The Death of Capitalism ...

We are all very proud of our system of government.  Our democracy remains the aspiration of most of the rest of the world, even with all the faults it has.  But I dare say that just the system of our government on its own could not have achieved as much wealth for our citizenry, had it not latched itself to the concepts of capitalism along the way.  Earning what you work for is an underpinning of our society.  Those that work harder or smarter earn more.  This just seems fair.  It is the gasoline for the American Dream.  At some point however it is a little like the tail wagging the dog, in that most of our laws wind up centered around insuring a state of fairness, in a system where greed becomes more king than we thought.  Our nation begins by simply taking land from those who were unable to defend it.  Fast forward a bit and, slavery as an example, was the privileged earning more wealth across the backs of those who had no choice and received no share of that wealth.  The greed that powered that system, required a war to finally get rid of it.  The birth of industry resulted in much the same experience.  The super wealthy earning even more wealth across the backs of the downtrodden; horrible working conditions in factories where even children were forced to participate.  Exploitation of immigrants; particularly the Chinese to build railroads in working conditions we would call criminal by today’s standards.  At nearly every turn, we wind up adding volumes of laws to keep our greed under control in a system that naturally promotes greed at its core.

We would love to think our modern ways, and enlightened thinking, have eliminated these problems in our society.  They haven’t.  A global economy only lessens our ability to legislate guide rails around it.  Monopolies continue to exist in the form of very few corporate providers in key sectors of our economy, and they remain there by exploiting political weakness, and essentially by stoking the fires of personal greed along the way.  Our own laws become less effective at maintaining a state of fairness.  And so media companies are used to try to convince the American citizenry that having a class of “one percenters” is a “good” thing as if anyone could by hard work find themselves rising to enter this class themselves.  They can’t.  But the campaign to convince us, that somehow it is possible, is designed to help us elect those who we believe will somehow help us rise up, and at a minimum, become more wealthy along the way.

In America, this is just how it is.  We the people, have come to accept life like this.  And now, we the members of various Christian Churches have decided that participation in government is required to “protect” our way of life.  We have grown tired of a Hollywood agenda.  And we have decided to push back against liberal ideas that we believe threaten the moral character of our country.  But our method of achieving these goals has not been to live differently, only to speak more loudly.  To rethink how we live as Christians, to the degree it would be different than the capitalistic system that underlines America, has never even been under consideration.  Or to model our lives based upon what the government of heaven might look like, has again become completely unthinkable to us.  To make that denial easy, we simply deny we could ever know what government in heaven looks like, or that God would take as active a role here and now, as He obviously will then.

But what if the goal of our God for our lives was not really wealth at all?  What if the wealth of the kingdom of God, or how God measures wealth, was nothing like the wealth we all strive for here?  If you came to this realization, what would you do about it?  Most modern Christians have devolved into the idea that just giving a little more in tithes and offerings, of the wealth they have achieved, is the answer to this.  But that is much like putting lipstick on a pig.  Dressing up our greed with some measure of charity, does nothing to eliminate our greed entirely.  The pig still remains, we just keep putting makeup on it.  But there are actually several examples of how we should live in the Bible that might radically alter holding on to pigs in the first place.

In the Old Testament, (as in the New), what you had was a direct result of what God gave you – never a mention of what you earned.  And while the times were simpler then, much of God’s law had to be designed around eliminating your greed.  If you found yourself owning slaves (by whatever means) you had to free them every 50 years.  The same for property you acquired from people down on their luck.  You were supposed to provide for the poor by letting them harvest your fields (they called it gleaning) for free and without restrictions.  They had tithes and offerings as well, but strangely, the super wealthy back then were known for giving 70 to 90 percent of their increases instead of just the 10 that was required.  It never made mathematical sense back then either, but the Lord was determined not to be outgiven by His children then or now.  Those people had bills to pay back then as well, maybe not the same bills, but bills none the less, and yet they gave away way more money than they could afford, or we would even consider.  Yet somehow, some way, these folks who gave so much become the super-rich through being the super blessed.

When Jesus comes along, He lives the life of a homeless person throughout His ministry.  One set of clothes was all you needed.  Everything Jesus needed was provided for by His Father.  And our Example, never spent a moment worried about getting rich before He left.  And Jesus, again the example we are supposed to model, never spent a moment trying to eliminate a pagan government that was dead set against the precepts of our God.  Jesus did not even try to tear down the corrupt religious leadership that was ruining the church of His own day.  He taught the truth, and reprimanded the lies, the greed, and hypocrisy, but did nothing to try to tear down those corrupt institutions.  Instead, Jesus did not concern Himself with government at all, not secular or sacred.  He just lived the life to total dependence on God He desired to live.

And finally, Luke provides for us an insight into how the servants of God lived right after the ascension of Jesus.  You know, back when the church was pure, and the mission of God was actually paramount in the lives of His followers.  It picks up towards the end of the second chapter of Acts picking up in verse 42 it begins … “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”  The church was happy to hear about the life and ministry of Jesus.  This was not traditional worship back then, it was radically different.  Scriptures back then, essentially the Old Testament, were no longer read absent the life of Christ, they were instead read against the life of Jesus, to illustrate how ALL of the Old Testament prophesies were successfully met in the life of Jesus, in His death, and in His resurrection.  All of the Bible was no longer read independently anymore, it was read through the lens of Jesus Christ.  That was something completely new, and completely different than anyone was used to.

