The other day in youth group, my girls and I were discussing the concept of the early church sharing their possessions and having "no poor among them." One young lady said, "Oh, so it’s like Christian Communism!" Sure - just with God at the head instead of corruptible human leadership! Maybe if Israel had been originally forming as a nation in the days of Marx, we would be talking about "Comrade David" rather than King. And then instead of being taken over by the Assyrian, Babylonian, and Persian monarchic empires when they fell away from God’s covenant, they would be subjected to the domination of the American capitalistic empire. I asked her to expound upon that revelation: what did she think about the idea of "Christian Communism"? (Forget for a moment my general avoidance of "Christian" as an adjective.) She paused for a minute then slowly said, "Well, I think communism has some good ideas but it just doesn’t work in the hands of men." (Another gold star!!)
Christians in the mid to late twentieth century had a tendency to fear the idea of communism. (For today’s generation, I’ll simply explain that it was their version of the term "terrorism.") The whole idea of common property has connotations of Stalin’s box and Animal Farm. And yet today donation boxes in our churches are filled with second-hand cast off jackets and shoes which we would no longer wear anymore but are apparently just fine for charity. Oftentimes the donation box is simply an extension of the lost-and-found-box. We don’t even know the names or faces of those on the receiving end of our "charity" but still walk out the door in our third North Face jacket and smart new Sorels, smug at having actually done something to help a needy person. What would the early church say to this practice? The church in which "No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had." (Acts 4:32) What would Jesus say? "When I was naked you gave me your ratty old ski jacket from the eighties and when I was hungry you passed me on the street with a ‘God bless you - I wish well; keep warm and well fed.’" Marx has often been compared to Jesus - to the chagrin of the church. Was it the Dali Lama who said that there would be no need for Buddhism if Christians actually followed the teachings of Christ?
Today, however, it is not often we will sit in our church-potluck circles and lament the evils of communism. Christians today like to lambast the greed and corruption of capitalism instead. Capitalism: everything being driven by the high and mighty dollar, big business with their unscrupulous practices pushing the honest "little man" out of work. No wonder societal morality is dictated by MTV, Hollywood and overpaid athletes! We shake our heads with a "What-is-the-world-coming-to?" sigh and send up a brief prayer for Jesus to come back before returning to our plate of macaroni casserole and Tim Bits. Allow me to play the devil’s advocate and pose a question: What is the foundation to this inherently evil and corrupting economical system? We like to refer piously to the false-god Mammon, but really it’s our own checkbooks. Whether we like it or not, even as the body of Christ, we are consumers in terms of economics. The system we like to condemn operates on the basic principals of supply and demand. Who determines the demand? WE DO.
When Telus mobility announced its new business plan to add porn media as an optional feature to its customers’ monthly billing plans, where were the Christian families with all their values calling to cancel their service and switch to another company? Telus only received a few hundred complaint calls before rescinding this idea after its stockholders shared their misgivings. Imagine if every single self-proclaimed follower of Christ had called to cancel their service as a protest to such a policy! Next thing you knew, Telus CEOs would have been scrambling to create a Bible-Verse download service in order to keep their company afloat! We cannot sit back and condemn societal immorality around us while our monthly Sirius bill lines Howard Stern’s pocket and our chocolate, tea and coffee purchases support a system of laborer exploitation in third world countries. Honestly, how many of us support a child through Compassion Canada? And how many of us are wearing clothing potentially made by that child’s friend or sibling under terrible working conditions for scant pennies a day? I think Jesus might find quite a number of whitewashed tombs wearing Prada and Armani (never mind the Wal-Mart brands!) filling pews today.
The early church didn’t have to think about issues like this, but we don’t have that luxury. We live in a global society in which our purchases at Extra Foods may well affect a widow or orphan on the other side of the world. I don’t think I need to elaborate on what Jesus would say there. Christian Capitalism: where your money doesn’t go is just as important as where it does. And after all, it’s not ours in the first place is it? Christian Communism reminds us of that and invites others to join us as the corporate body of the God who is bigger than big business and strong enough to lift the oppressed from under the weight that crushes them – be it economics or Satan himself.
2 comments:
If Christians were truly living as Christ intended, Marxism would not be necessary and Capitalism would not be possible. (Shane Claiborne, paraphrased)
I think, biblically, we should call it 'commonism.' Communism in its essence was evil because its purpose was to glorify man. Egalitarianism for that cause is inherently doomed. However, a biblical 'commonism' motivated by love and not self-seeking is an entirely different animal. It's purpose is to bring glory to God, demonstrate the Gospel, and build the church by building up others.
There ya go. Nice site, Jess, your mom showed it to me. Keep writing! Check ours out at lynnaleshire.wordpress.com
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