Christ or Communism?

Each modern Western democracy fares better or worse at a given time depending on the place God’s wisdom holds in the hearts and minds of its voters. To the extent that the electorate is ungodly, the corrupt and godless officials they choose become a self-teaching lesson and even a self-inflicted punishment. The form of government may not be inherently flawed, but no system can thrive without embracing God’s wisdom.

Communism is different. Founded explicitly on a rejection of God’s sovereignty, the system is not only inherently flawed but also inherently evil, as VOM founder Richard Wurmbrand pointed out so well throughout his life and ministry.

We should all call out the ungodly greed so prevalent among some in our culture, but the fact that so many imagine Marxist-secularist ideology to be a viable corrective is dangerous. The answer to the sin of selfishness is repentance and faith in Christ Jesus our Lord, rather than the false hopes of Marxism or other totalitarian schemes.

We can observe the continued rise of Marxist ideology around the world, and its influence is even more widespread than is readily seen. For example, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is advancing the ideology quietly, patiently and with great effect. As China’s business interests continue to take root and grow around the world, so does its ideological influence. The CCP runs a comprehensively intrusive surveillance state, using more than 700 million facial recognition cameras to track its citizens and assign them social index scores based on party loyalty. Leaders in government, business and academia in nearly every nation now have powerful economic incentives to avoid offending the CCP and are rewarded for advancing its influence.

When we discuss Communism’s insidious spread, we should also be sure to describe how it can be — and has been — defeated. In 1994, Richard Wurmbrand celebrated the fact that Ethiopian Christians, inspired by the testimony of persecuted Christians who had suffered behind the Iron Curtain, were seeing a tremendous revival in their land. This occurred following the nation’s 1991 rejection of Mengistu Haile Mariam, a Communist-inspired dictator who had seized control of the country in a 1974 coup and imprisoned thousands of Christians, including a VOM field leader.

Genuine revival among Ethiopia’s Christians led to Communism’s defeat in their country, but in neighbouring Eritrea, a Communist-inspired dictatorship took hold in 1993. Today, Eritrea remains one of the least free nations in the world and a brutal persecutor of Christians. Depending on whether we learn from history’s examples, Western nations will ultimately experience Christ’s freedom or Communism’s chains. Scripture, history and today’s persecuted Christians bear witness that ultimately only Christ, enthroned in the hearts of our people, can make and keep our nations free.

Subscribe to our newsletter to learn more about persecuted countries and communism here.