Is God a Socialist or a Capitalist?
Please stand as we read our newest memory Scripture together
Titus 3:3-5
“At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.
“But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”
And our memory refresher verse(s) for today is(are) …
John 14:6-7
“Jesus said, ‘I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you know Me, you will also know My Father. From now on you do know Him and have seen Him.’”
Today we will be reading from Genesis 2:15 - 17 & 3:17-19
Today there is a great debate in America between two competing economic ideals.
Currently America has an economy that is commonly known as a capitalist or free market economy. In a capitalist economy the means the companies are privately owned. In this case the owner of the company decides what they will produce, how much they will produce and how much they will charge for their products.
In a capitalist, free market economy, the privately owned companies compete with each other in order to increase their sales.
On the other hand there are those who would argue that a socialist economic system is to be preferred. In a socialist system the means of production, or the companies, are government owned. In this case the government decides what will be produced, how much will be produced and how much will be charged for what is produced.
In a socialist economy there is no competition because there are no competing companies, the government owns all of the companies and therefore they have a monopoly.
Of course this is talking about a true socialist country and not like Sweden which has socialist social policies but industry is privately owned. They are a hybrid of the two forms.
Now, let’s try to look at this from the perspective what we find in the Bible.
First of all, we are actually designed to work.
1) The Lord designed us to work
Let’s read Genesis 2:15 - 17 & 3:17-19
Genesis 2:15-17
“The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. And the LORD God commanded the man, ‘You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.’”
Genesis 2:15
“The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.”
There is no indication whatsoever that taking care of the Garden of Eden was difficult or unpleasant at all.
God is a worker. We were created in the image of God. We are to be workers too and that work should be joyful.
But then, after Adam and Eve sinned by rebelling against the one command the Lord had given them and just look what happened.
Genesis 3:17-19
“To Adam (Yahweh) said, ‘Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,
“Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field.
“By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are
and to dust you will return.’”
Wow! Look at that curse:
Apparently, prior to the fall and the curse there was no painful toil, there were no thorns and thistles, and, there was no labor that caused a man to sweat.
Pretty sweet deal, right? Not so sweet now, right?
Never the less, one of the purposes we were created for was to work and if you are created for a purpose you need to be fulfilling that purpose; especially if the Creator is watching … and He is!
So, what does the Lord God think about someone who is lazy.
What does the Lord God think about someone who CAN work but who WON’T work?
Proverbs 10:4
“Lazy hands make for poverty, but diligent hands bring wealth.”
Proverbs 12:27
“The lazy do not roast any game, but the diligent feed on the riches of the hunt.”
(We think of hunting as a pastime or hobby now but back then it was work!)
What did the master in the parable of the talents call his servant who rebelled against his master and refused to do the work assigned to him?
Matthew 25:26a
“You wicked, lazy servant!”
In 2 Thessalonians 3:6-10 the apostle Paul warns about idleness when he writes:
“In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us.
“For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you.
“We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate. For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: ‘The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.’”
So, what have we seen so far?
1) The Lord designed us to work
OK. So, we know that we need to work but does it make a difference if we work in a socialist economy or a free market economy?
No, it doesn’t make a difference to the Lord. We still must give our best!
2) We are to work in whatever nation He has placed us
There is only one person who has ever lived on the face of this earth Who has chosen when and where He would be born and that is Jesus!
So, whether the Lord chooses to place us in a country with a socialist economic system or in a country with a free market economic system the Lord’s will is the same. And what is His will?
Colossians 3:23-24 NIV
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord and not for men, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.”
OK. So, as Christians we should be diligent workers no matter what our work environment may be. But what about the system you work under? Is one more Biblical than the other?
The only cases in the Bible where I can see the Israelites working under anything like a socialist system is when they were in slavery in Egypt. In that instance they were told what to do, when to do it and how much to produce. They had no ownership or say in anything involved with the work. Then they were provided with housing and food.
But, when the Israelites were living in obedience to the Lord they worked under a free market or capitalist economy.
How do we know this?
They owned land and the tools needed for production.
They were merchants and farmers.
They were fishermen and shepherds.
They were miners and metal workers.
They made fabrics and they were bakers.
They were owners and employees.
Some of them were even carpenters!
And none of this was owned by the government!
