Every so often, it seems that someone writes a book about another Jesus question: Was Jesus, a Socialist? Answering this question seems as effortless as the last. Of course, Jesus would be a socialist; because Jesus was a nice guy. And in our minds, capitalists are the mean guys who take everything they can get and let the weak starve. (Ironically, this idea could also be called "survival of the fittest," but somehow, we find a world that functions like that to be repulsive.) The socialist, on the other hand, is the nice guy who gives a helping hand. Are you in need of work? The socialist will provide you with a paycheck until that perfect job comes along. Indeed, Jesus, the ultimate nice guy, would be in this second camp? Wouldn't He?
The argument Jesus lays out is one of pure capitalism. First of all, the workers the landowner hired were in a binding agreement regarding wages. If they had thought their wages to be unfair, they could have haggled a better deal at the beginning. Secondly, the landowner believes and acts upon the notion that His land is his private property and that he is free to do what he wants with what is his own, including being generous toward whomever he chooses. The landowner exercises his capitalist prerogatives by being generous.
The downfall of socialism as a Christian government system is that a socialist has nothing to give out of his own resources. The socialist looks generous, but he is generous with other people's money. That is not generosity at all. That is stealing the wealth and the benevolent character of another to boost one's own sense of goodness and social standing. It is only the capitalist who has something of his own to give or to use to hire.
If Jesus were a socialist, he would have given other people's lives as a ransom for the world's deliverance instead of His own. He would have sent in the troops. But Jesus gave His own personal property. Jesus gave himself as a ransom for many. And even in Jesus' death on the cross, He practiced capitalism. Because with His blood, He purchased for Himself,
men and women from every tribe, nation, and tongue. And those who Jesus purchases, He also sets free to become good and generous landowners like Himself.
Do you give to the poor, or are you generous with someone else's money?