What Would Jesus Be?

One of the more popular religious games to play, for both the sectarian and the secular, is “What kind of politician would Jesus Be?” Would He be a Republican or a Democrat? Sometimes this branches out into more a economic realm with would He be a capitalist or a socialist? This former flavor of the discussion was recently brought op on twitter. Since 140 characters at a time is a tough format in which to have a serious discussion, I thought I’d try to share my thoughts in longer form here.

The conversation started with this tweet:

The implication, of course, is that Jesus demonstrates that He’s a socialist by helping people. To my mind, that’s just silly. What Jesus did was a simple act of charity. Socialism, on the other hand, can be defined as “an economic system in which the basic means of production are primarily owned and controlled collectively, usually by government under some system of central planning,” [1] or “the view that the government should own and control major industries using the dollars earned to provide benefits to citizens.” Clearly, Jesus was not part of the government, but does the example He sets call for our support of socialism? I don’t think it does.

In the event referenced in the tweet, Jesus asked a little boy what kind of lunch he had, which he freely gave to Jesus, who then shared it with the multitude in a miraculous way. At no point was the boy’s meal forcibly taken from him (which is exactly what a tax does), and at no point was the Roman government involved. It was one man asking a little boy to help, which he freely did.

Are there other examples in Scripture that might support the tweeter’s premise? I can’t think of any, while I can think of at least two counter-examples. The first that comes to mind is the Corinthians. In one of his letters to the Corinthians, written and sent as Paul is returning from Macedonia to Corinth, he tells the Corinthians of the abundant graciousness in their financial support of the Brothers and Sisters in Jerusalem. Paul then implores the Corinthians to follow the good example set by the Macedonians and give generously to this charitable effort. Note the that money was given to Paul, a private citizen, to carry directly to the intended recipients, the Christians suffering in Jerusalem (at the hands of the government, I might add). Paul didn’t implore the Macedonians and the Corinthians to pay more tax to Rome so that Rome could help the Christians. Rather, he instructed them to give directly to the afflicted, for which he would be the courier.

Another, perhaps better counter-example comes to mind, this time from the pages of the Old Testament, and this time involving a government. The setting is the Middle East. There’s a severe famine in the land, and people are suffering. Fortunately, through the Lord’s providence, a government “bureaucrat” in Egypt was told that this was going to happen, so preparations were made. All the people had to was go to their local government representative and ask for grain, and they would be fed. If the story stopped there, the tweeter might have a pretty air-tight case, but it doesn’t. If you’ll remember, this bureaucrat, Joseph, required that the supplicants pay for the grain they were given. They weren’t allowed to mooch off the hard work of others (or the government), but had to make a sacrifice — in this case, financial — to receive help. I think this approach is even reiterated in the New Testament when Paul commands that those who do not work, do not eat.

Does the Bible support socialism? I don’t think it does at all. Of course, I don’t think the Bible “supports” any system of government or politically party we have. When Jesus was here physically the first time (excluding any possible Christophanies in the Old Testament), he came to die. When He comes physically again, He comes to reign, and there certainly won’t be any elections or Congresses. That aside, the Bible does support, even command, charity. We are to love are neighbor as we love ourselves. We are to look after “the least of these.” But note the subject there. It’s always an individual. Nowhere in Scripture are we given the command or freedom to abdicate our charitable responsibilities by handing that function over to someone else. We are to give and to love. That is the example Jesus set.

[1] http://countrystudies.us/united-states/economy-12.htm
[2] http://www.facsnet.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=190:journalists-guide-to-economic-terms-04-02&catid=75:archives

TagsChristianity, Politics, Religion