Tag Archives: Pop Culture

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Was Jesus a Socialist?

Recent headlines include words / phrases like: Occupy wall street. Redistribution of wealth. Capitalism. Socialism. And now…Jesus. But what does Jesus have to do with economics? Well, everyone loves to get Jesus on their side of the argument. Here is one of the passages often cited to argue that Jesus would have been in favor of socialism (Acts 4:32-35):

“All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.”

Two pieces of advice. First, always read the biblical context. In his helpful Washington Post article, Jay Richards responds to the claim that Jesus was a socialist / marxist:

“No serious biblical scholar, or economist, would mistake the practice of the early Jerusalem church for Marxism. First of all, Marx viewed private property as oppressive, and had a theory of class warfare, in which the workers would revolt against the capitalists-the owners of the means of production-and forcibly take control of private property. After that, Marx thought, private property would be abolished, and the state would own the means of production on behalf of the people. There’s none of this business in the books of Acts. These Christians are selling their possessions and sharing freely.

Second, the state is nowhere in sight. No Roman centurions are breaking down doors and sending Christians to the lions (that was later). No government is confiscating property and collectivizing industry. No one is being coerced. The church in Jerusalem was just that-the church, not the state. The church doesn’t act like the modern communist state.” (read the rest of the article)

Second read works / authors who understand the biblical worldview and take the Bible seriously (i.e., in its historical-gramatical-literary context) and who also understand economics. Here are two great options: (1) Money, Greed, and God: Why Capitalism Is the Solution and Not the Problem by Jay Richards and (2) The Virtues of Capitalism: A Moral Case for Free Markets by Scott Rae and Austin Hill. Listen to an insightful interview with Jay Richards here.
Economics is a moral issue. It is critical for Christians to understand that when it comes to economics, good intentions don’t necessarily translate into good outcomes. This means that it is actually possible to do harm to people while intending good if we adopt bad economic policy. I interviewed Jay Richards about this and how economics relates to the Christian worldview here.
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Steve Jobs, Technology, and the Image of God

John Dyer (@johndyer) has written an insightful article on Steve Jobs, technology and the image of God which is well worth the read. Here is an excerpt:

“Steve Jobs, the most visionary technology maker of the digital era, died Wednesday at the age of 56.

His death represents the end of the first era of computing when, under his guidance, the computer went from a thing nerds built in their garage to a friend everyone carries in their pocket. Sometimes called the Leonardo Da Vinci of our times, he made the computer personal, the phone smart, and the mouse magical.

He was also famously guarded about his personal life. He kept his family, his illness, and his religious beliefs out of the spotlight in order to focus on the things he made. But as he neared the end of his life, he allowed Walter Isaacson to write a biography, which will be released later this month. But until it comes out is there anything that we might learn from this man’s life and work?

Life and Work

A natural starting point can be found in the details we do know about Jobs’s life and business decisions. Born to parents who didn’t want him and adopted by parents who never attended college, Jobs went on to drop out of the same college where Donald Miller made his famous confessions. He and his friend Steve Wozniak (“the Woz”) started Apple in a garage, but years later his own board pushed him out of the company he founded. Undeterred, he started a new computer company (NeXT), and a few years later was invited back to Apple as a kind of savior. Then over the past 14 years, he hit home run after home run—iMac, iPod, iPhone, and iPad—each of which shaped computing, the music industry, and even the consumer. Are there not lessons here about second chances, redemption, and what can come from a little, unwanted baby?

When he came back as CEO in 1997, Apple was making all kinds of superfluous products like digital cameras, printers, and PDAs. One of Steve’s first decisions was to drop the axe on most of those extraneous products and focus the entire company on a single idea: making better computers. Should pastors do the same with the programs at their churches, trimming the fat, and focusing on essentials like the gospel, worship, and community? We could also learn from his treatment of archrival Microsoft. After striking a deal with Bill Gates, Jobs warned Apple loyalists, “We have to let go of this notion that for Apple to win, Microsoft has to lose.” Could we not all learn from that in our congregations, ministries, and blogs?

But I think the significance of Steve Jobs’s life goes beyond these sorts of sermonettes. It is rather in his approach to technology and creativity that I think we can find a profound warning and hidden testimony of God’s grace.

Forbidden Fruit

Though Wozniak was clearly the brains of the operation, much of what made Apple successful was Jobs’s ability to market products in such a way that they didn’t feel like products, but rather a way of life, something you’re either in to or out of.

The company’s very name—Apple—is….” (read the rest of the article)

Also see his helpful book From the Garden to the City.

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My new book comes out this month!

I am both humbled and deeply encouraged by the endorsements I have received for my new book Think Christianly: Looking at the Intersection of Faith and Culture (releasing later this month). Our culture is asking significant questions and Christians need to engage well with solid, thoughtful, and distinctively Christian answers. That is what I hope this book encourages pastors, Christian leaders, and churches to do (more on that later).

“As someone who has devoted many years of ministry to teaching Christian worldview. I am thrilled to see dynamic and faithful worldview leaders like Jonathan Morrow stepping to the fore. Think Christianly, in a compelling and accessible way, equips Christians young and old to engage the culture winsomely, intelligently, and with confidence.”

