Does the Bible Teach Socialism/Communism? #4
Some may ask, “Doesn’t the Bible teach us to obey the government?” Yes. Passages such as Romans 13:1-7 and 1 Peter 2:13-17 command us to obey the law and even pay taxes. However, the Bible also teaches that if these laws contradict God’s law, we have an obligation to obey God first (Acts 5:29). This in no way suggests that God sanctions a specific form of government.
Can advocates of income redistribution find support in the New Testament? The words of the apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 9:7 speak God’s desires for how the church is to collect funds: “So let each one give as he purposes in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.” While God desires that we give, it is to be a free-will offering, not a government legislated obligation. It was this kind of giving that was done in Acts 2:44-45 and Acts 4:32-37. This giving was voluntary, not mandatory. Peter makes this clear in Acts 5:4 when he said to Ananias, “While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control?” In other words, Ananias was under no obligation to give this money. (His sin was in lying about what he gave, Acts 5:4). Having said that, does the church have the obligation to help the poor? Yes, but it is to be done as we have opportunity (Galatians 6:10).
While socialism/communism conflicts with religion in many ways (its founders, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, were atheists), the heart of its message is to employ the power of government to force economic change on societies by centrally controlling their capital through state ownership of property. Neither Jesus, nor the Bible, endorses such a system. To suggest otherwise is a failure to understand Jesus, who teaches His disciples to help the needy as a personal responsibility and as a work of the church.