Social Security is not social, nor secure. It’s not working, because it’s not aligned with God’s design. We were created as social creatures, with the innate need and desire to care for one another. But social security is not a voluntary system, so it denies humans the freedom that God intended for them to have.

Widows and Orphans
James 1:27 says, “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction.” It mentions those two groups because they didn’t own land. In the agrarian economy of the first century, if you didn’t own land, you couldn’t supply your own needs. Someone had to do it for you. And, that “someone” was the church, which is made up of neighbors and friends of those widows and orphans.
On August 14, 1935, Congress decided the federal government should take over that role, and social security was born. But here’s the problem: The government has no money. It must take before it can give. So it violates the eighth commandment, against stealing. The church, however, can give without taking.
Abraham Kuyper called this idea Sphere Sovereignty. In Biblical directives, the first supplier of needs for the poor was supposed to be the family, then the church. If a breadwinner died, it was his brother’s responsibility to take care of the destitute family. It’s clearly a violation of Biblical principles for the poor to be cared for by the government. And, as I’ll point out later, the program has grown well beyond caring only for the poor.
The government should punish evil but not do good. The church should do good but not punish evil. Those statements by my fellow Christian Economist Art Lindsley make a clear assignment of God’s missions for the church and the government. But, government just can’t keep it’s hands out of the cookie jar. We really should expect that, shouldn’t we? We know government officials are fallen, so some means of control is necessary. In the first 48 years of the program, they were controlled by keeping social security separate. Then, in 1983, Congress was looking for sources of revenue and spotted the Social Security trust fund. They put their hand in the cookie jar, by borrowing against it.
Here's at least two problems with social security: It’s not social, and it’s not secure.

It's not Social
What’s social about forcing people to give up their hard-earned money, so congress can re-distribute it to someone else? I particularly feel sorry for the 20-year-olds in my class at Dallas Baptist University. They are going to pay for MY social security, yet, they will not get any of their money back. As I was explaining to them, just this week, that’s why we like markets, because they are voluntary. Social security is forced. And, if you want a general trend, it is that the Bible favors voluntary exchanges, not forced extractions from unwilling people.

It’s not Secure
Travis Nix authored an article in the Wall Street Journal recently titled Higher Taxes Won’t Save Social Security.
He points out that “The Social Security administration forecasts that without benefit cuts or structural reforms, the entitlement program will run out of money in 2035.” I cited a Congressional Budget office data recently that pegs the year at 2033.
Social Security is currently funded through payroll taxes paid by both the employer and employee at 6.2% each for the first $162,000 earned.