What does the Bible mean by equality and what does it have to say to political attempts to achieve it?

God is no respecter of persons. He treats everyone equally. We all enjoy an equality of creation. All men and women are equally created in the image of God. We are all equally creatures of a Sovereign Creator. We all suffer from an equality of sinnerhood. "There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) We are all equally offered redemption. "There is no difference between Jew and Gentile - the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him." (Romans 10:12) While all those who call on the name of the Lord are saved, and are "all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28) that does not mean that from a social or economic standpoint they are regarded as the same. Unity is not uniformity. We are all individuals, and unique in our identities and our relationship to the Lord. In the one Church there are different gifts. Like the general population, some are richer than others; some have many talents, others few; some are employers, some employees; some are parents, some children.

St. Paul was far from being a sociological revolutionary, he was no utopian, for he realized that the truest principle of social reform is that of the gospel and spirit of Christ. It is when a person experiences salvation in Christ that he changes his behavior. It is by the grace of God, empowered by the Spirit, that we begin to respect one another equally. St. Paul realized, too, that because of sin, human society, including even the church, is marked by imperfection and that the ideal society will be achieved only hereafter, in the renewed creation.

What Paul is advocating here is not an equal distribution of property or wealth, nor communalism, where all goods are held in common, for in the New Testament all giving is voluntary and the fruit of love. Its object is the relief of want, not an artificial equalization of property. We are called to relieve the legitimate needs of fellow-believers as an act of love, not of compulsion. Yet, to guard against abuse, the able-bodied who are unwilling to work deserve to go without. (2 Thess.3:10) There is no justification for the presumption that a wealthier Christian, should support an idle member of the church.

Charles Hodge comments: "The Scriptures avoid, on the one hand, the injustice and destructive evils of agrarian communism [redistribution of wealth by government], by recognizing the right of property and making all giving optional; and on the other, the heartless disregard of the poor by inculcating the universal brotherhood of believers, and the consequent duty of each to contribute of his abundance to relieve the necessities of the poor. At the same time they inculcate on the poor the duty of self-support to the extent of their ability." How does this teaching apply to the issues of today? Alexis de Tocqueville, in his classic Democracy in America (1835), warned that universal suffrage would result in the expenditure of government increasing.

"As the great majority of those who create the laws are possessed of no property upon which taxes can be imposed, all the money which is spent for the community appears to be spent for their advantage, at no cost of their own...the government of the democracy is the only one under which the power which lays on taxes escapes the payment of them....The disastrous influence which popular authority may sometimes exercise upon the finances of a State was very clearly seen in some of the democratic republics of antiquity, in which the public treasure was exhausted in order to relieve indigent citizens, or to supply the games and theatrical amusements of the populace.... When a people begins to reflect upon its situation, it discovers a multitude of wants to which it had not before been subject, and to satisfy these exigencies recourse must be had to the coffers of the State...A democracy does not always succeed in moderating its expenditure, because it does not understand the art of being economical....the State spends sums out of all proportion to the end which it proposes to accomplish."

We have a situation today where the federal government borrows 40 cents for every dollar it spends. The richest 1% of Americans pay nearly 40% of all federal income taxes, and the richest 10% pay two-thirds of the tax. American corporations pay the highest corporate tax rate in the world. Nearly four out of ten American households now pay no federal income tax at all. Almost half the federal budget redistributes income to older retired people, even though those over age 65 are already among the wealthiest Americans. The compulsory transfer of wealth to the present at the expense of the future (our children and grandchildren) is profligate and selfish. Where is the equality in that? As de Toqueville warned, our political leaders fail to be responsible in their stewardship of the public treasury.

When St. Paul was organizing his collection for the needy Christians in Jerusalem he handpicked two trusted men to accompany him. "We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift. For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord, but also in the eyes of men." (2 Cor.8:20,21) The churches in Greece had sacrificed in order to make this gift available. "Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability." (2 Cor.8:2,3) He pledged to be a good steward of their money, to see that it wasn't wasted or misused. This is the Biblical standard that our government should be living by.

What would Jesus say to us today about equality, taxes, giving and fiscal responsibility? What he said to Zacchaeus, the wealthy tax collector (Luke 19:1-9). "Zacchaeus.. I must stay at your house today." Jesus came to this corrupt government official and changed his life. What results when we welcome Jesus into our hearts and home? We cannot stay the same. The grace of God changes us. There can be no room for selfishness, or irresponsibility, or corruption, when we welcome Jesus into our lives. This sinner declared that he would give half of his possessions to the poor and would restore fourfold to anyone he had cheated. Yes, the deserving poor and the genuine needy are to be taken care of, as Zacchaeus and St Paul did.

But who are we cheating? Are we cheating our grandchildren? Are we modeling for them a selfish morality so that they come to think that they have a right to generous, free benefits, without working for them? Are we getting them to pick up the tab for us? When Jesus comes into our lives we realize that life is about giving not getting. The kingdom of God is about serving, not always wanting to be served. Jesus said, "Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost."

We are lost unless salvation comes to our house, and to our nation. We need Jesus to seek and save us from ourselves. By his coming into our lives, our behavior, and the behavior of our political leaders, can change. The only lasting change comes through spiritual change, a change of heart and mind, what Jesus and the Bible calls repentance and spiritual new birth.

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