Was Jesus A Communist ?

I was sitting in the back row at church. During the sermon I discussed with a friend, an older friend. I forget what were our talks about, some that I can recall was that he was a member of GMNI (Gerakan Mahasiswa Nasional Indonesia) back at his college years. In case you never heard of this group, this group is noted for its leftish perspective of economics ideal. And by that talks I drew the conclusion that his stance had not been changed at the moment. I asked, “Isnt communism already dead? You know Russian perestroika and stuff? “.

He did make some argumen to back up his stance. And one of those, lies on Acts 4 verse 32 :

And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.

He read that verse softly, since it was sermon, and by the end he told me convincingly, “Mari Pak, kita bergabung bersama masyarakat komunal !”.

I laughed a bit loud realizing that someone had just convinced me communism with bible verse. What an irony!

The problem is anyone with any types of idealism could easily pick particular verse to back up his conviction. Cherry-picking bible verse, you might justify inquisition by catholics in the dark ages, marxism, merchantilism, capitalism, anything! Even white supremacist acts.

Besides, religious scriptures need interpretation. And that intepretation is influenced by pre-existed conviction within the interpreter.