Capitalism is a Punishment From God

On our Radio Show, American Ground Radio, my co-host, Louis Avallone was talking about the fact that some folks on the left are saying Socialism is Biblical. When he brought it up, I had this gut reaction and said, no, it’s not. Capitalism is. God said you shall eat according to the sweat on your brow.

The verse I was referencing was Genesis 3:19. Here’s the King James Version of it…

“In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return.”

The New International Version, the NIV, says, "By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food."

According to God, you are going to have to work if you want to eat. What you put in will determine what you get out.

That’s really the core of Capitalism. You have to work for what you get. Through your work, you’ll be able to feed yourself, and clothe yourself, and get yourself shelter. And if you work hard enough, you’ll be able to earn pretty much whatever you need, or even want. And, you do see it in the Bible, right there in the beginning in Genesis.

Now, the mantra for Socialism is “From each according to his ability. To each according to his need.” Turns out that is also found in the Bible.

"From each according to his ability." You can find that in Acts 11:29. "Then the disciples, each according to his ability, determined to send relief to the brethren dwelling in Judea.”

So, each disciple gave according to his ability. That’s half of the socialist mantra. What about the other half, “To each according to his need?” You can actually find that earlier in the same book, Acts 2:44-45,

"Now all who believed were together, and had all things in common, and sold their possessions and goods, and divided them among all, as anyone had need.”

It’s saying that the apostles created a commune. They sold their possessions, and they gave each other what they needed, according to their own needs. That’s the second half of socialism’s catchphrase, and it’s right there in the Bible in Acts.

I guess Socialism is Biblical.

There’s just one problem. These verses are missing a key ingredient to their full understanding. They are missing context. When you take a bible verse out of context, you lose the full meaning. You can actually con people with the text when you take it out of context.

Here’s the key part that the people pushing for socialism today and saying socialism is Biblical miss. In Acts, the Apostles were waking through the Roman Empire spreading the story of Jesus. The Bible says over and over in the Book of Acts, they were filled with the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost came upon them. The Holy Ghost talked to them, counseled them, comforted them. They were - and this is important - they were literally walking with the Holy Spirit. That means, they were literally walking in love.

My family operates as a socialist group and I’m willing to bet yours does too. My wife and I both work. We give to every member of our family according to our ability. We give to our children according to their needs. We feed them, and clothe them all free of charge. But, we do all of that out of love.

There are friends of ours who are as close as family. I would do anything for them or their kids according to my ability and according to their needs. That’s a kind of extended socialist utopia as well. I’m sure you have people who aren’t related to you but that you love anyway with a pure familial love.

Socialism only works when every single member of the commune is operating in a perfect brotherly love for every other member of the group. And, every time a socialist society is created that doesn’t have every member operating in perfect brotherly love it fails.

Think about a family structure. It only takes one member of a family to operate on greed or lust or hate and the entire family falls apart. When that happens, abuse is inevitable. Damage is done that takes years or decades to undo. It only takes one member of a family not operating in perfect familial love to do all of that damage.

Every time a socialist society is created that doesn’t have every member operating in perfect brotherly love it fails.

That self-evident Truth is also a Biblical Truth. Let me show it to you.

Just a few years after the Apostles set up a church in Thessalonia, they had to write a letter to that same church to tell them all the things they were doing wrong. The people in that church had misunderstood some things and needed correction.

In 2 Thessalonians 3:10-11, the Apostle Paul wrote,

“that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies.”

So, there were obviously multiple people just freeloading. They weren’t giving according to their abilities, but they were taking according to their needs. They weren’t operating in perfect love. They were operating in greed, so, their community was failing.”

There’s another example, not in the Bible, but among a Bible-believing group. When the Pilgrims first came to America and established Plymouth Colony they set out to create a new utopia. They envisioned this perfect society that would be an example to the world. And, so their first attempt at creating this society was based on the example of the Apostles in the book of Acts. From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs. It was Socialism’s first foothold in the new world.

The only problem was it didn’t work. You see, the passengers on the Mayflower weren’t all Pilgrims. They weren’t all Bible thumping, God fearing, Holy Spirit filled believers. There were also men on that boat who were hunters or traders, who were on their way to the new world to make their fortune. And, frankly, those people didn’t really like the pilgrims, and vice versa.

So, when the first winter came around, this socialist utopia failed. Turns out, not everyone involved was working to the best of their ability. They were all trying to take according to their needs, but because they weren’t operating in perfect brotherly love, there wasn’t enough food created to feed all the open mouths.

In less than one year, the first Socialist commune in America - Plymouth Rock - failed. As they started their second year, they instead divided up the plots of land, and each family had to work to feed themselves by the sweat of their brow. That idea worked, and it’s been working ever since.

