There is a new and sinister tactic being employed today worldwide, a final and desperate push to convince us that "Jesus was a socialist", that government hand-outs are no different from private or public charitable giving. There is a huge difference, and it has everything to do with personal moral choice and freedom.
First of all, God wants us to be free to make decisions on our own, to learn from our errors, and discover the joy of working, giving, socializing; and the value of a generous heart and a clean conscience. When governments become too powerful - as they are almost everywhere in the world - they take away our freedoms and make decisions for us by taxing and spending on a massive scale. This defeats God's purpose for us. Always this is done under the false cover of "the public good", a "crisis", or in the name of "fairness", or "it's for the children". This means that government bureaucracies are making decisions on what is "fair", who is "poor", and what children really need. This is called progressivism, but it's tyranny; substantially similar to Marxist communism, and is - at its heart - disguised atheism or even anti-theism; a war against God.
It is all about power and human beings trying to become godlike; even challenging God by corrupting his finest creation, humankind. It is Satanic.
Even a cursory study of the New Testament proves that in Jesus' time there was no government social safety net, and the job of government was limited to military defense, law enforcement, public works (roads, aqueducts, baths, ports), and occasional festivals. Of course, corrupt leaders stole public funds, but at least they spent those funds within their own economies, which stimulated them. The money didn't disappear. There were no Swiss bank accounts back then.
The Roman government - and almost all other ancient empires - were not involved with welfare programs, education, scientific research, labor, etc. Pagan religions with their priests and temples tried to take care of people and cure social ills. Jesus's new philosophy proved that they weren't effective and needed radical reform. Charitable giving of one's own goods and services was the highest expression of the new Christian religion, along with generous forgiveness. It succeeded spectacularly, and permeated the Roman Empire in two generations.
Christianity's success hinged on each individual's decision to give - or not. The State was seen as a necessary evil in Jesus' eyes. He said, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's... The ruler of this world will be cast out." And he added: "He has no hold on me." - John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11.
First of all, God wants us to be free to make decisions on our own, to learn from our errors, and discover the joy of working, giving, socializing; and the value of a generous heart and a clean conscience. When governments become too powerful - as they are almost everywhere in the world - they take away our freedoms and make decisions for us by taxing and spending on a massive scale. This defeats God's purpose for us. Always this is done under the false cover of "the public good", a "crisis", or in the name of "fairness", or "it's for the children". This means that government bureaucracies are making decisions on what is "fair", who is "poor", and what children really need. This is called progressivism, but it's tyranny; substantially similar to Marxist communism, and is - at its heart - disguised atheism or even anti-theism; a war against God.
It is all about power and human beings trying to become godlike; even challenging God by corrupting his finest creation, humankind. It is Satanic.
Even a cursory study of the New Testament proves that in Jesus' time there was no government social safety net, and the job of government was limited to military defense, law enforcement, public works (roads, aqueducts, baths, ports), and occasional festivals. Of course, corrupt leaders stole public funds, but at least they spent those funds within their own economies, which stimulated them. The money didn't disappear. There were no Swiss bank accounts back then.
The Roman government - and almost all other ancient empires - were not involved with welfare programs, education, scientific research, labor, etc. Pagan religions with their priests and temples tried to take care of people and cure social ills. Jesus's new philosophy proved that they weren't effective and needed radical reform. Charitable giving of one's own goods and services was the highest expression of the new Christian religion, along with generous forgiveness. It succeeded spectacularly, and permeated the Roman Empire in two generations.
Christianity's success hinged on each individual's decision to give - or not. The State was seen as a necessary evil in Jesus' eyes. He said, "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's... The ruler of this world will be cast out." And he added: "He has no hold on me." - John 12:31; 14:30; 16:11.
All the rulers and governments of our present day are suspect and should be seen as working against God's purposes, unless they prove themselves otherwise. We're now experiencing the End Of Days as prophesied by Christ. Humankind's power and malevolence - as well its saintliness - are at their zenith.
Worldwide debt is beyond control and piling up. Life and prosperity everywhere are threatened due to the unintended consequences of government intrusion and outright theft of public funds. Even in the worst days of Rome's decline recovery was possible because the Romans lacked the technology to damage the environment or create unpayable generational debt. Unfortunately, the opposite is true today, and we are doing both.
