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I remember hearing someone say many years ago that the early Christians lived by socialistic principles in the way they took care of each other. While that person may have been sincere, this is ignorance personified! In Acts 2:44 the Bible does say that the early believers “…had all things common…” But that in no way supports the idea that they operated as socialists. The early followers of Jesus chose to share their belongings with the other believers. They weren’t forced to do it by government mandate. They weren’t taxed by government and then had redistributed to other believers their goods. No! Out of the love of the Lord Jesus, Who lived inside them, they chose to give to their brothers and sisters in Christ what they needed. There’s a huge difference in those two ideas concerning how you meet the needs of the poor.
Socialism and Christianity do not mix! Karl Marx, the father of modern day socialism, knew this. Concerning his goal to establish communism, he listed his first goal as being…
“To dethrone God…”
(Agenda: Grinding America Down, Curtis Bowers, 2010)
Socialism, and its ultimate goal, communism, will not mix with Christianity. To try to mix them is like trying to mix oil and water. You might stir them up together; but when everything settles they will have divided off into two completely different entities. People who say they are Christians and want to mix socialism and Christianity either do not know the Lord at all, or they are so shallow in Him they know very little about how God thinks; which means they have never read very much of the Bible.
The socialistic principle of, “everybody getting free everything” goes Continue reading
God teaches us that He has given to man a system by which his physical and material needs can be met. It’s quite simple, but very, very effective. God releases into us at the moment of conception certain abilities which, if we follow His leading, He will later direct into a calling through which our needs will be met. A surgeon gets thinking and motor skills which will enable him to remove harmful things and reset body tissue so that God’s natural healing can take place. An automobile mechanic gets the understanding in his mind and skill in his hands by which to diagnose and repair your vehicle. God then intends for us to be taught by parents, pastors, and other teachers how to work with those skills to better the lives of others. They, in turn, pay us for our services, which betters our lives. God’s Kingdom gets advanced in both parties because each realizes that God’s way works; which encourages faith in God’s Word and His calling in other areas of life.