Communism or Compassion
“But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbor?”
(Luke 10:29)
He was a lawyer looking for a loophole.
Perhaps he felt boxed in by the Master. The questions “a certain lawyer”
asked Jesus had brought an unwelcome response. He had asked Him, “What
shall I do to inherit eternal life?” The Lord answered by asking a
question very appropriate for the consideration of a student of the law: “What
is written in the law? how readest thou?” When the man replied by
referring to the two great commandments, to love God “with all thy heart, and
with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind,” and to
love your neighbor “as thyself,” Jesus said, “Thou hast answered right: this
do, and thou shalt live.” Clearly the lawyer was stricken by that
response, taken by the conviction that he could never keep such high
standards. And that is why he came up with the question, “And who is my
neighbor?” He was seeking a legal loophole.
In answer to this lawyer’s
lawyer-like question, the Lord Jesus Christ told the immortal Parable of the
Good Samaritan (read all of Luke 10:25-37). The focus of this response
was on the question, not of who should be the object of one’s love, but rather
of what kind of love one should have in his own heart. The issue is not,
“Whom shall I consider my neighbor?” but rather, “What kind of neighbor am
I?” It was a perfect exposition of what the New Testament calls later the
Royal Law (see James 2:8).
The Royal Law, “Thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself,” is not only the primary moral principle of scripture
regarding man’s relation to man, but it is also a profoundly significant
principle in American culture. It was this law that generated the kind of
thinking that gave us equal rights as citizens and liberties far beyond those
that have been recognized in other countries. It was the influence of the
Bible, through the beliefs of many of the first settlers and also through the
powerful effects of the Great Awakening that moved the founders to affirm the
equality and liberty of “all men.” It was also this Royal Law that was
behind Lincoln’s argument that “If I would not be a slave, I would not own
one,” which emancipated the slaves. Perhaps the profound influence of
this principle is the reason its meaning is still subtly debated even in the
more secular times in which we live. What is it to love one’s neighbor as
oneself?
In the last presidential campaign
(2008) a remark was made to the effect that capitalism is based on
selfishness. Americans have sometimes been persuaded to accept certain
aspects of socialism on moral grounds, that we as a nation owe government aid
to certain people in certain difficult situations. Our economic system is
often criticized from what appears to be higher moral ground because it does
not seem to be based on loving our neighbors. Some liberal churches
actually teach that the free enterprise system is immoral.
The first church in the world seems
to have practiced some kind of communism. The Bible records that the
members of the congregation at Jerusalem “had all things common; and sold their
possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need” (Acts
2:44-45; see also Acts 4:32). Was this communism, practiced on the
principles of modern-day communism?
The truth is that
communism and socialism are fundamentally the same, or at least expressions of
the same idea. The modern philosophy of communism did not germinate in
Russia, but rather in the West. And political expressions of the
communist philosophy often have taken the name “socialist.” Communism has
the idea of owning all property communally. Socialism has the idea of
controlling the economy socially rather than individually. The dictionary
defines socialism as “a political and economic theory that advocates that the
means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by
the community as a whole.” The presuppositions of both theories are the
same. It is not really wrong to call socialism communistic,
or to refer to communism as a kind of socialism. But for Americans the
deeper question must be, “Is socialism/communism right?” Is it the ideal
arrangement? Does the Royal Law call for it?
There are several characters in the
Parable of the Good Samaritan. Which one represents the communist of our
times? Is he the Samaritan who sacrificed to help the wounded
traveler? Actually it is more likely that the communist would be the
thief that “stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving
him half dead.” The socialists/communists are the thieves, and their
views amount to highway robbery. A thief, like the communist, says,
“What’s yours is mine, and I will take it.” This is why socialism has
decimated all the societies that have tried it long enough. The twentieth
century proved that socialism destroys economies and societies. The great
Soviet Union did not fall under nuclear attack; it collapsed under the weight
of socialism. This is what is happening to most of the countries of “free
Europe” right now, and is likely to happen to us if we keep on traveling the
socialistic path we have apparently chosen. Socialism confiscates wealth
either by direct pillaging, as the communists have done, or by oppressive
taxation, as Western “liberals” practice it. It is true that the motive
is supposed to be redistributing wealth to the poor, but the poor are not the
only beneficiaries of the collectivistic schemes. The politicians who buy
the votes (in democratic countries) or the favor (in dictatorships) of the
people by giving them things also benefit greatly from supposedly imitating
Robin Hood. Without a doubt, the communists in the story are the thieves.
