At the close of 2020, former President Barak Obama was enjoying a fresh jolt of popularity. His memoirs had hit the digital bookshelves, he was being interviewed by nearly every news outlet, and he received the “Voice of Influence Award” from the free-speech advocacy organization, PEN America.
And, not surprisingly, as he took laps around the speaking circuit, he was asked to weigh in on the leftward drift and the new, progressive agenda driving many decisions in the Democratic party.
So in early December, on Peter Hamby’s Snapchat show, “Good Luck America,” Obama was reflecting on the Democratic party’s attraction to socialism, bemoaning the use of the term. He suggested that the term raises negative connotations and that the party should stop using it. “Socialism is still a loaded term for a lot of folks,” he said. Then he offered, “instead of talking labels and ideology, we should focus on talking about getting certain things done.”
That sounds reasonable, doesn’t it? After all, if we seem bogged down in talking and fussing about what we believe, maybe we should just focus on “getting things done,” right?
No, not at all. And Christians especially should be able to recognize the problem with that. Here’s what I mean:
- What we believe always dictates what we do. Always.
Your beliefs always dictate your choices, actions, and plans. So, yes, it matters what you believe. A faulty belief system can lead you to false assumptions, poor judgement, and even flagrantly wrong behaviors.
An “ideology” is a belief system that applies specifically to politics and economics. It’s a set of assumptions, core values, and beliefs that people adopt and practice in their political system in order to produce a certain set of results. And changing the terminology doesn’t change the ideology.
See, socialism is, in fact, an ideology that produces certain behaviors and outcomes. You cannot change the action without first changing the ideology. A socialist practices socialism. And a capitalist practices capitalism. In both cases their practices are determined by an ideology. That’s just the way it is.
And that’s why you cannot ignore the ideologies that motivate the actions and just focus on “getting things done.” If the ideologies are incompatible, which socialism and capitalism are, then they are not trying to produce the same results.
Socialists who practice socialism believe that all property, services, and goods should be owned by the government and distributed by the government. No private property and no personal wealth. Clearly, that’s incompatible with capitalism.
And, again, changing the label doesn’t change the ideology. That’s why “democratic socialism” is a distinction without a difference. Whether socialism is practiced in a dictatorship or a democracy, it is still the same ideology. So under “democratic socialism” the government is still going to come and take your stuff and, eventually, rescind your rights. It’ll just be your elected representatives doing it instead of a dictator.
So the main reason you cannot ignore the political ideologies that motivate political behavior is that bad ideologies produce bad ethics, morals, and behaviors.
Socialism is attractive to postmodern progressives because they are pragmatists, which is the dominate ethical framework for postmodern people. See, for them, the end justifies the means. So, stealing is not inherently bad. The only way to know if it is bad is to do it, and then see the outcome. If the outcome is “good,” then stealing is okay. But the rub for postmodern people is that “good” is not defined by an objective standard. It’s defined by feelings and preferences.
So, if little Johnny steals Becky’s bike and it makes him happy, then Becky has to be okay with that. She is not allowed to own the bike and should be okay with Johnny taking it. After all, he’s happy, and the end justifies the means.
And if the government wants to take your stuff and give it to someone else because they think it will make them happy, socialism says you cannot do anything about it. The end justifies the means.
- Changing labels doesn’t change beliefs.
This is the most crucial reason that Christians need to recognize and reject the idea that you can ignore your beliefs but still change your behaviors. The Bible always teaches this simple truth: What you believe dictates how you behave. So if you want to behave wisely, make good choices, exercise sound judgement, and respect other people, your beliefs must produce that behavior.
The Bible routinely reminds us that if God reshapes our thinking, we can recast our behavior (Phil 2:5, Col. 1:9-10, Eph. 4:20-24). In the old life, apart from Christ, your belief system was incompatible with God’s, and produced behaviors incompatible with His will. But in Christ, God replaces our old beliefs with God’s mindset, God’s way of seeing the world and people and ourselves. Truth replaces lies. And as the biblical worldview starts to dictate our behavior, it shows in our actions.
In fact, if we claim to be born again in Christ, but our new mindset is not producing new behaviors, we are still living by our old belief system (James 1:20-25). And if you are a Christian, that’s gotta change.
This is where postmodern progressives are completely wrong. You cannot change people or solve problems or produce justice by shuffling the labels. People have to change first and adopt new beliefs, and that will produce different actions.
Or, as Jesus said, “you must be born again” (John 3:1-8). Change happens from the inside out, not the other way around.
And as Paul said, “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God” (Rom. 12:2).
This, by the way, is an indictment against the common postmodern tendency in churches to focus on outcomes and appearances, rather than biblical truth that transforms lives. Maybe it is a well-intentioned desire to reach more people, or maybe it’s just because you think your church needs to be doing what that other church is doing, but when your priority becomes what your church is doing rather than what your church is teaching, you have become a pragmatist.
Our beliefs always dictate our behaviors. The fact that socialists, or past Presidents, or church-going postmodernists avoid this doesn’t change that it’s true. So make sure you know the difference, and that your life shows you are practicing a belief system motivated by biblical truth.