Roger Marsh: Well, hello everyone. I'm Roger Marsh. And thank you so much for joining us today here on Family Talk. We know there's still a great deal of worry and stress that's plaguing our lives right now, so we appreciate your making time for us today. Our goal in the coming days and weeks is to strengthen you and to surround you with prayer. Despite the many uncertainties of this global pandemic, we can trust in our unwavering and all mighty God. If you'd like someone to pray with you, you can call us at (877) 732-6825 a member of our team will be happy to pray with you. Again, that number is (877) 732-6825. Also, if you'd like an encouraging resource, request a copy of the book, Certain Peace In Uncertain Times. Now, this is a book that was authored by Mrs. Shirley Dobson a few years ago. It does focus on embracing our prayer life when our circumstances overwhelm us. And boy, isn't that the case for so many of us, even today.
You can request a copy of the book, Certain Peace In Uncertain Times by visiting us online at drjamesdobson.org or you can also make that request when you call (877) 732-6825. Know that through these trying times, the James Dobson Family Institute is here for you, and we are with you. Okay. With that, let's dive now into today's program and our special topic. Since its inception, Christianity has been the target of numerous attacks throughout the centuries. Dangerous ideologies and societal trends have constantly sought to destroy our deeply held beliefs.
Today on Family Talk, we're going to address one of those threats through a presentation from Dr. Jack Graham. Dr. Graham is a great friend of the Dobson family and also of our ministry. He's a popular author, speaker, and lead pastor at Prestonwood Baptist church in Dallas, Texas. Last Fall, Dr. Graham spoke at a private event here in Colorado Springs about the dangers of socialism. He highlights its failures around the world and explains why socialism is actually in direct opposition to biblical morality. It is a fascinating and informative presentation that we know you're going to enjoy. So here now is Dr. Jack Graham on this edition of Dr. James Dobson's Family Talk.
Dr. Jack Graham: Just a few decades ago, Francis Schaeffer said this, "We as Bible believing Christians are locked in a battle. This is not a friendly gentleman's discussion. It is life and death conflict between the spiritual host of wickedness and those who claim the name of Christ. Where is the clear voice speaking to the crucial issues of the day with distinctively biblical answers?" In other words, overcoming evil with good. "We must be the voice of reason. May we not sin through our silence." Schaeffer said that years ago. It was a call to action and that call remains today.
Now, at the State of the Union Address this past year, our President, in response to the rise of socialism in this country said that America will never be a socialist country. Big applause. Big ovation. And I pray that that is true, that this great nation would never yield to socialism because socialism is a political movement. It's an economic movement, obviously, but it is also a philosophical movement. Socialism is where government ownership of the means of production and the primary focus on providing equality of outcomes. In socialism, here it is, the government is all important and involved in every aspect of people's lives.
Contrast that to capitalism, and this message is not going to be about contrasting socialism with capitalism, but contrasting what socialism is with the Bible. But contrast that to socialism, which is an economic system in which there is private ownership of property, and the Bible does teach private ownership of property, and goods and the means of production, these are privately owned. In capitalism, there is a limited role of government. So you contrast those two, socialism, capitalism; heavy handed control of government versus the free reign of society with minimal government control.
Now, we're in the midst of this battle between capitalism and socialism. A recent USA Today report is that four in 10 Americans now support some form of socialism. Four of 10. It may be socialized medicine, that may be it, but at different levels. 43% of Americans, again, I don't know when to believe these polls and when not to believe it, but just for polling sake, 43% of Americans now say socialism would be a good thing for the country. 51% believe socialism would be a bad thing for the country. So we're barely breaking even. Good thing, bad thing, for the country. More and more Americans are leaning left. Marxist philosophies. Especially among younger people. A recent poll of millennials found that a majority, 58% of millennials, would prefer to live in a socialist nation than in a capitalist nation. Now, only 33% of these could define socialism.
Many, of course, of these see capitalism as greedy, consumer driven and wicked. And of course, most young people today have not seen the devastating impact and influence of Marxism, socialism, it's evil big brother, communism. As in the Soviet regime. They didn't live through the cold war as some of us have lived through that, the repression and the oppression of people. And yet it was years ago, I found this quote from Winston Churchill. He gave a warning years and years ago about socialism. He said, "Socialism is the philosophy of failure." And it is a philosophy. Again, we're not just talking politics here or a economic system, but a philosophy, a way of life.