– Chuck Colson,
Founder, Prison Fellowship and the Colson Center for Christian Worldview

“Think Christianly is a remarkable and important achievement. Written in an interactive and accessible style, it covers an exhaustive range of topics. Indeed, I know of no other book like it in this regard, and it it now the first book to which to turn for learning the specifics of how to think Christianly.”

– J. P. Moreland,

Distinguished Professor of Philosophy,
Talbot School of Theology, Biola University, and author of The God Question

“We Christians love to lob rhetorical grenades at the surrounding culture from the safety of our holy huddle. What’s far more difficult—and effective—is to engage the issues of our day with intelligence, moral clarity, and biblical wisdom. That’s exactly what Jonathan Morrow does in Think Christianly. Morrow has a knack for elucidating complex ideas and applying timeless truth to contemporary topics. He’s also done a fine job of gathering top Christian thinkers and presenting their ideas on issues ranging from the role of the Bible to bioethics. Think Christianly is a significant addition to the faith and culture conversation and a readable primer for church leaders. It belongs in the library of every thoughtful Christian.”
– Drew Dyck
Managing editor of Leadership Journal and author of Generation Ex-Christian:
Why Young Adults are Leaving the Faith…and How to Bring Them Back (Moody, 2010)

“In a time when truth is distorted and biblical teachings are misunderstood, our commitment to engaging culture must not be compromised. If we are to effectively stand for Christ in a world that is not, we must be equipped. Think Christianly is a much needed resource as we seek to honor God in both what we believe and how we live.”
– Jason Hayes,
Author, Speaker, National Young Adult Ministry Specialist,
LifeWay Christian Resources
“In Future Shock, Alvin Toffler wrote, “Change is avalanching upon our heads and most people are grotesquely unprepared to cope with it.” Toffler wrote in 1970, before personal computers, before the Internet, before 100 cable TV channels! The pace and depth of change has only increased several times over since 1970, and still the evangelical church is unprepared to deal with it. The ideas in Morrow’s book offer hope that we can learn how to bring meaning to today’s dangerous intersection of gospel and culture and view the intersection more as an opportunity than a threat.”

– Andy Seidel,
Executive director of the Howard Hendricks Center for Christian
Leadership at Dallas Theological Seminary

“For several years, Jonathan Morrow has helped me see where my faith and what I read on blogs intersect. He has been an enormous help to me personally, and I’m glad to see that a broader audience can have access to his insights. If there is one thing I have learned as a pastor who works with twentysomethings, it’s this: If we don’t work hard to show how our message intersects with the issues our culture is facing, then they will assume it to be irrelevant. On a large part, that assumption has already been made. Read this book and help reverse that trend.”

– Jonathan Phipps,
Equipping pastor at Fellowship Bible Church, Brentwood, Tennessee

“As a pastor, I know my congregation is both beguiled and beleaguered by Western cultural realities. Neither unthinking assimilation nor unsociable rejection is a biblical option for us. The church must engage culture faithfully, but we must also be shown thoughtful ways how. I welcome any book that helps the church do this, and I am confident my friend Jonathan Morrow’s will.”

– Cole Huffman,
Senior pastor of First Evangelical Church, Memphis, Tennessee

For more about the book and some of the interviews with Christian leaders that are included, click here. Stay tuned!
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Seven Days in Utopia – A Movie You (And Your Family) Need To See

My wife and I were on a date night the other night and decided to see if anything was worth watching at the movies and we stumbled across Seven Days in Utopia starring Robert Duvall among others. It was excellent and here is why. It painted a redemptive picture that included some important truths about relationships, fears, insecurities, and identity. Some may call this movie too predictable, perhaps, but that’s not a reason not to watch something. To be sure, there need to be movies that accurately show the darker side of life (we live in a fallen world after all), but not all movies have to be dark and offer no hope. This movie offers hope, is inspiring, and has a great message. Moreover, it is rated G…Which means you can engage the whole family. This would be an ideal father / son date for kids around 8 or 9 or older (depending on maturity level). The cynic may dismiss this movie as “too cliche.” But to do so has missed the point. There are some messages that ring true for a reason and this movie found the mark. Go see it and spread the word!

Think Christianly with Jonathan Morrow
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Ross Douthat of the New York Times Corrects Ryan Lizza of The New Yorker About Francis Schaeffer

I was encouraged to come across this post by Ross Douthat (New York Times) setting some of the record straight on the swirling controversy about Michele Bachmann and Dominionism Paranoia stirred up by Ryan Lizza’s article in the New Yorker (who apparently told his fact-checker to take the day off). Here is an excerpt:

“Schaeffer’s major contribution to American public life wasn’t any sort of sinister “dominionist” master plan, but rather a much more defensible blueprint for Christian political action: He argued that Christian values were under assault in contemporary American life, that the idea of secular “neutrality” was something of a sham, and that believers had an obligation to be 1) engaged with the culture rather than bunkered against it, and 2) engaged politically on issues (abortion, especially) where fundamental moral truths were at stake. One can dislike this blueprint and disagree with its premises, but its perspective on American politics is no more illiberal than the perspective of, say, the civil rights movement. And the fact that Schaeffer influenced a prominent evangelical politician like Bachmann isn’t nearly as surprising, strange or scary as Lizza’s piece often makes it sound.”

Joe Carter of First Things offers “A Journalism Lesson for the New Yorker”
Think Christianly with Jonathan Morrow