“I challenge anyone to find a passage in scripture in which Jesus called on any government - Roman, Jewish, or another - to tax some and give to others as a method of assisting the needy.” – Was Jesus A Socialist?
The question “What Would Jesus Do?” (WWJD) made a cultural comeback in the 1990s as a reminder to consider our spiritual instruction as we face moral predicaments in everyday life. Unfortunately, that benign phrase has now morphed into the more menacing query, “Is Jesus a Democrat or a Republican?” In fact, some believe, that if Jesus walked the planet in 2021, he would certainly be a Socialist. That he would empty the pockets of the rich, and rain down swag on the poor.
In Lawrence W. Reed’s 2020 book, “Was Jesus a Socialist?”, Reed easily refutes the socialist’s claims that Jesus backed the State, backed redistribution, and backed handing personal responsibility to the government. To support his position, Reed reviews three popular parables in the Bible that show how Jesus supported private property, unequal distribution based on ability, voluntary aid, free will, and private compassion. Reed leaves no doubt that socialism is rooted in coercion, theft, and envy, three things Jesus never endorsed.
For example, a quick review of “The Parable of the Good Samaritan” in the Gospel of Luke demonstrates that there was no tax collection, no government bureaucracy, and no calls to eat the rich. Instead, the often-hated Samaritan was the only traveler who crossed the road to help the naked stranger. Using his own resources and of his own free will, he took pity on his fellow man and assisted him out of his difficulty.
You might ask, didn’t Jesus tell us to “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, his required taxes”? Jesus in the books of Matthew, Mark, and Luke told the Pharisees, after seeing Caesar’s face on the coin, to return to him what belonged to him. He never, however, indicated that citizens had an unlimited duty to Caesar or anyone else. Caesar and his tax collectors were notoriously corrupt, a despised lot, who often bilked from citizens more than they owed. Jesus called us to uphold Moses’ law, the commandments he received from God on Mount Sinai, not the crooked laws of man.
The Bible, in fact, warned us about the desire to be ruled by a king and offered commandments against stealing and coveting. Socialism, however, is literally the opposite of all these things: it requires a central planner, demands forced benevolence, and can only redistribute from one to another through theft. When we increase the size and scope of government, we remove personal choice and responsibility, all while concentrating power and control in the hands of a few.
When it came to helping the poor, personal involvement was key. God made it our responsibility to help the poor, not just by throwing money at them, or worse, by throwing money at the government. We were called to see the downtrodden through their troubles and to make certain they landed back on their feet. The government takes away this critical element of community, by removing the concept of reciprocity: you help me, and I’ll help you. Assisting others is an individual responsibility, while the collective makes welfare someone else’s problem. Personal compassion is genuine, government empathy is fake. And aid is only benevolent when it is given of one’s choosing.
The Bible says that the “love of money” is a problem, not money itself, or that poor people can covet money as much as the rich. Materialism was deemed a special temptation of the rich and not something that God wanted to be redistributed across mankind. But not all rich people are alike. A person’s wealth is often reflective of their benefit to society since many have obtained their riches by creating enormous value for others. Politicians might enjoy demonizing the rich, but they will never tell you that they are often extremely wealthy themselves. They merely vilify the rich in order to trap the poor in envy.
So, WWJD? The Bible speaks of a grateful heart, not a hateful heart. To be content with what we have. To not covet our neighbors or their possessions. The Bible, instead, teaches us to be happy givers. The government is about power and control. Jesus was for free will. Jesus was neither a Democrat nor a Republican, and he most certainly wasn’t a Socialist. He was for everyone. We should be too.
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