Not even a century has passed since World War 2, yet modern society is again plagued with the desire to implement Socialism. Vladimir Lenin (depicted in the header image) once said that the end goal of Socialism is Communism. Those who support either view often claim that the true version of their philosophy has "never been tried", a convenient way to explain why it has always lead to desolation and tyranny. I want to present a better philosophy, which has been tried, but never on as large a scale as Socialism or Communism. I am, of course, speaking of Biblical Christianity.
I want to talk to you about a man named Aristedes. In the 2nd century, Aristedes was sent by Ceasar Hadrian to investigate this rapidly growing faith known as “The Way”. This was the ancient way of referring to the Christian faith. His report was amazing.
“They love one another, and he, who has, gives to him who has not, without boasting. And when they see a stranger, they take him into their own homes and rejoice over him as a very brother. And if there is among them any that are poor and needy, and if they have no spare food, they fast two or three days in order to supply to the needy their lack of food. Such, O King, is their manner of life, and verily, this is a new people, and there is something divine in the midst of them.”
As Aristedes noted, “there is something divine in the midst of them”. I doubt he was familiar with Christ’s words in John 13:35: “by this all will know you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” But he did know this: “Their trust in Christ impacts how they live.” In other words, rather than giving unwillingly by threat of force, as with a tax, Christians do all these things precisely because of the divine presence amongst us. “They know and trust in God. From Him they receive those commandments which they have engraved on their minds, and which they observe in hope and expectation of the world to come. For this reason they do not commit adultery or immorality; they do not bear false witness, or embezzle, nor do they covet what is not theirs.”
The emphasis in the above quote is mine. I have done so to highlight that Aristedes recognised a very important distinction between Christianity and Socialism: the source of its mentality. Socialism is a philosophy based on greed. Those who do not have are covetous of that which isn’t theirs, and those who have what is coveted give only based on the desire to survive, or to gain more, or to boast. Even the rich who support Socialism by word do not practice it by deed. Bernie Sanders, for example, is an ardent defender of excessive taxes (even up to 90%), whereas he, himself, has made large sums of money selling Socialism, using loopholes to pay less in taxes.
By contrast, Christianity requires no force at all. It is done based on faith in God and love for man. In other words, same aim, different motivation. And because the motivation is different, so is the end result. Socialism ends in Communism, which ends in 100million deaths. And as Stalin said, that's just "a statistic". Christianity, by contrast, creates strong community bonds, causing strangers, and even enemies to lift each other up.
So, I ask you this: which world would you rather live in? A world of “true Communism”, drowning in dread and fear, or a world filled to the brim with Churches like the one Aristedes described to the Roman Emperor? The latter does not start at the ballot box, electing tyrannical politicians, who I promise you do not have your best interest at heart. Rather, it starts with you. You, as an individual, can accept The Way observed by Aristedes. Practice it with due diligence, showing love to God and men, without selfishly coveting what you are not owed.
In due time, you will be called before God, and He will judge everything you have ever done. He will, unfortunately, find fault in you. We've all fallen short of His Holiness, even those in the Church. But praise be to God, He covered that in the most spectacular fashion possible. He sent His Son to live as a righteous man, never knowing sin, yet perishing as though He, Himself, was a sinner. The result? The wrath owed to you for your sin is nullified. The sole condition for this is faith. Those who confess Jesus as Lord, and believe in our hearts God raised Him from the dead, will be saved. And this will produce fantastic fruits. Love, patience, self control, and many more. It would be brilliant if this became the standard practice of the nation, but it will never be if it doesn't come from within.