But the life of these Christians was not just about worship, it was about fellowship.  It was about supporting each other emotionally, mentally, and spiritually.  They hung out together.  They went on mission trips together.  They had meals together.  These were NOT once a week Christians who only saw each other on Sabbath or maybe on prayer meeting nights.  These were Christians who knew each other and hung out together all the time.  No one was a stranger to anyone else.  That takes time and dedication.  They did not treat each other casually as if anybody they encountered was not really important.  Instead everyone was valued.  They wanted to know everyone.  And they took the time to eat together and hang out together to accomplish that goal of inclusion.

Finally, the most important thing they did together was to pray together.  Not just on prayer meeting night for an hour or so, but pretty much all the time.  When you had a problem back then, your first thought was not how to solve it, but to ask God about it.  When you had an opportunity back then, you did not just jump right on it, but instead paused to ask God about it and seek His wisdom first.  This was not ritual.  This was integrating talking to Jesus into your everyday life as if He was right there with you.  But it was more than just talking to Jesus, it was as much about listening to what Jesus had to say in return. Immediate and interactive prayer.  Listening to the Holy Spirit to find out what to do next.

Luke continues in verse 43 saying … “And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.”  Fear, or wisdom, came upon every single soul.  That would include the young and the old, the men, women, people of all races and languages.  And the Apostles began doing many signs and wonders in the name of Jesus Christ.  These were not magic tricks, they were miracles, performed for a purpose.  The same purpose Jesus used to do them, to redeem the lost, and point them back to God, now back to Jesus Christ in these cases.  These disciples were not special.  They were common men.  Most not even educated formally.  They were NOT religious leaders.  They were just believers, made special by their proximity to Jesus.  They had the witness of Jesus, because they experienced Jesus.  Is that your testimony as well, have you experienced Jesus yet, or is He still theoretical to you?

Luke continues in verse 44 saying … “And all that believed were together, and had all things common; [verse 45] And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.”  And there it is, the death of capitalism, and the death of greed with it.  All that believed were together, and pooled their belongings, sold their possessions and goods, and distributed them across the entire crowd of believers as anyone who had need.  This is the unthinkable today.  It rubs us the wrong way.  To give up everything I have, in order to give it away to anyone, whether they deserve it or not, whether they are contributing or not.  Forces me to give without judgment, control, or preconditions.  It also makes me poor, so that I am dependent on the pool as well.  But it also means everything I have ever done or acquired is a gift to God.  It forces me to be dependent everyday on God for what I need.  Puts me back in Old Testament times for manner of government.  But it also frees me to have time to pray, spread the word, and hang out with all the believers in my area.  I may still work, but if I work, it is with the realization that my work is for everyone, never just myself, or my family.  And in truth there is nothing preventing us from living this way right now.  There are no laws against it.  We could live this way if we chose to, the only thing preventing us from living this way is choice, or own choice not to.

Luke continues in verse 46 saying … “And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, [verse 47] Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.”  Imagine that, going to church to hang out every single day.  Encouraging each other every day.  Moving from house to house to have meals in small groups and have worship, to praise God all the time.  And living lives of such connection with Jesus, that everyone who looks at you sees it, and hears it.  How could they not?  This why these Christians had such favor with the all the people.  It was not just for magic tricks or miracles.  When miracles were done, it was to meet the needs of the people and point them to Jesus.  People were giving of what they had to each other without thinking about it.  And people were glad to do it.  Everyone was so happy to see Jesus reflected so well in these new believers.  They saw the power of the Holy Spirit transforming the lives of everyone who professed the name of Jesus.

Were we to live this way, capitalism would be dead in our hearts and hands, and greed with it.  Wealth would be measured in the addition of souls to the kingdom of God.  Fellowship would be prized above all else to build each other up in the cause of Jesus.  Eating together would be highly regarded.  We would pray all the time.  And we would give the Holy Spirit full access to our hearts.  You will notice Luke makes no mention of the early Christian Church trying to take over any kind of governmental role.  They did not try to root out the Romans.  They did not try to take over the Sanhedrin, or the local Synagogue.  They just stuck together and lived how they lived.  They made people happy because they met the needs of people, and took an interest in the lives of people.  This was not done by governmental mandate but instead by the mandate of God on our hearts and souls.  They made interactive prayers a part of their daily routines.

I am no socialist.  I am no communist.  I do not think greed dies because we will it to be so.  But I do think that when we start giving Jesus all of ourselves, we begin to value things differently.  And the changes that come, come across the breadth of our lives, including what we think of as treasure.  We do not need to change our governments before we change our lives.  Our government makes no difference in that.  Look at the Apostles, they lived under a pagan government that killed Jesus, let alone would think to promote Him.  But they did not spend time trying to figure out how to change the Roman government, instead they spent their time loving Romans, and Greeks, and Jews, and everyone else they could encounter.  And over time their love changed the governments of the whole world including Rome. Perhaps it is time for us to realize that the wealth of this world is not what our God wants for us.  He is much more interested in sharing the wealth of the next world with us, even while we live in this one.  That transformation alone could remove the pig, the lipstick, and the need to ever be subject to greed again.  Are you willing to go that far? …