But it was not a free for all!
The Lord put some boundaries around their work.
What was their instruction from the Lord?
Be honest! Don’t use different measures when you are buying and when you are selling. Don’t be a sluggard! Have integrity!
But, here’s the thing. A free market economy can be a blessing and a free market economy can be abused.
It is all up to the person operating the business whether it is a blessing or an abuse.
A person can gain great wealth and along with the wealth can come power, power to assist others or power to abuse others.
Did abuse of power happen in ancient Israel? Yes, it did.
Why did that abuse of power happen in ancient Israel?
BECAUSE THEY DISOBEYED THE WORD OF THE LORD.
The Lord God gave the Israelites specific instructions that would help them to avoid this problem.
First of all, the Lord gave them some guidelines of how to use the wealth that could be attained in a free market economy.
Deuteronomy 24:10-22
“When you make a loan of any kind to your neighbor, do not go into their house to get what is offered to you as a pledge. Stay outside and let the neighbor to whom you are making the loan bring the pledge out to you. If the neighbor is poor, do not go to sleep with their pledge in your possession. Return their cloak by sunset so that your neighbor may sleep in it. Then they will thank you, and it will be regarded as a righteous act in the sight of the Lord your God.
“Do not take advantage of a hired worker who is poor and needy, whether that worker is a fellow Israelite or a foreigner residing in one of your towns. Pay them their wages each day before sunset, because they are poor and are counting on it. Otherwise they may cry to the Lord against you, and you will be guilty of sin.
“Do not deprive the foreigner or the fatherless of justice, or take the cloak of the widow as a pledge. Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and the Lord your God redeemed you from there. That is why I command you to do this.
“When you are harvesting in your field and you overlook a sheaf, do not go back to get it. Leave it for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow, so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the work of your hands. When you beat the olives from your trees, do not go over the branches a second time. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow. When you harvest the grapes in your vineyard, do not go over the vines again. Leave what remains for the foreigner, the fatherless and the widow.
Remember that you were slaves in Egypt. That is why I command you to do this.”
Proverbs 19:17
“Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and He will reward them for what they have done.”
James 1:27
“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”
So, even abiding by these guidelines some were bound to become wealthy and powerful so the Lord God gave them a “reset button”.
It was called the Sabbath year.
What were the Israelites supposed to do during the Sabbath year?
- Forgive all debts
- Release all Israelite servants
And, in addition to the Sabbath year there was to be a Year of Jubilee every 50th year.
- Forgive all debts
- Release all slaves
- Release indentured servants from their contract
- Return property and houses that are not within walled cities to their ancestral families
You need to remember that when the nation of Israel took possession of the Promised Land they were each given an allotment of land that was to belong to their family forever.
If poverty struck and they had to sell the land it was supposed to be freely returned in the year of Jubilee. It was a big “reset” button.
But, times have changed, haven’t they?
We don’t really have ancestral lands do we, at least not in the same sense as they did in ancient Israel.
So, what do we do with our wealth?
Let’s look at two extremely wealthy men; John D. Rockefeller and R. G. LeTourneau.
Both of them were among the wealthiest men who ever lived and their lives can be summed up like this:
When John D. Rockefeller was asked, “How much is enough?” his answer was, “Just a little bit more.”
On the other hand, LeTourneau served both God and humanity by setting aside 90 percent of his salary AND company profits for God, and living on the other 10 percent. It was said of LeTourneau, “You have made the Word of God a glorious, practical reality, and of such is the work of faith.”
1 Timothy 6:6 says,
“Godliness with contentment is great gain.”
Which of these men were godly and content?
So, what is the answer to the question of whether God is a socialist or a capitalist?
From the principles found in the Bible it would seem that the Lord favors a free market economy with an emphasis on individual responsibility.
And, I believe from reading God’s Word that He calls us to personal responsibility in work and integrity no matter what economic system exists in the country where we live.
In our own lives, each of us needs to answer the question that Cain posed to the Lord God, “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
And the answer should be an emphatic “Yes”!
One day we will live in the grandest government of all. We will live under the rule of the kindest King of all. There won’t be any political rivalries and no competing economic systems. We will live in the abundance of His glorious presence and His glorious provision.
(Talk about the riches of Christ, His gift of salvation and communion)
