Why So Many Christians are Drawn to Socialism
With the upcoming elections it has become abundantly clear that many Christians are drawn to the ideas of Socialism, and it’s easy to understand why and how this attraction occurs. Socialism addresses social issues more than free enterprise. Free enterprise promises to give all people an equal opportunity. Socialism, on the other hand, promises to give all people an equal outcome. This has a strong appeal to those with compassion for the poor and underprivileged.
Free Enterprise vs Socialism
Free enterprise has a strong appeal to those who have ambition, drive, a will to work and an optimistic outlook. Socialism, on the other hand, has a great appeal to those who are not success-oriented, who desire a handout more than an opportunity, or who were not taught how to succeed. Because of these fundamental differences in the promises of these philosophies the talking points of Socialism sound far more humane, making it very appealing to Christians.
Probably, the thing that makes Socialism most appealing to Christians is the fact that other than eternal life Socialism promises everything the Kingdom of God promises: justice, fairness, social equality and care for the poor. So it sounds like it is in harmony with God’s Word. Up to this point Socialism seems to be right on track with the Bible and the teachings of Jesus. But all similarities between the Bible and Socialism disintegrate when they explain how they will fulfill all their promises for a Utopian world!
God’s Perspective of Love
Because the Church has traditionally not accepted Jesus’ interpretation and application of God’s Commandments there is a tendency to miss the fact that God is love; everything He ever said and did was because of His love for mankind. God’s Word has given us all we need to have every aspect of our social needs addressed in a fair way that provides the opportunity for the best life possible. It is impossible to properly interpret the Old Testament independently of Jesus’ life, teaching, death, burial and resurrection. In this theological confusion there is a lack of applying and interpreting the Commandments from the perspective of love, i.e. how we should relate to one another, to God and manage our own life!
Most of the world and many Christians see the God of the Old Testament and Jesus as an irreconcilable dichotomy. They do not realize that the Commandments, instead of being a recipe to earn God’s acceptance, are actually a prescription for how to treat one another based on God’s definition of love! But the Commandments go far beyond that; they teach us how to have a nation that can be economically sound while providing justice and opportunity for all.
The Greatest Lie Ever Told
The Commandments give us a prescription for civil justice that protects the innocent, an economic system that will not concentrate wealth in the hands of the few, immigration that protects the citizens, morals that protect the innocent from the wicked, ethics that demand true justice and values which will sustain an orderly civil society. The greatest Luciferian lie that ever came to Planet Earth is the idea that the Creator, God, is an oppressor who seeks to limit man’s freedom and fulfillment by His burdensome Commandments. This philosophy is what the Bible calls iniquity or lawlessness: the rejection of God’s laws as the standard of morals, values and ethics.
Secular Humanism: Departure From God’s Laws
Many of our founding fathers were not actually Christians. Some were deists and others simply believed in the morals and ethics as presented in the Word of God. But they all agreed that the Bible was the basis for a civil society. There is no question that what made our country great was its congruence with the Word of God. In fact, more than once they clearly stated that a free society was only possible if people adhered to the morals, values and ethics of God’s Word. The decline of our country and the rise of violence, chaos, immorality, perversion and a bad economy have increased proportionately with our departure from those values and replaced them with Secular Humanism. We have become a lawless society which is tantamount to becoming a godless society.
Beneath the facade of a mere philosophical difference of opinion are those who embrace and promote this lawlessness from a more diabolical motive. They see Lucifer as the one who freed man from the oppression of the Creator God by giving knowledge. This knowledge is called enlightenment. Those who are “enlightened” claim to be able to deliver all God’s promises independently of God’s Word. In fact, they see the total rejection of God’s Word as the only way to have ultimate gratification and fulfillment. There is no modern political philosophy that promotes lawlessness more than Socialism.
