DOES THE BIBLE SUPPORT SOCIAL MARXISM? by Dr. Shah, Clearview Church, Henderson, NC

Introduction: Most pastors are hesitant to talk about money. One pastor thought – “What if I give my people something in return that they value? Maybe they will give more money.” He hit upon a great idea. The following Sunday, he announced that whoever gives a $1000 can pick out 3 hymns. At the end of the service, the ushers informed the pastor that there was $1000 in an envelope. Pastor was amazed. He asked, “Would you raise your hand if you gave this $1000 envelope?” An elderly saintly lady in the back raised her hand. The pastor asked her to come forward. She slowly made her way forward. The pastor praised her for the gift and asked her for her 3 hymns. Her eyes lit up. She turned to the congregation and said, “I’ll take him and him and him.” The Bible does not shy away from speaking on money: Jesus gave 16 out of 38 parables on money; More is said in the NT about money than heaven and hell combined; Five times more is said about money than prayer; In all, the Bible has as many as 2000 references about wealth and property. James also addresses money, and we will see what it means in our message titled “Does the Bible Support Social Marxism?” Christians desperately needs to hear about money, especially the church in America. Marxism, especially social Marxism, is on the march. What should we believe? How should we respond?

James 5 (page #1853) 1 “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days.”

Overall Background: Taken at face value, it would seem that James was a Marxist or a Socialist or Communist. Before we look at this passage, let me say it as clearly as possible – Marxism/Socialism/Communism are completely contrary to Biblical as well as the American way of life. I grew up in a socialist country, albeit democratic socialist, where the state controlled everything from steel manufacturing, mining, water, telecommunications, insurance, electricity, and every major industry. The Banks also were nationalized. I remember going with my grandma and standing in line with a ration card for sugar. Socialism promises to bring equality and fairness. Far from doing that, it not only makes life difficult, but it also leads to corruption, nepotism, cronyism, and all kinds of favoritisms. Why am I saying all this? If we’re not careful, America is heading in that direction. We must educate ourselves and not fall for the lies. For the benefit of those who may not understand what Marxism/Socialism/Communism mean, here’s a quick lesson on modern economics and the various schools of thought (taken from the works of Eamonn Butler and Mark Skousen). This is economics in 3 minutes!

1. Pre-classical Economics: A starting point could be Plato and Aristotle – Oikonomica = oikos (house) + nomos (rule or management). This was followed by the scholastics and then the medieval period which brought the mercantilist era (all about collecting gold and silver from other nations and becoming powerful, zero-sum game).

2. Classical Economics: The Enlightenment period of the 18^th century with Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Thomas Malthus, and James Mill. Of course, Smith’s Wealth of Nations was key in changing our understanding of wealth. He argued, using the Bible, that prosperity comes when free citizens are given the freedom to work in their own self-interest. Somehow it works and society, as a whole, begins to prosper. He called it the “invisible hand.” Of course, government should be there to provide defense and a justice system for fairness. Taxes are needed to provide such services. But government should have less interference. If we keep raising taxes, people will stop creating wealth. The French Laissez-faire (let be) economists, among other ideas, emphasized the role of entrepreneurs.

3. Socialism: The Industrial age brought a lot of advancement in the production of iron, textiles with steam power and modern tools. It also brought to light the brutal conditions in which the workers lived and worked. It also exposed the cruel practice of child labor. Not that these things didn’t happen before, but now people working closer together in factories and mills could talk about them to each other and rise up to fight the capital owner (the capitalists) who were using them to gain “surplus wealth.” Enter Karl Marx, who brought the idea of “historical materialism.” He argued that human society develops based on their production processes and the resultant class struggles. There are too many foundational problems and internal contradictions in his theory that we don’t have time to go over here. He held to the “Labor theory of value” = value of the product is based on the time spent to make it. Let’s say that it takes you 15 mins to change an oil filter, but it takes me two hours. Whose labor is worth more? This is where the labor theory falls apart. To remedy that, Marx made it “socially necessarylabor time.” He also claimed that the capitalists (bourgeoisie) use politics, legal system, religion, culture, media, and everything to keep exploiting the workers (proletariat). Marx wrote, “The first requisite of the happiness of the people is the abolition of religion.” Here it would suffice to note that in Marxist theory, socialism is where the government owns and controls most of the businesses and industries, while communism is when the government also owns all the property. There is no private ownership. In their Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels wrote, “In this sense, the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.” What is very interesting is that, in practice, the revolt is led by an elite, and that elite become the new bourgeoisie. Case in point: Castro in Cuba, Maduro in Venezuela, and the Iranian regime (Islamic socialist).

