When it comes to the economic systems of civilization man has created for the various nations, any is surely imperfect and thus inferior to God's perfect Kingdom that He promised to us. Yet, God's Word in the Bible is a clear statement of how we can live according to His will even before His Kingdom is restored on Earth. In that message, it is clear that some imperfect systems are better than others during the interim period.

Today, the debate about what Earthly economic system is best centers around the value of socialism and capitalism within the confines of a Constitutional Republic form of government. One system puts government at the center of the markets, in charge of the means and result of production, the other maintains a decentralized free market force, allowing men to choose to put God at the center of things, or not.

It is clear in the United States of America that the latter system of capitalism and free markets is preferred, particularly considering the Declaration of Independence, written by President Thomas Jefferson, which states, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed." President Abraham Lincoln understood this phrase as the lens through which the U.S. Constitution should be read, and so do I. Thus, the basis for the U.S. government is to protect and honor those rights, not grant them as privileges. Both the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are based in an understanding that God is at the center of things. (Read this essay for further study (PDF).)

Yet, many Christians now assert that God favors socialism, based on certain passages that I will examine below. Under socialism, government, not God, serves as an equalizer of man, and makes sure each person receives an equal portion, regardless of their efforts. Such a system is surely supported by Karl Marx, who said economic systems should be run "from each according to his ability, to each according to his needs." But God's Word in the Christian Bible shows he creates men equal under the law (Romans 2:14-15), but not in ability. Also, He expects us to benefit from the fruit of our own labor (Matthew 25:14-30; Luke 19:12-27). Such passages and others support the Earthly system of free markets and capitalism, where government is limited as a necessary evil to equally enforce the law in an imperfect world.

God asks humanity for obedience to His will above the will of government, when Jesus says, "give to Caesar what is Caesar's" -- namely, the currency with his name on it -- "and give to God what is God's" -- namely, ourselves, our lives, our liberty, our property (Matthew 22:15-22). Yet, Socialism requires obedience to government first, moving God to lower priority in daily life or out of the equation, and government enforces such obedience by force. God, by giving us free will, allows men the ability to choose to obey Him, or not. Such is an act of love and liberty, not force. A free society where men are masters of their own affairs is a system that allows men and women to exercise their free will, and thus is preferred, even though it enables people to choose a path that is self destructive.

Now, government does have a place in society; namely, in this discussion, to equally protect the rights of man and to prevent one man from taking the life, liberty or property of another. In short, it is the government's role to step in when one man strays from his God-given moral compass and is incapable of governing himself. It is in this light that God commands us to be good citizens, while also stating that all good governments are servants of God (Romans 13:1-6). It is in the same light that God explains our freedom. It is a freedom that is guaranteed so long as we do not live a life of immorality and sin (Galatians 13:1,13-18). Thus, a moral people are key to self governance and liberty. That same principle extends to the markets.

So-called Christian socialists will cite Mark 10:17-31, where Jesus commands a rich man to give up everything he has to follow him and gain eternal life. On close study of the verse, however, it is clear that the rich man does not understand what Jesus is saying. The man says he has followed all of God's commandments and asks what else he needs to do, so Jesus tells him to give up everything he has. The man was troubled by this, and decided against following Christ. It wasn't Jesus's intention to have the man sell everything, but to reveal the man's heart. Jesus makes this clear in Mark 10:26-27, when his disciples ask him who can have everlasting life if not a man who has followed God's commandments to the letter. "Jesus was blunt, "You have no chance at all if you think you can pull it off by yourself. You have every chance in the world if you let God do it." In other words, Jesus used this as a lesson about faith for his disciples. Those who put their faith and trust in money and possessions cannot also put their faith and trust in God; it's an either-or situation. It is, by the way, the reason why U.S. currency says, "In God We Trust." We can operate in a capitalist society and earn money so long as it is not why we live or what we live for. Our money is a tool; a symbol recognizing our work that is used as an exchange for goods and services. The accumulation of any of these things -- money, goods or services -- is not what life is about. Serving God is our primary reason for life. That, in my opinion, is what this passage is about.

So-called Christian socialists will cite Matthew 25:31-46, the parable of the Sheep and Goats, in which Jesus clearly articulates what behavior is rewarded by God with eternal life: "I was hungry and you fed me, I was thirsty and you gave me a drink, I was homeless and you gave me a room, I was shivering and you gave me clothes, I was sick and you stopped to visit, I was in prison and you came to me." All of this is true, and good Christians or good people in general will do these things, while those who are self serving will not. I firmly add that those forced by government to do these things may as well not have done them at all. How can you be rewarded for something you do begrudgingly or against your will? You can't -- it's just that simple. If you are forced to do something, you are not actually doing it out of the goodness of your heart. Therefore, truly following God's will requires free will. You must act independently and from the goodness of your heart to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, house the homeless, clothe the naked and visit the ill or imprisoned. You must give of yourself to truly give, or else what are you giving other than the fruit of others' labor? That's not giving, it's stealing. That's why government social programs are referred to as theft by those who favor capitalism: government takes the fruit of others' labor by force and gives it to those who are undeserving of it. When one person gives to another from the fruit of his own labor, that's called charity. Capitalism enables charity, while socialism crushes it. The societal benefits of charity come with capitalism, while the societal good that comes from charity is stymied under socialism. Government social programs harbor resentment in people who would rather have given to those they wanted to help; those they deemed deserving of their property.

