Acts 4:32 (ESV) 32 Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common.
I’ve had a discussion lately with a lady about her belief Christians should embrace socialism because it’s what the Bible teaches. Others have chimed in supporting her.
The Bible doesn’t speak to governments, it speaks to individuals. Over the centuries, unfortunately, we the church have yielded to the government our responsibility for providing aid to the poor and needy. We see it here in the US through various public assistance programs, even more so in western Europe.
As I’ve said in another post, the US system takes our money through taxes and distributes it to those the government deems needy. This creates some problems the biblical “system” does not. The government system takes the taxpayer’s money raising anger in the taxpayer as his money is taken involuntarily and wasted to support the bureaucracies which collect, count, and distribute the tax money. Much of the money is gone before the recipient sees it.
Then the recipient receives a check or direct deposit from a faceless nameless government which does not often hold that recipient accountable enough for looking to improve his lot.
The result is that recipient becomes “entitled” to the money, and human nature being as it is, will often not work to resolve his situation. In fact, often entry level positions pay less than the government check does. This encourages idleness.
The biblical system of the individual helping the individual causes the recipient to face his benefactor. He sees a man or woman sharing food, clothing, or money with him. As a result, a feeling of gratitude develops accompanied by a desire not to live off of someone’s charity. In this system, the benefactor is much more likely to detect possible fraud. This more often points the individual in need to seek ways to help himself rather than to face the charitable person asking for repeated assistance.
The biblical system also creates a kinder heart in the individual sacrificing voluntarily to help another human being. It makes him more aware of the person’s needs and improves society by raising awareness of those needs and prompting more good works. The biblical system also eliminates the wasted expense of the middlemen, the bureaucracies. This provides a more efficient use of funds.
The passage quoted from Acts chapter 4 is a historic statement, not a biblical command. With human nature being what it is, we know there will be those who will abuse the system. Ananias and Sapphira show that in the very next chapter as does the instruction against idleness in 2 Thessalonians 3:10-11.
2 Thessalonians 3:10-11 (ESV)
10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. 11 For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies.
The biblical system has nothing in common with socialism. To equate the two is like equating the military with free health care. Members of the military receive free healthcare, but healthcare is not the central purpose of the military. In the same way, benevolent socialism (such as Norway’s) does not equate with compassion and charity. Just as you can have the military without healthcare, you can have socialism with no compassion or charity (Venezuela for example), proving one does not require or equate with the other.
Believers Armed and Dangerous 