By the way, Social Marxism is different where it’s not just about the economy but also about race, sex, and gender. Not only Marxism is on the rise in America but also Social (Cultural) Marxism. Just so you will understand why I am saying that, here are some more economic schools of thought.

4. Marginal Revolution: In the late 19^th century, some economists tried to fight back against the socialist movement by calling the people back to the classical model (Neo-classical synthesis). Key individuals included Carl Menger (Austrian School), William Stanley Jevons, Alfred Marshall, and Irving Fisher. The end of the 19^th century with the big business of Carnegie and Rockefellers did not help the matter.

5. Keynes: When the Stock market crashed and the Great Depression began in 1930, capitalism was given a big blow. As banks collapsed, business shuttered, and workers went without jobs, the whole world staggered. This is when a British economist, John Maynard Keynes, proposed the middle ground that government needs to step in to stabilize the economy by increasing spending and cutting taxes. This would leave more money in the hands of the people and maybe increase spending and investments. This prevented the Marxist campaign for nationalization and control of micro-economics, but it also had another impact after World War II – it led to the creation of the Welfare State and entrenched the government policy of using taxes to boost economy and employment. It only led to failed results.

6. Chicago School: Milton Freedman was a key proponent of this view. It utilized “pure economic theory” and reiterated the importance of incentives to all aspects of life, even economics. He also demonstrated with research that the Federal Reserve was the cause of the Great Depression.

7. Austrian School: It focusses on the individual as the starting point. Economy doesn’t just happen. Markets don’t happen spontaneously. They happen when the individuals create, invest, buy, and trade. Why do individuals do that? Not because the government makes it happen. It’s because people feel good about doing it. Austrian economists (Ludwig von Mises and Fredrich Hayek) had prognosticated the fall of the USSR. It did.

8. Minor Schools – Public Choice and Behavioral Economics: They are interesting but not tangible. They cannot be tested.

Hope this whirlwind tour helps you see what we are talking about when we say Marxism/Socialism/Communism. I hope you will educate yourself and fight against it.

So, what about James 5 (page #1853) 1 “Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you!” Is James against the rich? No, for 2 reasons:

1. There were many rich who are mentioned in the Bible who used their wealth for God. In the Old Testament – Job, Abraham, Joseph, Moses, David and Solomon. In the New Testament – Nicodemus, Barnabas, Philemon, and Lydia (the seller of purple).

2. The “rich” whom James is addressing were not the Christians who were wealthy but the wealthy landowners who were mistreating and abusing those who were working in their fields. James is primarily addressing the unrighteous/wicked/worldly rich who exploit and abuse the poor.

Having said that – this message is for all of us:

• Sometimes those who do not have much money tend to think of themselves as being more spiritual than those who do. NOT TRUE. In my short life I have seen more wealthy people share their money and more poor people pre-occupied with money and possessions.
• Sometimes, those who have money get very uncomfortable around passages like this and feel like they must defend themselves. YOU DON’T HAVE TO. EVERYBODY IN THIS ROOM IS RICH. You say – according to the world’s standards, right? No, according to America’s standards. If you have a change of clothing, roof over your head and food on the table, then you are RICH. Go by a homeless shelter and you will see that all of a person’s belongings could fit into a large trash bag.
• Some people think that all you need is money to solve all your problems – just a little bit more and it will do it. Amazingly, the more we have, the more we need. The more we make, the more we spend. We will go to any extent to get it. Do whatever it takes. That attitude should be reserved only for God. Knowingly or unknowingly, money becomes our God. Money is not neutral. It demands your allegiance. Either you master your money or your money will master you.

