Circum Spective

Was Jesus A Communist?

I bet that title got your attention, didn't it? But seriously, as a Christian, I am not so sure that leveling the playing field economically is a bad thing, as so many on the political right would have us believe.
Jesus may not have been a Communist, but I am fairly certain he was not a "capitalist" either.

What I write in this blog post may shock some people, but please think long and hard about it before you dismiss my views out of hand.
The body of teachings about money in the scriptures do sound more to me like communist theory than capitalism to me. Read them again. Sell all you have; give to the poor; share all things in common. Of course, they are not communist teachings, but they are certainly not supportive of capitalist theory either, nor of an American economic system that fosters greed and is ruled by the Prince of the Air. Humor me and read the following four excerpts from the scriptures:

ACTS 2:42-47
They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

MATTHEW 19:16-24
Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?"
"Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments."
"Which ones?" the man inquired.
Jesus replied, " `Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,' and `love your neighbor as yourself.' "
"All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?"
Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you the truth, it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

1JOHN 3:16-20
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

LUKE 12:32-34
"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

These are just a few of the many scriptures that teach this way, but of course rich people like American Christians (and we are all "rich" people compared to most of the world's population) don't want to give up our material riches, so we rationalize and cleverly explain away these teachings. We construct entire theological doctrines to avoid the plain and simple truth. And the truth is that we are all in the same position as that of the young man "with great wealth" in the teaching recorded in the 19th chapter of Matthew.

Maybe the government shouldn't force us to share our wealth. Its an arguable point. But is forcing us to share worse than maintaining a system that fosters greed?