And Churchill said, "It is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance and the gospel of envy. Its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." So whether you're talking about forensic socialism and communism, Marxist style or whether you're talking about European socialism or democratic socialism, it is socialism, which is sweeping the country and ultimately could take the hearts of our people. Now, young people, again, they're very hopefully compassionate about our country and some of it is the nature of youth. Some of this whole thing with socialism is the nature of youth. Someone said, "If you aren't a socialist at 20, you have no heart. And if you are a socialist at 40, you have no head."
But, what I want to say this evening is that socialism and his big brother communism is fundamentally at odds with the Christian faith, with Christianity. And ultimately seeks to control and destroy faith and all people of faith. A case for biblical Christianity is in opposition for a case to socialism. And I want to mention three reasons why this is true.
Number one, socialism is totally secular and predicated upon atheism. No God. Our faith, our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is based upon the authority of God. "In the beginning, God". So much theology is in that first great verse of scripture.
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." And God exists and we believe not only that God exists, but that he has revealed himself in the person of Jesus Christ who lived and died. Rose again. Is coming again. This is our faith, but Karl Marx, who is the father of scientific or forensic socialism, considered religion of all kinds and in particular Christianity, the opiate of the masses. A drug. And he believed especially that Charles Darwin's theories regarding the origin of man and evolution were correct. And therefore to the socialist, to the Marxist, God is not needed to explain anything, no need for God.
In fact, the idea for God is not benign in their eyes, but harmful and ultimately must be forcefully removed from the culture and the society. And it would be a catastrophic, hear this, it would be a catastrophic mistake to think that socialism's hostility towards people of faith, faith itself, has somehow changed since Karl Marx. It has not changed. It is still the goal of secularism and socialism to remove God from the culture and from the country.
Socialist countries today are completely secular and are determined to root out Christianity. This is why churches today are still detonated, blown up, and Christians are persecuted in China. It's why bags are inspected when you go into North Korea. God forbid if you should get caught with a Bible going into North Korea, you'd find yourself in one of those prisons. It was Dr. Martin Luther King who said this, "No Christian can be a communist because communism leaves out God. It regards religion as wishful thinking and the product of fear and ignorance." This is the nature of socialism. No God.
But not only does it destroy the entire idea of God in a culture, but the dignity of man. It destroys the dignity and the real humanity of man as we have been created, our autonomy, our freedom. Freedom is not the gift of government. It is the gift of God. And this our constitution says quite well, but in socialism, in socialism, man is the means to an end of government power and control. And do not ever forget this. Our President said it not long ago. This is not about economics. This is about power and control, power and control.
And when man is diminished, mankind, humanity, when we are diminished, death follows. Now, the 20th century saw the growth of socialism and the spread of communism around the world. It was the bloodiest century in human history. Many American soldiers lost their lives fighting against communism and for freedom and faith. But just in the countries, the communist countries, socialist countries themselves, two million, rather three million were slaughtered under Lenin, upwards to 60 million people were slaughtered by Stalin. 45 million people were butchered in just four years by Mao Zedong. Millions are starved and slaughtered in the prison state that is now North Korea.
Add in the millions who were killed in the killing fields of Vietnam and Cambodia. The current starvation of the people of Venezuela. Venezuela has been a beautiful country with great oil reserves, and yet now as the effect of socialism, it is in chaos and the people are starving. This is the result of socialism. Nothing leaves more to death than life without God. When you diminish the dignity of people. As Christians, we hold that life is sacred from the womb to the tomb. Every life is a promise of God and bears the image of God, whether born or unborn, whether young or old, whether male or female. We believe God and because we believe God, we believe that we have been created for a purpose, that God does have a plan for our lives.
But in socialism, you're just a part of the machine. You're just expendable at any cost for the sake of the state and for the sake of the state's goals, which is ultimately power. Thirdly, socialism leads to misery, poverty, disease, and as I've been describing, to death. Whereas, the Bible teaches freedom and work and creativity and innovation and service and advancement and abundant life. Everyone in this room in some way you've lived life to the fullest. You've established businesses, you have worked hard, you're giving back. But in socialism, it minimizes the creativity and the innovation of the society. And eliminates the motivation to do anything. Margaret Thatcher said, "The trouble was socialism is that eventually they run out of other people's money."
Socialism as an economic system is an epic failure. It's happened in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, China, North Korea, Vietnam, Cuba, Venezuela, Bolivia, Zimbabwe, an economic failure. But more than that, it is a spiritual failure. In America, socialism has produced the welfare state. Years ago I heard my dear friend and brother, Dr. Adrian Rogers, very close to the Dobson's. He quoted something that he never took credit for the statement, but he quoted it so often it became ascribed to him. It was actually a statement made by a gentleman by the name of Gerald Smith that appeared in the US Congressional record in 1958. But, it's powerful.
