What if your every action, every word, and even your thoughts were subject to constant scrutiny and judgment? What if a centralized authority determined your worth based on a score, dictating your access to basic rights and freedoms?

This is not dystopian fiction—this is the reality unfolding in China with its social credit scoring system.

Under the guise of promoting trust and integrity, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has weaponized this system to exert unprecedented control over its citizens, forcing compliance through a matrix of rewards and punishments.

China’s social credit system is a tool of oppression, designed to manipulate and control. Citizens are rated on their behavior, financial credit, social interactions, and even online activities. Those who comply with the state’s standards are rewarded with privileges, while dissenters face severe penalties such as travel bans, job restrictions, and public shaming.

This system is being imposed on the population with little to no regard for personal privacy or freedom, serving as a mechanism for the Communist regime to maintain its iron grip on the people.

The CCP’s endgame is clear: absolute control over every aspect of life.

In many ways, the social credit system mirrors the algorithms used by social media giants like Facebook and Twitter/X. These platforms employ complex algorithms to determine the visibility and reach of content based on user engagement—likes, shares, and comments. This creates a digital echo chamber where only “acceptable” opinions are amplified, and dissenting voices are marginalized or silenced.

This has the effect of silencing dissenting opinions on social media. On Twitter, a Christian who holds to a biblical sexual ethic can’t simply express the objective truth that men can’t be women or vice versa—such behavior could land one in social media prison.

Suspended. Banned. Silenced.

Just as China’s social credit system dictates social acceptability and worth, social media algorithms determine who gets heard and who doesn’t.

The dangers of such systems extend far beyond their immediate impacts. By prioritizing popular opinion over objective truth, such systems undermine biblical morality and the concept of absolute truth as revealed by God altogether.

Biblical morality is founded on unchanging principles of right and wrong, as set forth in Scripture. However, a social credit system relies on the consensus of those who control the system—whether it be the collective people in society or a group of elites, it is inherently fickle and subjective. Either way, this elevates man’s opinion to the place of God, allowing a constantly shifting moral landscape where what is considered “good” or “bad” can change overnight.

History provides chilling examples of what happens when society abandons objective moral standards in favor of majority rule. The Holocaust, various forms of slavery, and the persecution of minority groups throughout history demonstrate the catastrophic consequences of elevating collective judgment over divine law.

The social credit system, whether in its Chinese incarnation or its digital counterpart in the West—which, let’s not kid ourselves, will ultimately look like China’s in the end—has the potential to facilitate similar atrocities by targeting groups deemed undesirable by those in power. Uyghurs, Jews, and other religious and ethnic minorities, especially Christians, are particularly vulnerable to such systemic persecution.

Christians, in particular, would face severe persecution under a social credit system. The early church under Emperor Nero provides a terrifying historical parallel. Christians were scapegoated, blamed for societal ills, and subjected to horrific punishments.

Today, a social credit system could easily be manipulated to single out Christians for their refusal to conform to secular moral standards. In many ways, it already is. Public worship, evangelism, and faithfulness to biblical morality and truth would all be deemed “untrustworthy” or “subversive,” and result in severe penalties.

We are already witnessing the precursors to such persecution. Christian voices are increasingly marginalized on social media, their content flagged as “hate speech” for upholding biblical truths about marriage, sexuality, and sanctity of life. As society drifts further from God’s standards, the pressure to conform will only intensify.

The beast of Revelation—representing the worldly powers aligned against Christ—hates Christianity and will use every tool at its disposal to silence the gospel.

Christians must prepare for the inevitable persecution that comes from standing firm in biblical truth. Our hope lies not in the fleeting comforts of this world, but in Christ alone. We must remain firm, ready to face opposition with courage and faith, knowing that our ultimate reward is not in this life, but in the eternal kingdom of God.

The social credit system, whether in China or in its more subtle digital form in the West, is just one of many systems raised up against Christ and His bride. This shouldn’t invoke fear, but hope in Christ, and remind us of the cost of discipleship in a fallen world.