WAS JESUS A SOCIALIST?
Socialism seems to be all the rage these days, doesn't it? Young millennials and old liberals alike seem to be flocking back to this once nearly debunked philosophy of government in staggering numbers. While careful not to associate themselves with the historic founders of this deadly ideology and the atrocities they committed in the name of it; i.e. Marx, Lenin, Stalin, Castro, Mao, etc... they portray a, 'kinder, gentler', socialist agenda that boasts, of all people as their leader, Jesus Christ Himself. We are starting to hear generalized statements like, "Jesus was a long-haired hippie liberal socialist that would have voted for Bernie Sanders!"; but I don't know where they get this idea from, given the fact that the vast majority of our self-proclaimed, "post-Christian" society has become completely biblically illiterate, and by their own confession, have never been to church or have never read a page of Scripture in their lives. Regardless, it is a growing phenomenon in our nation, and around the world, and I thought this might be a good time to address it.
This hijacking of the teachings of Jesus is a shocking trend to be sure, but also a predictable one, as people have always found a way to coop the teachings of Jesus that they agree with, while violently opposing and disposing of the aspects of His teachings that they find so offensive, which is also a trend in our modern society. A fellow blogger epitomized this duplicity when he wrote, "I'm not a Christian. I'd like to actually say I am a practical atheist. But I do fully support most of what Jesus Christ said and I do therefore support about 75 percent of the modern Judeo-Christian doctrine. However, I don't truly believe Jesus was a Christian. (Dowley)" He goes on to expound a straw man argument detailing his perception of what Christianity should be; none of which lines up with Scripture of course, but you can be certain that the 25% of Christ's teachings that bother him the most, deal with the essence of why He came to the earth in the first place; i.e. repentance, remission of sins, salvation, holiness to God, eternal life, etc... not the tertiary subjects that the liberals find so fascinating, (i.e. feeding the poor, social justice, redistribution of wealth, etc...), which advance their ideological agendas.
A recent scientific poll conducted by the Barna Group asked Americans, "...whether capitalism or socialism align better with the teachings of Jesus, and socialism won by a 24 percent margin... millennials were the group that most often compared socialism and Bernie Sanders to Jesus Christ, ...with college graduates and non-Christians... not far behind. (Bond)" Tragically, this leaning toward social justice and the 'cherry-picking' of Christ's teachings has also crept into the church in recent years as well, as the proclamation of the pure, unadulterated truth of Jesus Christ - His death and resurrection for the sins of all of mankind, is often at odds with the carnal aspirations of men and women who are, “…lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers… unthankful, unholy, unloving, …headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. (2 Tim 3:2-5)”, whom Paul warned Timothy to turn away from such people!
The truth of the matter is, that Jesus was not a socialist, nor was He a capitalist! He was not a liberal, a progressive, a radical activist Democrat, nor was He a conservative, a Republican, an Independent, or a Tea Party patriot. As C.S. Lewis aptly put it, He was either a lunatic or He was Lord! This reminds us of Joshua, who was confronted by a shadowy figure when he arrived on the shores of Canaan for the first time. Wanting to know if this daunting man with a sword drawn in His hand was there to oppose him or not, he asked, "...Are You for us or for our adversaries? (Josh 5:13)" To which the man replied, "No, but as Commander of the army of the LORD I have now come... Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy." And Joshua did so. (Josh 5:15)" In our quest to get God to come over to our side, we must remember, that it is best for us to get on His side, and for this reason, the Church must remain vigilant in its verbal declaration of the saving Gospel of Jesus Christ, in the presence of forces who would seek to supplant that truth with a false doctrine which exalts this temporal world over the eternal one.
The undermining of the gospel message manifests itself in diverse ways, with methods that range from merely watering down the truth slightly, to attempting its total destruction, but one of the most effective forms of deteriorating the effects of the gospel in the modern era, has been to minimize the eternal implications of the death and resurrection of Christ, while simultaneously reinforcing the notion that the material and temporal needs of mankind should take the priority, in the day to day operations of the local church. This modern-day phenomenon has come to be known as the, “Social Gospel” in many liberal sectors of the church, and it has in effect, become 'the gospel message' in those churches. No longer do we see the classic biblical pattern of Christ’s ministry, who first preached the message the kingdom of God; repentance from dead works, confession of sins, believing on Him who the Father sent, and then going forth as His disciples, preaching that message also. Christ taught His disciples to deny themselves, take up their cross and follow Him, which would inevitably produce those good works, but now, it has somehow morphed back into, “Hey, go do some good works, because man’s temporal needs are more important than anything else!”
This comes as no accident, nor does it gradually just happen within the church in this manner; Christians are are being indoctrinated by these popular socialist dogmas by the secular media, the humanistic academia that dominates our educational system, and the culture that has fully embraced it. Ultimately, it found its way into our seminaries, Bible colleges, and pulpits, because it is supported by a corrupt belief system that has its origin in the garden of Eden, inspired by Satan himself, who asks, “Has God indeed said? (NKJV Gen 3:1)” At issue in this embryonic scene was the temporal needs of man, juxtaposed to the eternal word of God, and of course we all know how that worked out. Certainly, I'm not saying that helping people is in anyway unscriptural or something we shouldn't do. To the contrary, man’s needs are important, and Christians are clearly obligated in Scripture to provide for those needs, when properly motivated by a merciful heart of thanksgiving toward God.
However, it must also be said, that there are much worse things in life than being hungry, more pain can be experienced than merely suffering from exposure to the elements, and far more devastating effects can be endured than having our material needs not be met in a timely fashion. Of course, I speak of the second death, and eternal damnation of which Jesus warned us of repeatedly in His teachings; the very same teachings which are adamantly rejected by those who promote Jesus as a socialist. Remember that it was Jesus who said, “…do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Mat 10:28)” So, we can see that it is Satan himself who has sought to obfuscate and obscure the realities of eternal truth, with the opaque fuzziness of temporary satisfaction, from the very beginning of time. Therefore, it is the total exclusion and even rejection, of these 'primary' teachings of Jesus that have eternal consequences, in favor of the 'secondary' aspects of Christ's ministry, that are temporal in nature, that is at issue here; not the 'social gospel' itself, as a program for helping meet the needs of people.
It is also clear that, “…Satan ....transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness… (2 Cor 11:14-15)”, who begin to promulgate a false gospel of Christian humanism and socialism that places the temporal needs of man above the eternal purposes of God. This corruption has taken on many forms in the past, and we can follow a pattern of these ‘anti-christ’ behaviors throughout the church age, beginning at the very inception of the Christian faith. Today, it has come to us in the form of Socialism and as servants of God, we must be mindful of it, never failing to powerfully declare the truth of the gospel to all we encounter, refusing to compromise with culture, governing powers, or denominations of churches who have fallen head long into apostasy, humanism, and yes, socialism. While at the same time, we must continue to show the love of Christ through ministries and programs of mercy, kindness, and benevolence.
By Pastor Glen Mustian
Works Cited
1. NKJV New King James Version. Holy Bible. Thomas Nelson. Nashville, TN: 2000. Print.
2. Bond, Paul. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/poll-jesus-was-a-socialist-894642
3. Dowley, Phillip. The Odyssy. https://www.theodysseyonline.com/jesus-was-liberalupon
