Here We Are In December Already

Here We Are In December Already and Christmas is right around the corner. Time does indeed fly. An idea that flies around at Christmas is that we should have consideration & love toward our fellow man. Throughout His ministry, Christ made clear the importance of helping people. He healed the sick and at least twice showed the power of God by providing food for the masses (Matt. 14:15-21, 15:32-38). Jesus stated that He had “compassion on the multitude, ... and have nothing to eat: and I will not send them away fasting, lest they faint in the way” (15:32).
This is the month we all think extra hard about the way that Jesus, God incarnate, came to earth to begin His path to pay for our sin and offer humanity a way out. We're also continuing to look at the frequently-held idea that Christianity and Socialism point to much the same values and goals. So, put those together and it seems a good opportunity to look at whether Jesus told people to basically be Socialists—something many try forcefully to tell us.
Economist R. Higgs, in listing proponents of communism, wrote, “Jesus told his disciples to sell all that they owned and give the proceeds to the poor.” It's always dangerous to “cherry pick” Scripture-- to select one or a few verses that, without the rest of the story in the whole passage or broader brush of the Bible, seems to make the point the writer wants. So, if we're just a little more careful in reading Jesus’ words and their context (Luke 18:18–30) and we see that Jesus did not at all tell His disciples to do so. He was speaking only to a particular man—the rich young ruler. That young man was full of pride and confident that he’d fulfilled God’s commandments from his youth until that moment, and in his arrogance he was looking for Jesus to confirm his righteousness. Really the young ruler had broken the very first commandment--- his wealth was his god. This particular man had a particular problem, and Jesus prescribed a particular cure, one targeted directly at the young man's particular problem. Jesus was not speaking to His disciples. And His instruction was not a legalistic, preachy prescription for all people until the end of time—unless they shared the young man's particular god, wealth. (And honestly, making money a god is a vast problem among Socialists, even to the point of killing off large groups of people in order to steal & control their wealth.)
In the very next chapter of Luke (19:1–10), Jesus encountered another person, Zacchaeus, the hated tax collector. Other Israelites detested tax collectors for cooperating with the Romans. Zaccaeus implied that he’d overcharged some of his countrymen to make himself wealthier. But Zacchaeus was different than the rich young ruler & came to Jesus humbly, confessing his sin, and announced his willingness to not only make restitution, but to repay anyone he’d gypped and then give half of the remainder to the poor. How did Jesus respond? Did He say, “Don't be cheap, Zacchaeus, you must give all you have to the poor”? No. He said, “Today salvation has come to this house”—not because Zacchaeus was buying his way into Heaven by dropping cash in the poor box, but “because he, too, is a son of Abraham,” meaning that his now-humble attitude showed his faith in God’s covenant with Abraham (Romans 4:9–17, 24–29; 9:1–9). We see clearly that contrary to Mr. Higgs, Jesus did not direct His disciples-or us- to be proponents of wealth redistribution. Jesus was -and is- much more concerned with what's most important to people and how we show it. With our spiritual state of faith.
Christmas is coming soon, so go ahead, love your fellow man (yes, even the one who wants to take your hard-earned money), pray and strive to know and do what you should with what God allows you to earn, and thank Him for it! Don't make money your god by overvaluing it or by wanting to take away what belongs to others.
Next month, we'll have a look at the early Christians to see what socialists they were—or weren't. Pastor Geoff                                                                                                                                                                                                         A certain ruler asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “Why do you call me good?” Jesus answered. “No one is good—except God alone. 20 You know the commandments: ‘You shall not commit adultery, you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.’”        “All these I have kept since I was a boy,” he said When Jesus heard this, he said to him, “You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was very wealthy.  Jesus looked at him and said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!  Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”       Luke 18:18-23