Socialism is Incompatible With God’s Word
Socialism says the state is responsible for man’s economic well-being; the Bible says man is responsible for his own well-being. Socialism protects the perpetrator of crime. His crimes are the result of an oppressive society, therefore man cannot be held responsible for his action. God’s Word says to the perpetrator an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. In other words, whatever the criminal inflicts on others should be his own punishment. Socialism says those who don’t work should be cared for; the Bible says a man’s hunger will make him work. Socialism says man is responsible to the state; the Bible says we are responsible to God and one another. Socialism says the State gives and takes away man’s rights; the Bible teaches that God gave man his rights. There is not one single doctrine of socialism that is compatible with the Old or New Testament. Where did such an anti-God, anti-Bible paradigm begin?
Although Karl Marx is considered the Father of Modern Socialism, it did not begin with him. Socialism entered Planet Earth in the Garden of Eden when man declared his independence from God and determined to determine good and evil for himself. From then until now man’s Humanistic philosophies have promised a Utopian world but have never delivered on that promise. The key, they say, to creating utopia is contingent on the total rejection of God’s Word as the basis for ethics, values, morality, justice and all other human needs for peace, prosperity and normalcy.
Seduced Into Slavery
Karl Marx, however, pushed Socialism into a worldwide, modern day political phenomenon that has swallowed the globe. Marx never had Socialism or Communism as his main agenda. His agenda was to eliminate all knowledge of God from the earth, destroy the world and drag as many people to hell with him as he possibly could. His only joy was to destroy what God loves: mankind!
So why did Marx eventually promote Socialism? Originally Marx hated Socialism; he hated the idea of even giving people false hope. He wanted to create suffering, provoke mankind to blame for their suffering and ultimately reject God. Then he deeply longed for them to join him in an eternity in Hell. But, he had to have a means of seducing the nations into abandoning God’s Word. He needed something that gave hope, seduced the world and brought about suffering. He saw Socialism as the only deception seductive enough to destroy the world.
Marx, like all Communists since his time, claimed for socialism to work there must be a short time of dictatorship after which there will be no government, no war and no limiting morals; there will only be peace. But no dictator has ever willingly given up his power. But he passionately taught, to achieve this peace there must be no accountability to any god or any religion, only allegiance to the State. But like Marx, all subsequent Socialists have never delivered the utopia they promised, only death, poverty and suffering. Marx, Mao, Hitler and others murdered and enslaved hundreds of millions of people using the message of Socialism with its false promises as the tool for seduction.
The Goal: A One-World, Anti-God Government
The promise of Socialism is in direct opposition to God’s Word. God says we can only have a peaceful, fair society by walking in love based on His Commandments, but the process of Socialism is Secular Humanism aimed at creating Elitists, i.e. an enlightened ruling body, eliminating the middle class, destroying free enterprise, creating a poor, uneducated class of slaves to serve the wealthy and create a one-world anti-God government. But just as Communism, Socialism and Progressivism (all of which are a continuum of the same lie) agree: all loyalty to and knowledge of God must be eradicated. All loyalty must be given to the State and all morality, ethics and values must be defined by the state. All who oppose or disagree must be imprisoned or eliminated.
The Early Church Failed at Socialism
Many people who really do not know the Bible point to the fact that the early Church in Jerusalem attempted Socialism. Everyone brought their money and laid it at the feet of the apostles and shared all things in common. But what they fail to realize is that in a short time the Church at Jerusalem was so poor the Gentile churches had to send offerings to them. The church at Jerusalem didn’t take these steps because it was founded on the Word of God, or because the Holy Spirit led them; it was merely the deduction of what seemed like rational thinking.
The early settlers in America tried Socialism. They had community gardens and shared all goods with one another. History reveals that this flawed plan led to near starvation of the entire group. Just as the Bible teaches, people are motivated to work by the opportunity to succeed and the responsibility to provide for themselves and their family. The first year they implemented free enterprise resulted in bountiful crops that gave us our first Thanksgiving. One year of free enterprise turned the tide. Were there still poor among them? Probably! Jesus said there will always be poor. The Bible never promises to eradicate poverty in this life; for anyone to claim they can do so is to exalt themselves above God.
Is Capitalism Better?