Socialism only works when every person involved operates in a perfect brotherly love towards every other member of the group, every second of every day.

Love is a choice. It can’t be mandated. It can’t be legislated. It must be chosen. And, it must be chosen each and every day.

That’s why no socialist government ever works because you can’t order the people across a society to operate every day to every person in perfect love.

And, to prove that point, think about the people who are actually advocating socialism today. Are any of the rioters and looters and BLM and Antifa people who are burning and looting and rioting and killing while demanding this nation become a new socialist utopia operating out of love? No! They are all operating out of hate. They want a violent revolution to create a socialist nation. Hate leads to violence. Love does not. So, their vision of a Socialist America is an idea that is doomed to fail, and that is a Biblical Truth.

The other problem with a government mandated socialism is that it changes out one key word. I often say, "words have meaning." In this case, changing one single word changes everything.

When the Apostles set up their socialist system, Acts tells us each member of the group “gave." Gave. They gave each according to their ability.

Giving is a choice. If giving isn’t a choice, it’s called taking. Giving is a choice, taking is not.

When a government sets up a socialist economy, they require their members to give. But, if giving is a requirement, then it’s not a choice, and it’s not giving. It’s taking. A socialist government takes from each according to his ability, and that prevents the people involved from being able to give. Changing that one word changes everything. Taking away the choice to give takes away the possibility of love, because love is also a choice. Any socialist system that’s not based on perfect brotherly love is doomed to fail.

This is a fallen world. Think back to what was going on in Genesis when God said we would eat by the sweat of our brow. Why would God say that? What had happened just before that? Before that moment, Adam and Eve were living in the Garden of Eden. That was even better than socialism, because they didn’t have to work at all. There was no “from each according to his ability.” They just walked around and ate whatever they wanted. Well, almost whatever they wanted. There was that one fruit on that one tree that was forbidden. But, anything else was fair game.

And that’s the rub. When the serpent talked Eve into eating the forbidden fruit, and she then talked Adam into joining her in that crime, sin entered the world. God wasn’t happy when he found out, and he laid down several punishments to Adam and Eve and the snake.

He made the snake slither on the ground, and made the woman have pain during childbirth, and to Adam he said, “By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food.”

Think about that for a minute. That verse, Genesis 3:19 has the foundation of Capitalism in it. But what is the context? Why did God say it? It was a punishment to Adam for his role in bringing sin into the world.

Capitalism is a punishment from God. Do you see it? They ate the forbidden fruit. Sin entered the world. Then God said if you don’t work, you won’t eat.

Capitalism, the economic system we operate on today began when God laid down His punishments to Adam.

Capitalism is a punishment from God.

Maybe that’s why some people don’t like Capitalism. After all, who likes to be punished? And, that’s why it’s not easy. Capitalism requires work. It requires effort. It requires perseverance. It wouldn’t be a punishment if it didn’t.

Maybe that’s why, despite all of the evidence and all of the history of the repeated failures of socialist nations throughout time, some people still cling to the idea that it can work this time if we just do it right. They’d rather try socialism because capitalism is a punishment from God.

But, see, that’s actually a good thing.

While the punishment of Capitalism was given to Adam in the Garden of Eden, the revelation of Capitalism was given to another Adam.

Adam Smith.

In 1776, when Adam Smith wrote his book the Wealth of Nations, he pointed out how our individual greediness is actually beneficial for a society as a whole when it’s operating in a Capitalist economy.

Here’s one of the most famous quotes from his work.

“he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was no part of his intention. Nor is it always the worse for the society that it was no part of it. By pursuing his own interest he frequently promotes that of the society more effectually than when he really intends to promote it."

Adam Smith was pointing out, that as each individual works to earn money and do what he or she thinks is best for themselves, each individual contributes to the overall economy of the nation.

It’s our greedy pursuit of food and shelter and stuff and things that creates the economy that creates the wealth of nations.

And, as a nation’s citizens become wealthier, the nation as a whole becomes wealthier.

God’s punishment was that we would have to work if we wanted to eat.

He put that punishment in place because of our greed.

But, through that punishment, God turned our individual greed into something that’s beneficial to a society as a whole.

Genesis 3:19 - the line that is the foundation of Capitalism - turns something that was meant for evil - sin being introduced to the world - into something that is now possible for our good - the wealth of nations.

One last point I want to leave you with.

The word Adam means man, or mankind.

God gave the punishment of Capitalism to Adam. God gave the revelation of Capitalism to Adam Smith. God gave the benefits of Capitalism to mankind.