Jesus Was Not A Socialist

I was watching a news show on TV, and they brought up a panel of “experts” to talk about the religious faith of various presidential candidates. One of the panelists was Dorothea (Dee) Dawkins-Haigler. According to her bio, she is a college educator, community activist, and political strategist. But that is not all. She also served in the Georgia legislature as a State Representative, and was Chair of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus and Past Chair of the Georgia Women’s Legislative Caucus. She has also run for higher offices, but was not successful in any of those. But seemingly, the news show had her on the panel because she is also an ordained minister and pastor.

As the panel discussed the religious tendencies of various candidates, it was noted that virtually all of the Democrat candidates for president embrace some form of Socialism. That fact was generally being seen by the panel as a negative thing until Dawkins-Haigler made the claim that Jesus was more Socialist than any of the presidential candidates.

Well, as you can imagine, that stirred the pot. She was then asked how she could possibly believe that. In reply to that question, she said that the “Scriptures seem to point to what people now call Socialism.” She went on to say that, "We believe in things like, what did you do to the least of them? You fed the hungry, you clothed the naked, you went to see those who are in prison."

Of course the other panel members didn’t go along with that at all, and made the point that to be a faithful Christian you don’t have to believe in Socialism. Socialism is a system where all of the good things mentioned by Dawkins-Haigler to help other people are done by the government. The Bible calls on Christians to do good in the world, not the government.

Well, I’ve heard all of this before. In fact, there is a whole segment of the so called “Christian community” that has bought into this focus on Social Justice. The starting point of their theology is that God’s primary interest toward mankind is to create a just society – and their definition of justice is to take down the “haves” and lift up the “have-nots.”

Of course, that is not the emphasis of the Bible at all. That is the emphasis of the Marxist philosophy that these people have substituted for Christian theology. Basically, what they have done is to dress up Marxism with Christian vocabulary and call it Christianity.

Well, God certainly is concerned with those who are down and out, and he calls on Christians to meet their physical needs as much as possible. But the reason for meeting the needs is quite different from what the Social Justice warriors promote. God’s very reason for creating mankind in the first place was for relationship with himself. Meeting people’s physical needs is not the end goal of God’s purpose for mankind, but is an expression of a changed life that happens when people come to know him personally. The purpose is relationship, and one outward expression of that is mercy and compassion toward other people.

Socialism is not an expression of biblical beliefs. In fact, it has its root in atheistic Naturalism. Those who promote the Social Justice version of “Christianity” are not promoting Christianity at all. In fact, they totally ignore the very reason Christians express love and compassion toward those who are in need. Even worse, they don’t see a need to share with those who are down and out the real solution to their problems – a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Freddy Davis is the president of MarketFaith Ministries. He is the author of numerous books and has a background as an international missionary, pastor, radio host, worldview trainer, and entrepreneur. Freddy is a graduate of Florida State University with a BS in Communication, and holds MDiv and DMin degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is a popular speaker, particularly on the topic of worldview and its practical implications for the Christian life. He lives in Tallahassee, FL, with his wife Deborah. 

You may also contact Freddy at Leadership Speakers Bureau to schedule him for speaking or leadership engagements.

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