- WHAT RISK SHOULD WE TAKE FOR GOD USING OUR TALENTS AND ASSETS IN TODAY'S EVIL SOCIETY?
- HOW SHOULD WE TRUST GOD DURING THIS RECESSION AND WORRY LESS?
- WHAT ARE EVIL OR FOOLISH USES OF MONEY ?
Podcast : 7-29-22
Do The Bible And Christianity Condemn Capitalism?
CONTEXT IS EVERYTHING, REALLY !
Many do not correctly understand the Bible or history because they do not understand the context. They read a statement and try to understand it apart from other vital information. Many memorize isolated texts without knowing the wider context of the passages within a particular book. Most do not consider the wider context in which the statement was written. Without intending to they treat the Word of God, not as a unified message but as a collection of free floating aphorisms cutoff from time and history. Remember context is everything. Note this clear example:
Psalms 14:1 NKJV 1 …. "There is no God." They are corrupt, They have done abominable works, There is none who does good.
If someone only quoted this part of the verse you could say the Bible says 'there is no God'. This is clearly false. Put in context it is very clear what the message is conveying.
Psalms 14:1 NKJV 1 <<To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David.>> The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." ....
Needless to say the meaning of a verse depends on its context. Paul in the New Testament is writing to a specific audience with specific problems. We can apply the messages universally to us only if we understand the surrounding factors. What did Paul's words mean originally? For instance Peter and Paul advise women not to wear braided hair with gold and jewels braided into the mix. You could not cancel all braided hair today based on this. They were talking about showing off in the Greek world of his day. See I Tim2:9-10; I Pet 3:3-4. A well known example of taking something out of context is Gal 2:16 without the next verse being considered.
Galatians 2:16-17 NKJV 16 "knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law no flesh shall be justified.
Note the clear contextual meaning of Paul's words.
17 "But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is Christ therefore a minister of sin? Certainly not!
Galatians 3:21 NKJV 21 Is the law then against the promises of God? Certainly not! …..
Contextually it is clear what the Apostle is saying. You cannot save yourself by law keeping but it is also certainly not true that God wants us to be sinners. Sinning is the breaking of the law. Paul is helping the Galatians resist extreme Jewish false influences. This is the obvious context.
DOES THE BIBLE CONDEMN CAPITALISM AND INTEREST ?
Let us look at the verses most used to condemn capital and interest payments on investments. The Israelites were told not to charge interest on loans to each other.
Leviticus 25:35-37 NKJV 35 'If one of your brethren becomes poor, and falls into poverty among you, then you shall help him, like a stranger or a sojourner, that he may live with you. 36 'Take no usury or interest from him; but fear your God, that your brother may live with you. 37 'You shall not lend him your money for usury, nor lend him your food at a profit.
Now what is the contextual meaning of this statement from God? God did not want the relatively few wealthy or better off people exploiting their poor brethren, for example,if you had a cousin who was in need of rent payment and you charged him a hefty interest to loan him the rent. Assuming he remained poor he would fall deeper and deeper in debt to you. He could then be exploited by you. Terrible!
Nehemiah 5:5-8 NKJV 5 "Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children; and indeed we are forcing our sons and our daughters to be slaves,...daughters have been brought into slavery. It is not in our power to redeem them, for other men have our lands and vineyards." 6 And I became very angry when I heard their outcry and these words. 7 After serious thought, I rebuked the nobles and rulers, and said to them, "Each of you is exacting usury from his brother.".... who were sold to the nations. Now indeed, will you even sell your brethren? Or should they be sold to us?" Then they were silenced and found nothing to say.
Nehemiah got the Jewish elites to repent of this sin that is one of many things that brought captivity to Judah. They repented deeply of this loan sharking evil spirit. True investing to develop and expand business among the prosperous is another thing all together. What put the west into surging success economically is capitalism. Capital investments allowed Christopher Columbus to discover the new world. European banking expansion allowed economic dominance. If Jesus were against risking capital in investments would he have used it in a parable?
Matthew 25:23-26 NKJV 23 "His lord said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful servant...' 24 "Then he who had received the one talent came and said, 'Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25 'And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.
If that was say a thousand dollars and hidden in the ground for ten years then he actually lost money. Inflation would have eaten a large portion of the investment. Jesus says he should have at least taken the minimal risk of putting the money in the bank who would then invest his capital.
' 26 "But his lord answered and said to him, 'You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. Matthew 25:27 NKJV 27 'So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.
Christ compliments the investors who took the greatest risk and received the greatest rewards. The message to us is to use all our resources financial and otherwise to grow and help spread the gospel. It maybe risky but it will payoff. In Luke 16 Jesus compliments the wise assistant steward for his wise money management. One can invest and save for retirement without any guilt. Sure the love of money is a danger but one can invest wisely without slavishly serving money. Our first priority is the kingdom of God but we can still use investments wisely.
Our hope is in God and not money. Yet never forget that the advanced financial system vaulted the west ahead of the rest of the world. Those of us living in America are beneficiaries of this prosperity system. Most of the world's consumer innovations and medical advances have come out of American capitalism. This includes from the internet (1990's) to air conditioning (1920's). Further the protestant Christian work and savings ethics are good for any society. Greed leads to theft and instant gratification which is the opposite of long term capital investing or true capitalism.
Matthew 6:19-21 NKJV 19 "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; 20 "but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Our money can help us commit our hearts to God therefore money is not evil when used wisely.
WHAT ROLE SHOULD GOVERNMENT PLAY ?
Government should fulfill the role of umpire or referee. They should guarantee that competition is fair and that private property is protected. Otherwise why build up wealth or build a business if bandits can take it away. Government should not picks winners and losers. Government should not steal from one group to give to others or their associates. Socialism makes an economy less effective. The more socialism a society has the less prosperity and the smaller the middle class. It is false to believe that working with money is inherently immoral or charging interest is bad. Socialist governments often peddle this false concept. God is for economic freedom. Competition creates efficiency.
Acts 5:4 NKJV 4 "While it remained, was it not your own? And after it was sold, was it not in your own control? Why have you conceived this thing in your heart? You have not lied to men but to God."
The vast majority of charitable giving to help the poor comes from capitalist countries like America. The governments role is to protect people from theft like insider trading or predatory capitalism. But money is neither good nor bad it is how we use it.
