Three Reasons It’s Impossible For A Christian To Be A Communist
Christians should have nothing to do with communism. I say this as an ex-communist myself, who was enticed by the ideology while studying politics, swayed by the way it plays on the heart strings of empathy, reinforcing the mantra of the “greater good”. But I came to Christ and left that behind, and here are a few reasons why I believe the two are not compatible:
1 - Giving by Force vs Giving by Freedom
To put it simply, Christians should reject communism due to its fundamental opposition to the Christian spirit. The spirit of communism is the desire to take whereas the spirit of Christianity is to give, it really is that simple.
To unpack further, the purest form of Christianity is the denial of one's self, to give everything in service to the Lord and obey His commandments. Communism involved seizing political power and compelling one’s neighbours to obey, whether by seizing private property or curbing civil liberties in pursuit of utopia. Force for these ends is inherently unchristian.
When a rich young man approached Jesus with the aspiration to be perfect, Christ said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” (Matthew 19:21) Christ never suggested to the young man that to achieve his desires of perfection he must ‘seize’ the possessions of another man and to give them away.
2 - There is no love for God or neighbour in Communism
Christ has created cultures and civilisations without wielding a sword, but through the purpose and motive of love; love for God Almighty and love for others. Communists, both on an individual and collective level, have a drastically different motive: hatred and envy. These two motivations are at the forefront of the Communist mind, aimed at the class they propose to dispossess.
A ‘Christian communist’ is therefore an oxymoron. The communist aim to despoil a rich man for no other reason than his wealth, whilst claiming to follow Christ, demonstrates an unbridgeable chasm between the two worldviews.
Yes, in Luke 6:20-21 Jesus says, “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God.” But He also goes on to say, “Blessed are you who are hungry now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh.”
To tie this verse in with the point above, Christ did say that the Kingdom belonged to the poor, and this has often been used by socialists as a cudgel for anyone perceived to be wealthy. But if it was such a blanket condemnation, a similar standard would have to apply to both being full as opposed to hungry, and anyone who has joy as opposed to weeping. Rather, Christ’s simple point is overwhelmingly spiritual in nature: those who recognise their spiritual poverty without God, those who hunger for the things of God, and those who mourn over their sin, will be blessed. It may well be that those who are physically wealthy are less inclined to mark their spiritual poverty, but there is no mandate here to hate those who have more than you.
Furthermore, the Communist outlook has no intention of putting Christ first in life. It is explicitly and exclusively secular in nature.If you were to say to a communist, “Seek first the kingdom of God,” what would their reaction be?
3 - Communist persecution of the faith
The Washington Times released an article back in 2023, titled ‘Communism poses top threat to Christian lives worldwide’. It said, “The Rev. Johnnie Moore, a former member of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, or USCIRF, has coauthored an updated history of Christian martyrdom that takes the centuries-old “Foxe’s Book of Martyrs” — once a staple in evangelical homes — and brings it into the modern age.” What this highlighted in its findings, was “Under current circumstances with the regime in China, we have a full-on relapse of the Cultural Revolution targeting every single Christian not only in that country, but in every country it’s linked to.”
The now-defunct Soviet Union, under its “the state of atheism” as it was once coined, had a government-sponsored program to force conversions to atheism. This Bolshevik program featured endless anti-religious or anti-christian propaganda, and led to the persecution and murder of approximately 15-20 million Christians throughout the span of the Soviet Union’s history.
Can one square that with Christianity? Obviously not.
Conclusion
The way of Christ is not charity by force but through persuasion. It is not motivated by hatred of God and man, but love for both. And it does not persecute the Chrisian faith, it promotes it. These two worldviews are utterly incompatible in both root and branch. Christians must not give credence to such an ideology, and those who claim to align with communism, or its watered-down counterpart ‘socialism’, have to make a serious choice about which the will follow.