When I was a boy of eight or so I watched in fascination as a butterfly struggled to emerge from its chrysalis. Having a somewhat tender spirit, I decided to help. It died. A butterfly needs the struggle in order for its wings to develop properly.

I hate seeing people in pain in all its forms. In the Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:30-37) a Samaritan helps a man who has been robbed and beaten by thieves. Jesus tells the story and then says, “Go and do the same.”

So why was it wrong for me to help the butterfly, but right for the Samaritan to help the beaten man? The answer is simple. The beaten man was helpless. He was going to die without help. The butterfly was not helpless and needed the struggle in order to survive. Sometimes, as much as we may want to fix other people’s problems, it is better to allow the struggle. If we intervene, their “wings” won’t develop properly.

Mothers know that they cannot spoon feed their children forever. At a certain point a mother hands the spoon to her child. The child initially makes a mess of it, with more food wasted than ingested. But all the while the child develops hand-eye coordination. A child also needs to discover the pride of accomplishment. I well remember that feeling when I first learned to ride a bicycle. It was a struggle, wrought with several painful crashes, but eventually I mastered the skill, partly because I didn’t enjoy the crashes.

The great cancer of Socialism is in its attempt to spare people the pain of struggle. In its zeal to relieve suffering, it discourages individual achievement. In exchange for votes, the ruling elites promise to spoon feed their constituents forever. The inevitable result is mind-dulled, lackadaisical sheeple. People cease to think or do for themselves. They experience neither the sting of defeat, nor the thrill of victory. Boredom sets in, the ideal breeding ground for alcoholism, drugs, promiscuous sex, and crime. Fathers become prone to quit their jobs and abandon their families because “Big Brother” will take care of them. “Big Brother” is more than willing to fill the void, from which the elites derive their power.  The loss of individual freedom is the price. All Socialist experiments are doomed from the start to create poverty, squalor, and shriveled souls. It just takes longer in cultures that have formerly known a strong biblical foundation, such as America.

I believe in Christian tempered free market capitalism, not because it is a perfect system, but because it is superior to all the alternatives. Free market systems breed dynamic, self-reliant individuals and societies. Quality of work increases and prices decrease because people are compelled to create the best products at the lowest prices. Prospective, savvy buyers demand nothing less. The resultant wealth that is created allows for the compassionate care of those who, like the beaten man in Jesus’ parable, are temporarily unable to care for themselves.

Christian compassion extends to those who would if they could, but they can’t. It allows natural consequences to care for those who could if they would, but they won’t.

“If anyone will not work, neither let him eat.”  2 Thessalonians 3:10b

“A worker’s appetite works for him, for his hunger urges him on.”  Proverbs 16:26