Am I saying that all Socialists are Luciferians? Absolutely not! I am saying that no socialist is adhering to God’s Word: some by choice, most by ignorance! Am I saying that Capitalism is godlier than Socialism? No! A flaw of the church for hundreds of years has been the idea that we can politically accomplish what must occur in the hearts of individuals who choose to believe the truth of God’s Word.
Although I believe in the biblical principles of free enterprise and personal responsibility, I don’t necessarily consider myself a Capitalist. It is essential to realize no form of government will produce utopia. As long as humans are involved in any process there will be varying degrees of corruption. There is no perfect system: after all, man was able to take God’s commandments meant to give us an incredible life and turn them into oppressive rules used to control and take advantage of others. No system of government will work until Jesus returns.
We all must realize as long as there are greedy people no matter what system is employed there will always be corruption. But Socialism offers no personal opportunity for success other than through government regulation and control. Its track record around the world has proven that it never works. But it keeps promising that if we will only give the government more control they will get it to work! But more than anything else, we must understand the true goals of those who push socialism: it has as its goal the eradication of all knowledge of God from the earth. It is Luciferian in its origination. In the end, the wealth in a Socialist country is concentrated in the hands of even fewer than in Capitalism. The middle class is eliminated and the elite have absolute power.
In Capitalism the greedy do everything they can to get as much of the money as possible, but there is still the realization that for them to make more money the population must also make money. It is no godlier than Socialism, but it does allow a measure of freedom and encourage personal success. But the only way free enterprise actually works is when there are honest, righteous people in government. It is always corrupt government that allows free enterprise to become oppressive. Everything in America that is unfair or unjust is based on a law passed by a politician or interpreted by a corrupt judge, regardless of their political philosophies.
Many Christians say they do not want to be ruled by God’s Commandments; yet, Jesus taught us to pray thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. There is no Socialism in Heaven. Heaven is ruled by God’s justice based on the same Word He gave to man on earth. When man becomes so demoralized that he allows and welcomes the man of iniquity, the antichrist, to rule the world under a false promise of peace that rejects God and replaces God’s Word, the world will experience a tribulation such as has never been seen. This tribulation will not be the wrath of an angry God poured out on humanity. It will be the wrath of the man of lawlessness. The only thing that will save the world from the Luciferian goal of total annihilation is the personal return of Jesus as Lord and King.
Ushering In The Kingdom
Jesus will establish His Kingdom on earth where He will rule and reign for 1000 years. He will rule the world by the Commandments applied by love. They will be the basis of all civil and economic justice. Man will finally have the opportunity to see how the world could have been all along had he simply trusted and applied God’s Word as He intended! If we don’t see God’s Commandments as the only basis for justice and true freedom we will never welcome or usher in His coming or His Kingdom; we will prolong the world’s horrific suffering.
Some ask, are you saying I can’t be a Christian if I’m a Socialist? I certainly believe a Christian can be a Socialist, but one can never be a Socialist and a disciple of Jesus. A disciple is one who has believed on Jesus as Lord, which means (among other things) he or she builds their life, values, morals and ethics on Jesus’ interpretation and application of God’s Commandments from the motive of love, as exemplified through His life, teaching, death, burial and resurrection!
When any individual believes their ideas and philosophies are more applicable or fair than God’s Word they have declared, “I am more righteous than God. I am more just than God. I am fairer than God. I am more loving than God.” Regardless of how pure their intentions, they are workers of iniquity deceiving themselves and turning people away from Jesus as Lord!
Jesus spoke these words:
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:17-19)
“All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20)
We can’t be His disciples if we ignore and replace His teaching. It’s time for believers to wake up, repent for turning away from God’s Word, and commit to Jesus as Lord so as to avoid the coming deception and the great falling away.
Jim Richards is the author of Apocalypse: A Spiritual Guide to the Second Coming. To understand the history of the world from a biblical point of view, what brought the world to this point, what is coming next and how to prepare, CLICK HERE to get your copy of Apocalypse today!
