Vin Scully, the legendary baseball announcer of the Dodgers, gives his view on the evils of Socialism. Biblical prophecy tells us that the Devil will deceive many causing them to believe in evil over truth in the last days. As Vince was calling a game announcing the batter was from Venezuela. As the batter Perez, is from Venezuela, he tells the difference between the economic systems of the U.S. and Venezuela. He points out how socialism has failed everywhere it has been tried. He said that when you start giving everybody something free, it is not long before there is no food to eat and they are soon without the basic needs of living. He then points out that the richest person in Venezuela is the daughter of Hugo Chavez, the installer of socialism.

Why are so many in academics, the news media, Bernie Sanders promoting Socialism? Many of our young people 18 to 34 believe that socialism is far better than Capitalism and it is fairer. 2 Thessalonians 3:10 “For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”

Paul writes about lazy people who are idle and unwilling to work. A Christian is obligated to provide for themselves and their dependents. Paul tells them to stay away from every brother who is unwilling to work. They were to cut off their support and not have a personal relationship with them. I have met a number of people who believed they were owed a living and it was the government’s responsibility to see that their needs were met. This is completely contrary to Scripture teaching.

A problem in the early church was that many believed Christ was going to return any day according to false teachers. As a result, they quit work, set aside all responsibilities, did no future planning and waited for Christ to return.

Have you ever felt the need to work and a need to accomplish some particular task? The Bible says that God created man to work. Confidence and self-esteem can come from the way we work or the way we work can create confidence and self-esteem. This includes school, work, home or in relationships. God created us to be achievers and if we aren’t, we may miss life’s opportunities. So whatever you do, do it with a desire that it will please God and you will be productive and accomplish God’s plan for your life. You cannot study the Bible and ever believe that man was created to not work and have the government give him/her everything they need.

Genesis 2:15 “The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” This was before Adam and Eve had sinned or God had cursed the earth. It is my belief that God created every one of us to work and be an accomplisher.

Genesis 3:17–19 & 23 “To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” 23 “So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.”

As punishment for Adam and Eve’s sin, Adam was required to work harder than ever before to produce food for survival. In fact, the work would be so difficult that you would sweat to accomplish getting your food. God did not plan that work was going to necessarily be easy.

It took Noah and his sons 120 years to build the ark. Nowhere in the Bible does it talk about retirement. It only tells us that we need to take one day a week to rest and worship God. The other six days we are to be available to work. Statistics indicate that many who retire early die early. There is something about work that prolongs one’s life.

I do not understand how a person can have a high self-esteem without accomplishing something in life. This is the nature God created into us. This is a wife, mother or anyone who does not have a purpose to make life better for others, will possibly suffer from low self-esteem. Work is a part of worship, thanking God that we are able to provide for ourselves. My own experience is I have worked since being in the 8th grade. My confidence is a result of my work and what I was able to accomplish. What kind of confidence would I have had if I never worked or accomplished anything in life? Some allow their achievements to make them arrogant. The Bible says this is unacceptable. However, it gives an example of what great achievements can do to one’s confidence.

Ephesian 6:7 – “Serve wholeheartedly, as if you were serving the Lord, not people,”

1 Corinthians 10:31 – “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.”

Many of our young people have never been taught or required to work. As a result, many live a life with little confidence or a feeling that their life is unfulfilling. Fifty years ago, many of us either worked or were raised on a farm. We knew how to work and we depended on God to provide the rain and the sunshine. If our crops failed we were in serious trouble. However, we learned to can food in case of emergencies. We had cellars to store potatoes, onions, etc. We were always planning ahead and how well we lived depended upon how hard we worked and managed our responsibilities.

God gave Americans a wonderful country and a special economy. We were provided with a capitalistic economy. Many jobs depended on incentives. The harder we worked, the more proficient we were and given our ability to produce, depended on how much we were paid and the opportunity for advancement. Many are now suggesting that we go to socialism, an economy that takes away one’s incentive and they rely on the government to take care of them. Socialism has two classes: the very poor and the very rich. It has a tendency to do away with the middle class. The elite realize it is easy to control the poor, harder to control the middle class and hardly possible to control the rich.

Why do we have so many false teachers promoting socialism? There purpose is to deny there is a God. This is why the Devil uses a socialistic economy because of his desire to get people to be non-believers who depend on government and not God. You can be a Christian and believe what false teachers are selling. Who doesn’t believe life should be fair for everyone? However, this is not what Scripture teaches. The one unwilling to work and is able, should not rely on others to take care of them.

Hosea 4:6a “my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.”

An Economics’ teacher once said: greed or ambition works in a Capitalistic Society. You rarely hear greed being hyped. However, envy is a great motivator used often to promote Socialism. Guess who are teaching our children Socialism?