THE QUESTION IS NOT: “DO YOU HAVE MONEY?” THE REAL QUESTION IS: “DOES MONEY HAVE YOU?” IN OTHER WORDS, “HAS MONEY BECOME YOUR MASTER?” WHEN IT BECOMES YOUR MASTER, IT ONLY PROMISES MISERY.

JAMES GIVES THREE ATTITUDES OF THE WORLDLY RICH TOWARD MONEY. As we go through this message, ask yourself: how would I answer each question?

#1 HOW THEY GUARD IT?

James 5 (page #1853) 2 Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. 3 Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days.

Immediate Background: “You have heaped up treasure.” The word for heaped up comes from the same Greek word for “thesaurus.” A thesaurus collects and holds all the words inside. In the same way, some people collect and hold on to their wealth. This is not saying that we should not save money. I believe that we are in a mess today because we have not been fiscally responsible. We are spending more than we are bringing in. 

THERE IS A DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SAVING AND HEAPING. HEAPING/HOARDING/GUARDING IMPLIES A SENSE OF OBSESSION AND DEPENDENCY

Jesus talked about one such man in Luke 12     16 Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17 And he thought within himself, saying, “What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18 So he said, “I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ 20 But God said to him, “Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ 21 “So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

It is alright to have things that money can buy. But, it is so much better to have things that money cannot buy. Save money but heap up the things that money cannot buy.

By the way, these things do not decay with time. In James’ time, a person could display wealth in 3 ways: food, clothing, and precious metal.

• When James says, “your riches are corrupted”, he was referring to grain. Why did the grain rot? Because it sat in storehouses. While millions were hungry, the food was rotting. 
• When James says, “your clothes have become moth-eaten”, he is referring to those “outer garments” that are a symbol status. Why moth? A roach will bother you and leave his droppings everywhere. A cricket will bug us with its noise. A mosquito will bite us. But a moth is so subtle. He does his thing behind the scenes. Before you know it, your clothes are messed up. While millions don’t have a change of clothing, good clothes are become moth-eaten by hanging in our closets.
• When James says, “your gold and silver become tarnished.” We all know that gold and silver do not rust. What James is communicating is that gold and silver might last forever but they cannot buy you things that will last forever. Hanging on to gold and silver for personal gain will only bring corrosion in your life. 

Here is the message: Wealth brings a false sense of security. We can try to heap up treasures, but they will not bring lasting satisfaction.

Verse 3 “. . . and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days.” We are living in the last days. Are we using our wealth to bring people to Christ? Many of us are guarding our wealth instead of using it to bring the world to Christ. Our own wealth will one day testify against us. There is a day of judgment coming and we will have to give an account of how we used wealth. We will not be judged immediately after our death because how we use our wealth will trickle down for generations to come.

Have you ever heard someone say: “you cannot take your treasure with you.” This is not entirely true because you can send it on ahead. Money in the hand of a good steward will bring much glory to God.

Application:  How are you guarding your wealth?

1. What happens to food that stays in the freezer too long? It gets freezer-burns.
2. What happens to clothes that hang in the closet too long? We can’t fit into them and moths get into them.
3. What happens to doors that haven’t been opened for a while? The hinges begin to corrode.

#2 HOW THEY GAIN IT?

James 5 (page #1853) 4 “Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out…”

Immediate Background: Common occurrence in ancient Israel when laborers were paid late or not paid at all. This happened especially after the harvest. Several times in the Old Testament God had made severe indictments against such practice. Deuteronomy 24      14 “You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether one of your brethren or one of the aliens who is in your land within your gates. 15 Each day you shall give him his wages, and not let the sun go down on it, for he is poor and has set his heart on it; lest he cry out against you to the Lord, and it be sin to you.” Jesus said in Luke 10:7 “…for the laborer is worthy of his wages…”

James 5 (page #1853) 4 “Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.” There are 2 kinds of cries: 

1. The Wages: People might forget what they owe, God doesn’t.
2. The Workers: God listens to the heart cries of laborers across the world.