In Matthew 26:6-13, Jesus clearly rebukes socialism, and it is not the only place. "While Jesus was in Bethany in the home of a man known as Simon the Leper, a woman came to him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume, which she poured on his head as he was reclining at the table. When the disciples saw this, they were indignant. 'Why this waste?' they asked. 'This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor.' Aware of this, Jesus said to them, 'Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me. The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me'." Here, Jesus explains that it is okay to have excess from time to time. It is okay to have the finer things in life, particularly when there is a special occasion as there was in this case. Note, Jesus says, "the poor you will always have with you." In other words, no matter how much government intervention or charity there is, it will not do away with the poor. The poor are a fact of life. Yet, the verse also has a double meaning. Jesus is also saying that those who follow God will always have an opportunity for charity, and charity is not the sole reason for life. There are also times to commemorate or enjoy our own lives that God has granted to us. That idea supports capitalism as a system of economics supported by limited government, because it allows us to enjoy the fruits of our own labor and share such when we choose to do so with whom we choose to share it with.

In an even greater rebuke of socialism and support for capitalism, Paul explains the proper Christian attitude toward people who don't work in 2 Thessalonians 3:8-15, "If a man will not work, he shall not eat." I don't know how much more clear the message needs to be. In the verse, Paul speaks about his students and Christ's followers, "We do not eat anyone's food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you. We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to make ourselves a model for you to follow." If that's not enough, he takes it one step further, totally rebuking those who won't work: If anyone does not obey our instruction in this letter, take special note of him. Do not associate with him, in order that he may feel ashamed." Wow! I can't really imagine any stronger rebuke of socialism and support for capitalism than that, but there are even clearer supports for the very system of capitalism itself.

The parable of the talents told by Jesus in Matthew 25:14-30 and Luke 19:12-27 may be slightly different, and I'm sure Jesus told the story differently during his life, but the same message supporting capitalism is clear in both stories. The story may be interpreted as an analogy for how God views our actions in our lives and how they meet his expectations for our entry into heaven or as God's support for a system on Earth that recognizes the very nature of man. Men and women are born equal in God's eyes and equal under the law, yet they do not have equal abilities nor equal possessions. In the story by Matthew, the unequal nature of man is represented by "talents," which was a measure of money at the time of Jesus. The story is told in terms of master and servant, also common terms during that time, but it could very easily be told using the words "employer" and "employee" instead. I will do that here. In the story of Matthew, the employer gives one employee $1,000, one employee $500 and one employee $100 and goes away for a while. When he returns, the first and second employees have doubled the money through investments, while the third employee has merely returned the $100 he was given. The employer praises both the first and second employees who doubled the money, calling them "good and faithful employees," even though they started with and ended up with different amounts. He wants both to become partners in his company to reward them for their efforts. But the employer takes the $100 from the employee who stored it under his pillow and gives it to the one who now has $2,000, calling the third employee "wicked" and "lazy." Jesus gives the moral of the story as follows: "To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away."

In the story told by Matthew, the employees start and end with different amounts of money, but the good employees were those who made interest on it. In this story, the employees start with unequal abilities, but come up with an equal result. In the story of Luke, the employees start equally capable, they each receive the same amount of money. Yet, because they have different abilities, they return different amounts to their employer.

In Luke's version of the story, the first employee has more ability, and returned 10 times the amount he was given, while the second has less ability, and returns five times the amount of money he was given. Both are rewarded for acting on their abilities and making use of them. But the third employee in Luke's story stored his money in a handkerchief. He may have had ability, but he did not use it. Of this employee, the employer says, ""You are worthless.... Why didn't you put my money in the bank? On my return, I could have had the money together with interest." Again in this story, the employer takes the money from the employee who did nothing with it and gives it to the employee who made ten times the amount of money that he was given. This might not have been fair to the less talented employee who only made five times what he was given, but Jesus says after this parable, "Those who have something will be given more. But everything will be taken away from those who don't have anything."

So, in socialism, government takes property from those who have it and gives it to those who have not, even if they haven't earned it or tried to earn it. In capitalism, each individual receives that what he or she works for, and those who do not work do not eat unless they have truly come upon tough times and are given the gifts of charity from those with abundance. Said another way: In socialism, people who are not willing to work even when they are able are rewarded for their laziness, which is clearly against God's will. In capitalism, charity is abundant to people who clearly need help because of some misfortune out of their control, but charity dries up when it is clear that the person receiving it is not willing to work their way out of his or her troubles. Based on the Bible verses above, it is clear that socialism is counter to the will of God, while capitalism is surely the more Godly system.

If capitalism is a favored system, it is still clear to any thinking person that the Earthly system enables greed. People take advantage of the system and steal what does not belong to them by use of the power they have gained through the system. What can be said of them? Well, it's really quite simple. When it comes to Earthly things, if they are improperly taking the life, liberty or property of others, it is the government's role to stop them and punish them. If they are merely harming themselves through the love of money or possessions, then they have God to answer to. Jesus said "that it is harder for those who love money to enter heaven than it is for a camel to go through the head of a needle" (Matthew 10:25).

This returns us to the original argument: Only a moral people can be free. Only those who choose to follow the will of God can be assured liberty. If a government prevents the people from following God's will, then it has clearly given up its authority and is no longer a viable government. That is why I can say, I put my faith and trust in God, not government.