The priest who came by and saw the
poor, broken man and ignored him is the pure capitalist. The Levite who
“came and looked on him” but did nothing to help him is the concerned
capitalist. Fundamentally they said and say, “What’s mine is mine, and I
am going to keep it.” Many Christians think that conservative politics
and capitalist economics will meet the needs and solve the problems of the
nation. But they are wrong to think this. Sound economic and
libertarian principles are not enough. Electing conservatives alone will
not turn the country around.
The hero of the story, the Good
Samaritan, “had compassion” on the wounded and robbed individual, went to him,
bound up and medicated his injuries, and, at significant sacrifice to himself,
took the man to a place where he could get help, and them paid for him to get
the help. His approach was, “What’s mine is mine, but I will use it to
help meet the needs of the needy.” The Samaritan’s charity was voluntary,
and produced by love and compassion. This was also true of the early
church, and the cause behind their having all things common. It was not
communism; it was Christian compassion. It was not mandated and forced
confiscation. It was willing generosity, prompted by the love of Christ
in their hearts.
During the Second Great Awakening in
America (1795-1845), the outpouring of compassionate love from the Christian
community manifested itself in what history calls, “The Benevolence
Empire.” This network of thousands of Christian-based charitable and
social-service organizations sought to meet the needs of the hurting in
society, and achieved a great measure of success! Historian Keith Hardman
says, “The financial giving that supported such causes was enormous when we
calculate the giving in terms of today’s [1983] currency. By 1834 the
annual income of the fourteen leading societies had risen to nearly 9 million
dollars per year, or an equivalent of 135 million dollars in terms of today’s
currency. And this was for a nation with a total population of fourteen
million.” Some years, we understand, the intake of the charities exceeded
the revenue collected by the federal government. The needs of man were
being met, not by socialistic government programs but by the compassion of
Christian charity. In those days, the voices of unbelievers cried out for
the plight of the poor, just as they do today. But, also as in our day,
the non-Christians actually did very little to relieve the poor. It was
the revived Christians, transformed into their ancient counterparts by the
awakening, which made the sacrifices to help those in need. In 1855, the New
York Observer commented that “Infidelity makes a great outcry about its
philanthropy, but religion does the work.”
Socialism is going to destroy our
country. This is clear to almost any objective and informed
observer. But the path of destruction can be abandoned, and the problems
averted to some degree if the government were to turn back to conservative
principles. The principles that underlie the capitalistic economic system
are valid, as anyone who regards the Bible as the Word of God can
discover. The Ten Commandments support the concept of private property
through the injunctions against stealing and coveting. Clearly the God of
the Bible has distributed property to individual people and to families, and
supports their responsibility over these things with moral precepts. In
other parables, Jesus Christ vindicated the profit motive (read). But the
needs of hurting men will not be met by pure capitalism. The injured
traveler needs the Good Samaritan. The problems of our country and of our
world will not be solved apart from a widespread revival of New Testament
Christianity.
There is something we can do to help
the hurting around us. It isn’t pushing for new government programs, and
it isn’t electing conservatives to office. What Christians need to do is
begin seeking the face of God in earnest for the revival we need. We will
help the cause of truth by voting for proven principles on election day, but we
will not address the heart of the real need until we return to Bible religion,
the kind that springs from a heart transformed by the love of God.
Revival preaching and fervent prayers will do more to save America than
anything else.