Lord of Sabaoth – Not the same as the Lord of the Sabbath. Sabaoth means Lord of hosts or Lord of the armies. Bottom Line: They were even stealing from God.

Two Applications: 

First – If you are being robbed of your wages, know that God hears your cry. He understands your frustrations. He knows how you feel.

Second – Are you robbing your employer? Your employer pays you for 8 hours a day, but you show up 10-15 minutes late. You go make long phone calls during your breaks. You go to the bathroom every 10 minutes. You go to lunch and then return 15 minutes late. Then, at the end of the day you wrap up about 20 minutes before your time. You don’t clock out or check out but you might as well have. You are robbing your employer of their wages. You too will have to deal with the LORD OF SABAOTH.

While I am on the subject, let me deal with another employer from whom people steal on a constant basis. Want to guess who that is – GOD.

Malachi 3      8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me! But you say, ‘In what way have we robbed You?’ In tithes and offerings. 9 You are cursed with a curse, For you have robbed Me, Even this whole nation. 10 Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, That there may be food in My house, And try Me now in this,” Says the Lord of hosts, “If I will not open for you the windows of heaven And pour out for you such blessing That there will not be room enough to receive it.

Objection: Church always talks about money. God doesn’t need your money or mine. He has been doing fine for 6,000 years. You need money.

I DON’T KNOW WHY BUT GOD HAS CHOSEN TO USE MONEY AS AN ACID TEST OF OUR FAITH.

That leads us into our last point.

#3 HOW THEY GIVE IT?

James 5 (page #1853) 5 “You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter.”

Immediate Background: James uses two words to describe the lifestyle of the worldly rich. First is pleasure and the second is luxury. Luxury comes from the Greek word that means: “extravagant comfort, to lead a soft life.” Nothing wrong with either of them if they were not the end in itself. Praise God we live in a nation where we can have the PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS. But, it was pleasure for pleasure’s sake.

“you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter.”

For e.g. Coming through Dodge city, we saw many cattle ranches. The kids would say: “Awww…look at the cows.” They were in a corral without much room to move around. They are being fed so they will be big and fat to eat. James is telling us that some of the wicked wealthy are like those Dodge City steers. They just keep fattening themselves and they are getting closer and closer to the day of slaughter. The day of slaughter is the Day of Judgment.

Application: We might not have to stand before God on the Day of Judgment but we do have a judgment coming. This judgment is at the judgment seat of Christ. One day we will have to stand and give an account of what we did with what we had.

James 5 (page #1853) 6 “You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.”

Immediate Background: These worldly rich had used their money to control the courts. “He does not resist you” because there is no use. You have either so intimidated that person or tied them up in litigation that they can’t do anything about it. Murdering does not mean taking a gun or a knife and killing the other person. It means that you have so twisted the system that the person has died to any desire to climb the ladder.

Application: A CHRISTIAN SAVES MONEY NOT FOR SECURITY BUT FOR STEWARDSHIP – To help others and further the Kingdom of God. GOD HAS TWO OBJECTIVES FOR MONEY – Invest in family; Invest in others.

John Wesley – GAIN ALL YOU CAN; SAVE ALL YOU CAN; GIVE ALL YOU CAN.

Some people have the cirrhosis of the giver.

• Money is a great servant but a terrible master.
• Money can buy a house but not a home.
• Money can buy a bed but not sleep.
• Money can buy a wedding ring but not love.
• Money can buy a clock but not time.
• Money can buy an education but not wisdom.
• Money can buy jewelry but not beauty.
• Money can buy insurance but not safety.
• Money can buy a crucifix but not a Savior.

“If a person gets his attitude toward money straight, it will help straighten out almost every other area in his life.” – Billy Graham

ARE YOU SAVED? HOW DO YOU SEE MONEY? ARE YOU USING IT TO BUILD GOD’S KINGDOM?