THOUGHTS ON SOCIALISM: Part II There is in man a presumption that, given enough time, he can achieve perfection. He has accepted the philosophy of sin, "I will be like the Most High."1 The truth is that given enough time all of man's efforts to achieve without God what only God can do, will produce disaster. God loves mankind. But more important, He loves us individually. His promises involve conforming us to the image of his son.2 They are linked to commandments and principles that develope the character of Christ in us. His Word associates labor with profit;3 willingness to work with the ability to eat.4 Diligence is rewarded, while slothfulness results in poverty. Gain is not godliness,5 and riches are not always an indication of God's blessing. Nevertheless, godliness is characterized by diligence, productivity, personal responsibilty, and the willing pursuit of the will of God.6 Because trust in God is the chief characteristic of a believer, confidence in a human system of dependence upon others is foreign to a godly character. The Word of God instructs us to give, to bear one another's burden, to provide for those who are in need, especially a brother or sister in Christ.7 But it also instructs the saints to "bear your own burden," causing believers to be more eager to give than to receive; more willing to impart benefits than to seek it for themselves. Paul set that example in Corinth8 and in Thesselonica.9 He preached it at Troas to the elders of Ephesus.10 It was this characteristic of the regenerate spirit that was in evidence in Acts 2 and 4. Genuine love motivated all the saints to bear one another's burdens. Equality, therefore, sprang from the compassion of those who considered their possessions God's blessings to be shared with every member of the body.11 There was no law, no carnal external compulsion, no covetousness. No Robin Hood stealing from the "rich" and giving to the "poor". The futile endeavor to duplicate that ideal in an unregenerate society developes an entirely different dynamic. Concern for the individual is not a factor. Society is the unit in view. Society's problems and their solutions are generic - one size fits all. Distribution of the present wealth is the concern, not the developement of the potential of every man to produce and benefit from the fruit of his own labor. Those who prosper, are viewed as greedy, not diligence. Those who are less diligent, and therefore less prosperous are encouraged to covet an equal share. Equality requires confiscation and redistribution of the wealth of the diligent to those who lack for one reason or another. This artificial "love," or "compassion by law" requires no sacrifice on the part of those who administrate the system. On the contrary, it provides for them an excellent opportunity to accumulate wealth, thereby developing a ruling class, and reducing the populace to the lowest common denominator. This system which rewards slothfulness, and penalizes productivity fosters disincentive and decay. In Eastern Europe the evidence is everywhere. Socialism purports to be compassionate, guaranteeing security for all from the cradle to the grave. But its artificial compassion is imposed by law; compelling the sharing of wealth, no matter how great the hardship on those who must do the sharing. God's principles are ignored or purposely violated. Even those who work poorly, or fail to work at all, partake of what is taken from the more diligent and distributed by the state. The generosity, love, and righteousness resulting from the inward work of the Holy Spirit cannot be duplicated by the outward pressure of law. Law cannot produce righteousness. On the contrary, law is the strength of sin.12 Where law alone dictates behavior, transgression is constant. Therefore crime among the masses must be controlled by continual and universal surveilance, fear and force. But the covert crimes commited against the people by those in control are monstrous and uncontrolable. Where those surveilance systems are not yet in place, the trend toward a socialistic society tends to produce an increase of crime such as we are now experiencing in the United States (and as is described in Romans 1). The encouragement to seek what is not earned, and the "entitlement" mentality it produces, justifies the gratifying of covetousness by any means. The apostle Paul did not predict a great revival in the end time, but a great falling away, the revealing of the man of sin,13 and the persecution of God's people. And the apostle Peter agreed. He addressed how things would be in the last days, and how they would get that way. "..there shall be false teachers among you" he said, "...denying the Lord that bought them...And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And THROUGH COVETOUSNESS they shall, with feigned words, make merchandise of you."14 Who are these false teachers? We are seeing a proliferation of them, not ony in some pulpits, but in our schools' classrooms, our entertainment industry, radio and television, the press and almost everywhere influence can be exerted. God is denegrated and man is exalted to make his own rules, his own moral standards, etc. No form of government or enterprise can be free of human greed and evil practice as long as unregenerate human nature is present. But the form of government that is to fill the earth15 is increasingly bent on denying the Lord that bought us. As socialism grows, so grows the thought that government can be "like the Most High." Judicial rulings increasingly deny God a place in education, government, or the legal system. Man has decided he can be "like the Most High" to provide prosperity, security, health and justice. As government controls increase libery is eroded because God is rejected, and it's where the Spirit of the Lord is that there is liberty.16 Covetousness is the bait that lures an increasing number of otherwise intelligent people to surrender their liberties to those who would replace God with government. God has made remarkable promises in his Word concerning security, health, prosperity, peace, joy and everything man yearns for. But Lucifer presides over this world system and teaches us there is no God of creation, no God of provision, etc. Man is God, and human government is the source of remedy for all human need. You must trust government, not God for whatever you need. financial security, for instance. Government can pass laws that will compel the rich to pay for the security of the poor. The growing number of dependant poor, many of whom are motivated by covetousness, vote for such laws. The result is a redistribution of wealth, and a further entrenchment of government control. Whose covetousness is in view in Peter's statement? that of the deceived or of the deceiver? Probably both. The con artist who covets the money in your pocket knows that you have something in common - covetousness. He can satisfy his covetousness by promising to gratify yours. The promise of great returns elicits your favorable response. You part with your money because of the believable promise that you will receive what you covet. Watching present day government, it is clear that Peter's statement is relevant today. Almost every State in the Union now has a lottery, ostensibly to meet the deficits in the cost of government, even though few of those dollars are used as promised. But why do people (especially the poor) so willingly part with literally billions of dollars? Because of covetousness - the promise of riches. They are being made merchandise of. Meanwhile government, under the god of this world, unsuccessfully tries to be like the Most High by curing every human ill. But far from producing remedies for existing ills, socialism produces greater problems. In our example of the lottery, gambling addiction has increased among those who swallow the promise of riches. The motivating factor is the perceived chance of sharing in someone else's wealth, not, as in Acts 2 and 4, the love of God, which made individuals truly more concerned about the welfare of others than their own. Because of the fruit of the Spirit, they were ready to lay down their lives in one way or another, for their friends. Jesus had said, "This is my commandment, that ye love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends." 17 Those early Christians were a small society motivated by the love of God, not people on welfare. THEY WERE INDIVIDUALS, NOT THE STATE Marxism, by which the modern world has been profoundly influenced, teaches that people are simply components of 'The State.' Therefore, the State being a collective of the people in it, what is good for the state is automatically good for all the people. That is not so in God's economy. He cares for us individually, paying attention to each of our cries. We, therefore, are to care for one another, not covet the benefits of some social program at someone else's expense. Because we are not of this world, we are not to depend on this world system for that which God has already promised. As our form of Government changes, we who are in Christ will be pressed more and more to lose our perspective on the principles of God's Word, and to be conformed to the world system's philosophy. But, the apostle Paul urged us, brethren, " be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."18 |