It says, "You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they don't have to work because the other half is going to take care of them and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my friend is the end of any nation." And the conclusion is, "You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it." This is socialism. Socialism is stealing.
The Bible teaches the value of hard work from the very opening chapters of the Bible. That man is to have dominion over all the earth, Genesis 2:15. Work is a privilege, not a curse. Don't get the idea that the curse that came as a result of sin was a curse on work. No, work is a privilege. The curse isn't the fact that we have to work. Work is a privilege. We work, we worship. It's the same thing. There's no separation between the secular and the spiritual in the believer's life. The Bible says, if a man doesn't work, neither shall he eat.
It's a sin to ignore the poor. We're told many ways, many times that we are to help the poor and that's the responsibility of the church and the ministry of the church. And so many cannot work. I'm not talking about those who cannot work. The Bible says, "If a man doesn't work, neither shall he eat." And the freedom to choose your career, to hear your calling from God, to earn a living, that's taught in the Bible, that's taught in God's word. As well as private ownership. Somebody says, "Oh, Oh, what about Acts chapter four? When it tells us of those Christians in the church, because there were poor widows and others in the church who needed financial support that all the Christians pool their resources in the church and it's all described their in Acts chapter four. And because they pool their resources, they were able to minister to the poor and minister to the people in their community."
Well, first of all, that was not a government program. That was the work of the church internally. Second of all, it was temporary and not permanent, because you see work as everywhere Paul traveled around the earth on his missionary journeys, he would establish churches and people were working everywhere and that is never condemned, nor is private ownership. And it was Christ centered, not government centered. It was temporary and it was not coerced. It was voluntary. It was for a time, for a season, that the church established this to minister to one another in that particular time. And yet, when you read the New Testament believers all over the world owned property and had possessions. Paul called upon Christians to give generously. What are they supposed to give if they don't have property? If they don't own possessions? So you can't take a small slice of life and say, "There you go. That's communism."
Especially when you look at the 10 commandments. They address private ownership. When it says, "Do not steal." If I'm going to steal from you, that means you must own it. You must have it. Or you shall not covet another person's possessions. What the Bible does not endorse is a political system that takes from someone to give to someone else without their generosity. What the Bible teaches is generosity. That's what we're about in this room, isn't it? Is generosity. Socialism suppresses the poor and steals from the rich, legislates theft and elevates envy. My time is up. But, I just want to conclude by saying that we need to read the handwriting on the wall.
This is not a problem that we are surfacing from the so called radical right. This is not a small thing, what is happening to America. This is a cancer, and it's toxic. It's destructive. It's damaging. And God is warning his people. And God is giving us an opportunity in our generation, to live freely, to live out our faith, to speak openly, to share Jesus and think about America in the past as we have been able to be the greatest producer of evangelism and missions worldwide, all because of ownership, people earning a hard living, whether it be large or small, being able to have their property and to freely give so that the gospel can go around the world. So, that ministries like this one can make a difference in people's lives.
Socialism crushes generosity, because no one ultimately has anything hardly to give. It crushes the soul. It crushes the innovation of a country and the creativity of an individual, it just makes someone a part of the machine. So it's a denial of the authority of God, the dignity of man. And as a result, we need to fight it and we need to stand up against it. We need to tell our children and teach our children well, because if we don't, somebody else will. May God help us. Lord, we thank you for your word to us, which is life and health and strength. We pray, oh God, that the words of our mouths, the meditations of our hearts, even on this subject would be pleasing in your sight. I thank you for the people in this room. These are the men and women who are making a difference in the world for your glory. So Lord, encourage us and equip us in the battle. Keep us strong, help us to know what the issues are and to fight the good fight of faith until you come again. In Jesus name. Amen.
Roger Marsh: You have been listening to a special presentation from Dr. Jack Graham here on this edition of Family Talk. For more information about Dr. Graham or his ministry, visit today's broadcast page at drjamesdobson.org. You can also request a physical copy of this message to share with a friend or to revisit later. Simply click on the order a CD button on today's broadcast page as well. You'll find all this content when you go to drjamesdobson.org. Well, that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to join us again next time for another edition of Dr. James Dobson's Family Talk. I'm Roger Marsh. Thanks for listening.
Dr. Tim Clinton: This has been a presentation of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute.
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