My coworker (Balkan Brink) this morning wrote a great blog entitled, God’s a liberal, but I personally am pretty sure that He is a communist, or at the very least a socialist. He sure as heck isn’t democratic! In a democracy it seems that everyone labors for their own personal benefit. In socialist and communism, everyone (at least in principle) works for the good of everyone else. In socialism, its about the group, not the individual. It’s not about me in socialism and communism, its about us. You do not have to have a two digit IQ to quickly see that socialism/communism is heavenly and churchly stuff. It’s what the Kingdom is like.
Of course the earthly expressions that we have seen in our lifetime so far of socialism and communism have been pretty sad expressions of these systems. It seems that they are always tainted by the greed of those in power. It clearly doesn’t work that way with God, because He is not greedy, although He is terribly jealous. And He definitely is running a dictatorship (theocracy) not a democracy. He is the only person making corporate decisions here!
It seems that church and religion are far less about God and His Kingdom than they are about me and me. I think this is the primary reason we fall into idolatry all the time. Let’s face it, Jesus ain’t gonna do what we want Him to when we want Him to, ever. So instead we focus on being attractive, cool, spiritual, smart, religious, faithful, witty, philosophical, educated, connected, technological, experienced, paid well, successful, famous, in the spotlight, influential, etc, etc none of which are necessarily bad in of themselves, but are golden calfs of worship in most people’s lives . . . at least the people I hang with. Perhaps I hang with particularly false gods oriented folks, but I don’t think so. We generally are pretty average sinners.
The scary thing . . . and the beautiful thing is that God does not work like this. He is the Kingdom of God, and all He does is for the Kingdom. No selfishness, or self-addiction here. This entire issue reminds me so much of my Russian friend Illiya. We were in my Lada one day, driving toward his dacha out on the edge of town. He was bragging to me how he had bought this little piece of property after Perestroika, and how he had planted trees and built a little shack/cabin there, and on and on he went. I finally told him, “Illiya, you have become a capitalist!” This is probably the most negative word you could have called anyone in Russia 10 years ago. “I certainly am not!” Illiya retorted. “Yes, you are.” I confidently told him. A Communist would have taken that land and used it for everybody’s welfare. You purchased this property and are developing it for the welfare of your own family (primarily). And back and forth we argued for the better part of 30 minutes. He finally said, “Ok, I am a capitalist, but just don’t tell anyone.” I told him that his secret was safe with me.
Of course the earthly expressions that we have seen in our lifetime so far of socialism and communism have been pretty sad expressions of these systems. It seems that they are always tainted by the greed of those in power. It clearly doesn’t work that way with God, because He is not greedy, although He is terribly jealous. And He definitely is running a dictatorship (theocracy) not a democracy. He is the only person making corporate decisions here!
It seems that church and religion are far less about God and His Kingdom than they are about me and me. I think this is the primary reason we fall into idolatry all the time. Let’s face it, Jesus ain’t gonna do what we want Him to when we want Him to, ever. So instead we focus on being attractive, cool, spiritual, smart, religious, faithful, witty, philosophical, educated, connected, technological, experienced, paid well, successful, famous, in the spotlight, influential, etc, etc none of which are necessarily bad in of themselves, but are golden calfs of worship in most people’s lives . . . at least the people I hang with. Perhaps I hang with particularly false gods oriented folks, but I don’t think so. We generally are pretty average sinners.
The scary thing . . . and the beautiful thing is that God does not work like this. He is the Kingdom of God, and all He does is for the Kingdom. No selfishness, or self-addiction here. This entire issue reminds me so much of my Russian friend Illiya. We were in my Lada one day, driving toward his dacha out on the edge of town. He was bragging to me how he had bought this little piece of property after Perestroika, and how he had planted trees and built a little shack/cabin there, and on and on he went. I finally told him, “Illiya, you have become a capitalist!” This is probably the most negative word you could have called anyone in Russia 10 years ago. “I certainly am not!” Illiya retorted. “Yes, you are.” I confidently told him. A Communist would have taken that land and used it for everybody’s welfare. You purchased this property and are developing it for the welfare of your own family (primarily). And back and forth we argued for the better part of 30 minutes. He finally said, “Ok, I am a capitalist, but just don’t tell anyone.” I told him that his secret was safe with me.
3 comments:
A very thought-provoking post (as usual!). I think every system-- whether free-market capitalist, communist, constitutional republic, or democracy--is tainted by the greed of those in power. How could it be otherwise with man's sin nature? Interestingly, America's system of government is one of the first to put limits on those in power, possibly because the framers of the Constitution recognized that human beings are sinners. The saying, "Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely" explains why earthly expressions of communism and socialism have failed so miserably. Power is not really in the hands of the people but is concentrated in a small elite. If you look at history, every time communism was implemented as a form of government or economic policy, it ended in failure or disaster. The pilgrims in the Massachusettes Bay Colony tried it, and they nearly starved to death when just about everyone lost the incentive to work.
The conversation with your friend reminds me that the people who have benefited the most from free-market capitalism have often been the most vocal in attacking it, including the Beatles. Capitalism made them rich, yet they were always condemning it. Ironically, John Lennon's song "Imagine" envisioned the abolition of private property even while he was making millions selling his records.
The bottom line is that communism--or any government that seeks to create equality through the use of force or coercion--is doomed to failure. Without the influence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of its citizens, no system of government can ensure the common good of anyone.
Well Jules, as usual you understand the issues far better than I do in my juvenile grasp of governments. Human nature I think I understand better than I do politics and such. Clearly you are the expert in this field. I bow to your greater expertise. Thanks for clarifying some of the many issues I raised here. This was not my best post ever. D
I can’t claim to be an expert in politics—it’s just a subject I’m very passionate about and am constantly learning about. One of the biggest things I’ve learned about politics (and everything else) over the years is how much I need to learn. I doubt that I grasp the issues any better than you do, especially since I have never actually lived under communism (though I've known a few people who have).
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