Choose You This Day

I heard a preacher say this yesterday:

“If I take my money and give it to the poor that is charity. If the government takes my money and gives it to the poor that is socialism.”

The devil du jour is now socialism? Why? Because men’s hearts are evil and where their treasure is, that is where their hearts are. Let us be frank with one another. None of us - NONE OF US - gives to the needs of others as we could and surely not as we should. Of course the preacher that made that statement is of the prosperity variety, however his attitude is reflective of much of the western evangelical mindset.

It is disgraceful how much time the church spends teaching about money and how to get it, keep it, and teaching us that God wants to rain prosperity upon us. And instead of looking into the mirror of God’s Word and see how attached we are to our money, we castigate the government as a clever diversion to our own sins. That is like saying, “At least we are not like Hugh Hefner!”

Democracy has robbed the church of believing in God’s sovereignty. We no longer accept things with joy and contentment. Anything that is unpleasant must be met with political force and the church now believes it can change things by the democratic process while giving lip service to prayer. The gospel is an aside and a perfunctory appendage to our outward behavior.

We no longer believe in Christ’s own words.

Matt.6:24-34 - No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
25 Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?
26 Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?
27 Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature?
28 And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin:
29 And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
30 Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to day is, and to morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith?
31 Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?
32 (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.
33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

We are commanded not to worry. Do we?

I Cor.10:10-11 - Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer.
11 Now all these things happened unto them for examples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.

Phil.2:13-15 - For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure.
14 Do all things without murmurings and disputings:
15 That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world;

We are commanded not to murmur or complain. Do we?

I Thess.5:17 - Pray without ceasing.

We are commanded to pray without ceasing. Do we?

I Tim.6:7-8 - For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
8 And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.

We are commanded to be content with food and clothing. Are we?

Matt.6:19 - Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:

We are commanded not to store up money. Do we?

We as believers should be suspicious of all earthly systems, from capitalism to socialism to communism, since they were spawned from the fallen hearts of men. It is time for us to realize they have no part in us nor we in them. The kingdom of God operates apart from any worldly systems, and capitalism is just as poisonous to us as is socialism. On some level we must live outwardly within the system to which we now live, but we are in it but not of it.

And the distinction between God’s kingdom and the kingdoms of this world has eroded so significantly until the church has openly embraced what the world offers. Our allegiances have been compromised, our finances have become idols, our success is measured by earthly standards, and we seem willing to die for earthly freedom but not willing to live in Christ’s freedom with any pronounced difference or conspicuous brilliance. It’s time to reject terms like socialism, capitalism, nationalism, democracy, and all the rest of the man made terms designed to exalt man. We cannot serve two masters, so we must choose just one.

I choose the Lord Jesus Christ.