Capitalism, Communism, & Socialism; What does God’s Word say about it?
We have come to a point in America where people don’t want to work because many are pushing for the government to take care of them. President Woodrow Wilson started the bigger government in response to this which some will call Progressives and government was taking the place of the Church. Also, in schools, it used to be a requirement for graduation to know about the difference between Americanism and Communism. Now, most don’t even know what that is! We are seeing where God is being removed from schools completely!
We can look at the definition of socialism and communism to find out more. Socialism is defined as any of various economic and political theories advocating collective or governmental ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods. This is saying that you don’t own anything, and the government owns everything. We would call this slavery! What socialism does is cause people not to want to work because when they do work, they are working hard for something that isn’t even theirs. Next Marxism is defined as 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. These two are a doorway to communism!
Congresswoman Michele Bachmann and David Barton, founder and President of WallBuilders, speak on this important topic and help us to get a Biblical perspective. They first tackle the question many Christians and others ask, doesn’t the Bible support socialism? The scripture that many point out is Acts 2:42-45.
“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.”
At that time, believers were selling their possessions and giving to others in need. When Ananias sold his property in Acts 4:5, Peter responds by asking, “Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal?” This highlights that the government did not own the property, and he had the freedom to do what he wanted with the property; both highlighting that this was not a Socialism-like economy.
When the Pilgrims made their way from Europe to what ended up being Massachusetts, they understood that each man had to work to provide for himself which shows they took on the Acts mentality. Contrary to popular belief, some believe that the Pilgrims simply stole the land from the Native Americans. This is not the true story. Michele and David share the inside story based on actual documents and agreements used in those very moments that highlight what took place.
“Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” 1 Timothy 5:8
This was the very scripture that the Pilgrims stood upon as they began their new journey in the New Land. The very words of Paul to the Church in Thessalonica focuses more in detail about this matter in 2 Thessalonians 3:6-15. God calls us to equality of treatment with each other! Which means that every person needs to do their part in working hard!
“For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.” 2 Thessalonians 3:10
When we look at socialism, we can see how it encourages the mindset of looking to the government to meet your needs instead of working to provide for your own family. Through what we read in the Bible we can see that socialism is not a Biblical principle. We must know the difference between socialism, communism, Marxism, and capitalism. The freedoms that Americans have worked hard for from the beginning of our nation will be lost if we do not stand up for what is right.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who many thought was for communism shares with us his view on it, and we can see the truth! “It so happens that Communism is a system that I disagree with philosophically. I would not prefer to live under a communist’s system. I happen to feel that the great moments in history happen to be those moments when individuals have been let free to think and to act. I feel that communism stands in the way of certain First Amendment privileges that we have in America, for instance, that I just couldn’t adjust to.”
A Christian is not going to say for God to be replaced by the government! Dr. King was leading society to be activated to stand for righteousness.
Presently, there are systems in place by our government that limits individuals from reaching their full potential. There is nothing wrong with receiving provision from the government, but some of these very resources put limitations on one’s own earnings. If one were to achieve higher earnings, then the entire resource, for example, health insurance, is removed. This causes some individuals not to desire more for themselves or their families. Which in turn can cause idleness. We should never hold back resources from someone, and we should stop punishing people for not being socialists.
We must continue to pray for our nation to not turn to socialism which ultimately leads to communism. We have seen many positive changes and answers to prayer with thousands of jobs being made available to where there are more jobs than people to work in America! We want to know what you think about this discussion. You can write to us at [email protected]. Greg and Steve shared in this segment.
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