 took place. And many professing Christians participated, using the Bible to rationalize their wickedness against a fellow human being.

Jesus was once asked about what the greatest commandment was. He stated “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.” Then Jesus gave the second part of the commandment, which provided evidence of one’s genuine love for God. “And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40)

Loving God and loving one’s neighbor is the heart of Christianity. The Scripture reinforces this idea continually, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” (1 John 4:20) When those scheming Christians lynched and killed blacks they were “liar’s” as the Scriptures say. Meaning, they were lying to themselves and the world of whatever Christian faith they claimed to have. What does God say will happen with liars? “But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, as for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” (Revelation 21:8)

Prejudice. What is it? Merriam-Webster defines it as “an irrational attitude of hostility directed against an individual, a group, a race, or their supposed characteristics” or “injury or damage resulting from some judgment or action of another in disregard of one's rights.” Racism is a form of prejudice. John Henry James had a right to life, but because people were hostile toward his skin color, they took his life.

What makes prejudice so evil and dangerous to society? Favoritism. It is where a bias favoring one person or one group over another exists. This strikes at the heart of God, going against His very nature and stirring up His wrath.

The Scripture declares, “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:27) God fashioned all mankind equal in His sight regardless of gender, race, religion, morality, income, education or anything else.

Prejudice in America as seen in slavery, lynching and segregation, is not isolated just to a white and black racial issue. It is a human race problem.

The first recorded murder in world history is over prejudice. Cain and Abel, brothers, were different from each other. Abel’s worship was accepted by God, but not Cain’s. Consequently, Cain became angry and jealous at Abel, leading him to kill his brother. God warned Cain in advance saying, “sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, and you must rule over it.” (Gen. 4:7) Such is the warning for every case of prejudice.

What is the answer for this cancer in our world? Submission to Jesus and learning to love our enemies as He did.

A prayer for you – Lord God, reveal to me if I harbor hate toward another because they are different from me. Bring me to repent from that hate and overcome it the through power of Jesus’ death and resurrection. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

How 500 Years ago The Story of America Began

The Mayflower Compact, "Having undertaken for the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith...a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia."

History teaches that America’s roots were grounded in Christian principles. Those foundations, however, were laid nearly 300 years before July 4, 1776. (Image by Trenton Daily)

In September 1492 an Italian explorer boarded his ship from the Canary Islands, off the coast of northwest Africa. He captained a fleet of three vessels with experienced sailors on a dangerous expedition where no man had travelled before. For 32 days they sailed the Atlantic Ocean westward (thinking they were heading to the Indies), without seeing land. But on October 12, 1492, on the 33rd day, one of the crew cried out, “Land ahoy!” Soon after, Christopher Columbus, one of history’s greatest seamen, stepped off the Santa Maria and onto the sands of the New World. He landed in present day Bahamas.

What was his purpose after landing? Columbus wrote, “There be a church and abbots or friars to administer the sacraments, perform divine worship, and to convert the Indians.” He also stated about his mission, “With a hand that could be felt, the Lord opened my mind to the fact that it would be possible to sail from here to the Indies…This was a fire that burned within me who can doubt that this fire was not merely mine, but also of the Holy Spirit.” Christopher Columbus’ discovery of the New World opened the door for European colonization of the America’s. And what was Columbus’ life and mission founded upon? Christian ideals. 284 years before July 4, 1776, Christian principles began taking root in America.

In September 1620, another ship set sail across the Atlantic, The Mayflower. It left Plymouth, England with over 100 passengers and crew. Among them were the Pilgrims, a religious group. After 66 days on the sea, in November, the ship landed in present day Provincetown, Massachusetts. Why did they come? According to their first governor, William Bradford, they were truly Christian pilgrims, on a journey of obedience to God. Before they disembarked the ship they drafted and signed one of America’s founding documents, the Mayflower Compact, which states, “Having undertaken for the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith, and the honor of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia, do by [this legal document and charter] solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politic…” What were the Pilgrims’ lives and mission found upon? Christian ideals. 156 years before July 4, 1776, Christian principles continued to take root in America.

Praise God for Christopher Columbus and the Pilgrims, for without them and the Christian principles they built and lived by, there would be no United States of America.

John Adams was one of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence and our nation’s second president. In 1813 he told Thomas Jefferson, “The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity.”

Though we celebrate and praise God for our history, how is our nation today? Are we as a nation continuing to live by the Christian principles we were founded upon? There is reason to doubt as everywhere we go is godlessness and immorality, giving The Almighty ample reason to be angry with us. On this 250th anniversary, let us examine our national ways, confess our sins and turn to the Lord God for undeserving mercy. The Bible says, “Seek the Lord while he may be found; call upon him while he is near; let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that he may have compassion on him…” (Isaiah 55:6-7)

A prayer for you – Father in heaven. I praise you for America’s Christian heritage, but O how we have fallen. Help us, Lord. Humble us and turn us back to you through the cross of Christ and the power of your Holy Spirit. In Jesus’ name. Amen.