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Anglican priest in training, Adam Spiders, took to social media to explain how Jesus was a Communist who called for a cashless, stateless, classless society. Of course, Jesus couldn’t say it outright, so he had to find a sneaky and clever way of saying, according to Spiders.
Was Jesus a Communist and did he ever call for a stateless, classless, and moneyless society? Well no…and yes. You see, Jesus was a first-century Jewish peasant living under occupation by the most powerful military force the world had ever seen. Of course, he didn’t call for a stateless, classless, moneyless society. He was much cleverer than that. He says, you can’t serve God and money. Blessed are the poor, woe to the rich. He’s equalizing it, he’s abolishing money and he’s destroying class distinction.
Then he’s asked in Jerusalem, a city of zealots with a history of rioting against the Roman Imperial tax whether to pay that very tax and by Herodians who want to have him arrested for tax resistance. And what does he do? He asks for a coin, a season ahead of seasons, an occupation, subjugation, the cult of the emperor, the entire Roman state, and he says, with all the irony that requires, give back to Caesar what is Caesars and to God what is God’s. And we know it’s ironic, because they don’t trap him. But they do accuse him of tax resistance later when they turn him over to Pilate.
But notice what else he’s done here, he’s called for a stateless, classless, moneyless society.
Yeah, no, that’s not what Jesus was calling for. Of course, false teachers always mix a little bit of truth with error—serious error. Jesus doesn’t call on the Church to ignore class altogether, but he does call on the Church not to take class into consideration by favoring one over another. And to suggest that Jesus called for a moneyless society? Well, that’s just dumb altogether. And I noticed he never mentioned the Parable of the Talents or any of the Proverbs that speak about the differences between sluggards and people with good work ethic.
