Chuck Missler once made an observation that cuts through decades of political rhetoric with surgical precision: “Socialism is the plundering of the productive by the unaccountable…That’s the worst kind of theft.”
These words, spoken in an audio commentary on Revelation, weren’t merely about distant tribulation events. They expose a spiritual and economic reality unfolding in our time, one that Scripture warned about millennia ago.
Theft by Any Other Name
The eighth commandment couldn’t be simpler: “Thou shalt not steal” (Exodus 20:15). Yet today, millions of Americans embrace economic systems built on state-sanctioned plundering. When government forcibly redistributes wealth from those who earned it to those who didn’t – not as temporary charity, but as permanent entitlement – the commandment is violated just as surely as if a burglar broke into your home.
The sophisticated language of “redistribution,” “social justice,” and “fair share” doesn’t change the fundamental nature of the transaction. It remains theft, cloaked in the vocabulary of compassion.
Calling Evil Good
Isaiah spoke a truth relevant in any era: “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil…” (Isaiah 5:20). We live in such a time. Today’s culture celebrates policies that penalize productivity while rewarding dependency. Hard work and personal responsibility – virtues Scripture consistently honors – are dismissed as artifacts of oppression. Meanwhile, the confiscation of others’ labor is rebranded as virtue itself.
This isn’t merely political disagreement. It’s the inversion of moral truth that characterizes humanity’s rebellion against God’s order.
The Parable of the Talents: A Kingdom Economy
When Jesus concluded the Parable of the Talents, He revealed principles that directly contradict socialist ideology:
“Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath” (Matthew 25:28-29).
This isn’t cruelty. It’s reality. Those who faithfully steward resources multiply them. Those who refuse to be productive lose even the opportunities they once had. Christ’s kingdom economics reward diligence and penalize sloth. Socialism does the opposite, transferring resources from the faithful steward to the unfaithful one, guaranteeing economic and moral decay.
Faithfulness and Accountability
Jesus expanded this principle in Luke 16:10-12: “Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much. So if you have not been trustworthy in handling worldly wealth, who will trust you with true riches? And if you have not been trustworthy with someone else’s property, who will give you property of your own?”
Supporting systems that reward unfaithfulness while punishing faithfulness isn’t compassion – it’s enabling. It subsidizes irresponsibility and penalizes those who make sacrifices to be productive. More significantly, it demonstrates unfaithfulness with earthly resources, calling into question one’s fitness for eternal stewardship.
Those who champion policies that take from the diligent to give to the lazy participate in a system that God’s Word condemns. They make themselves complicit in injustice, regardless of how noble their stated intentions may be.
Deceiving and Being Deceived
Speaking of the last days, Paul warned Timothy: “But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived” (II Timothy 3:13).
This is perhaps the most tragic aspect of socialism’s modern resurgence. Its advocates are often sincere, believing they champion justice and compassion. They’re deceived – victims of the very lie they spread to others. They cannot see that policies promising to help the poor actually trap generations in dependency, that programs meant to create equality instead institutionalize injustice, and that systems designed to eliminate want ultimately multiply suffering.
The deception grows worse precisely as Paul predicted. Each generation embraces more extreme versions of these failed ideas, calling their plundering “progress” and their theft “equity.”
An End-Times Signpost
The widespread embrace of socialism isn’t merely bad policy – it’s a prophetic indicator. When millions of Americans, living in history’s most prosperous nation, built on principles of liberty and individual responsibility, suddenly clamor for government to seize and redistribute wealth, we’re witnessing something spiritually significant.
Scripture tells us that the end times will be characterized by moral confusion, the rejection of truth, and the embrace of systems that exalt human authority over God’s design. The socialist impulse checks every box: it rejects the eighth commandment’s protection of property, inverts Isaiah’s moral order by calling plunder justice, contradicts Christ’s teaching on stewardship and productivity, and exemplifies Paul’s warning about deception multiplying as the age draws to a close.
The Choice Before Us
We stand at a crossroads. One path leads toward systems that honor biblical stewardship, protect the fruits of honest labor, and encourage personal responsibility. The other leads toward state-controlled plundering masquerading as compassion.
Chuck Missler identified socialism correctly: it is theft, the worst kind, because it’s systematic, unaccountable, and celebrated. But it’s more than just bad economics. It’s a rejection of God’s revealed order, a fulfillment of ancient prophecies about humanity’s final rebellion, and a sign that our time on this present earth is shorter than many imagine.
The question isn’t whether socialism can work – history has already answered that with mass graves and empty shelves. The question is whether we’ll recognize its embrace as the spiritual deception it truly is, and whether we’ll heed the warnings Scripture has been sounding for thousands of years.
The hour is late. The signs are clear. And the choice remains ours – at least for now.
***
as
In my novel Lilli’s Song, a World History teacher involves his students in a grading experiment to help them understand why socialism is such a bad system.
Lilli’s Song is available from amazon.com.
as
as
Here are links to my blog indexes, so please click one and keep reading!
My Books, Workbooks, and Fun Books
Knowing the Unknowable One
Opening the Treasure Chest
Walking Heart-to-Heart with God
Walking Heart-to-Heart with Each Other
Fighting the Good Fight of Faith
Christian Mysteries: Why I Love Them!
List of Some Nonfiction Books You Don’t Want to Miss
Index of Assorted Topics