Is Christianity and Socialism compatible? Many refer, in recent threads on social media that I have read, how the early church in its community shared its property and goods to give to those in need and the poor. Acts 4:32 “All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.” No question this was the case, but is this the type of socialism being advertised in our society today. Absolutely not!
The main difference between socialism versus capitalism is the free market based on ‘private owners for profit’ versus socialism which is an ‘economic system driven by the production, distribution, and exchange, owned and regulated, by the community’. Many would say this best describes the early church. I would only partially agree. The early church may best be described as a theocratic socialism where they pooled their resources to survive and care for the needs of their community, but this was driven by a love for God, not government mandate. Should churches still use these principles in doing missions for those in need? Absolutely! But a government driven society robs the believer of the ability of freely giving and puts their hard earned work and production into the hands of the government not God.
For instance, how can you freely give as Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 9:7 which says, “Each man should give what he has decided in his heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” The “each man” gives it away that it is up to the individual to decide what to give not the community or society to dictate, but the church society is made up of individuals who freely give.
In a Socialistic society where the government controls what is given, not only will it reduce the quality of what is made in the production of goods because the individual has nothing to personally gain for better quality, no personal incentive in other words, but also it robs the person of freely giving what they have decided, the individual, in their heart to give. They have nothing of their own really because it is under the control of the community/government.
We need a capitalistic society so that we can earn what we can to be able to freely give, otherwise, our giving becomes stealing from the state. Sadly, too many are looking for the government to fill the shoes God ordained the Church to walk in, and Christians need to take ownership. It was the Church who started hospitals, modern science, and took seriously the poor and the importance of education. So a theocratic socialism, if you want to use that terminology, yes, but make NO mistake that this is not the kind of socialism that is on the ballot this year. Hopefully, I’ve explained the need for a capitalistic society for our communal giving as believers.
One final thought, the Bible teaches, “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 make ourselves a model for you to follow. For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “If a man will not work, he shall not eat.” (2 Thessalonians 3:8-10) Work is the source of provision. We need to focus on work, not welfare, because giving is a wonderful gift we should all do motivated by the love of God in our communities, but our giving to those who play the victim becomes enablement and sets our communities up for future failure.
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