What about the Social Gospel?
The gospel is, in some respects social. To deny that there are social implications in the teachings of Jesus and the New Testaments would be ridiculous. What then is wrong with the social gospel if the New Testament is full of teachings, which have far-reaching social implications? This question can be answered only if we can understand what it means to embrace the social gospel concept.
The Phrase: "The Social Gospel"
The term "social gospel" suggests that social conditions are a primary concern of the scriptures. This is a far different thing from the gospel which, while it includes instructions which have far reaching effects on society, has as its primary purpose the spiritual salvation of man. Jesus asked, "For what will a man be profited, if he gains the whole world,and forfeits his soul" (Matt. 16:26). It is easy to see how a little distortion can make a spiritual gospel with social by-products into a social gospel with spiritual by-products.
The "social gospel movement" is actually a phrase used by twentieth-century American historians to describes the socio-religious movement which began in the years following the Civil War and reached a climax in the years immediately preceding the First World War.
The History of the Social Gospel
After the Civil War in the 1870's and 1880's, the leaders of American society suddenly realized that they were faced with overwhelming social problems. The industrial revolution in this country had raised questions about the conduct of business, political ethics, employer-employee relationships, economic competition, and the nature of poverty and its remedy. The problems created by these questions shocked many Americans. In addition,and no less serious, were the social problems of slums, drunkenness, prostitution, organized crime, juvenile delinquency, abject poverty, and all the other problems of the sprawling, filthy cities. By the 1880's leaders in most of the vocal professions began to protest against the evils of industrial society and suggest possible solutions.
Out of this setting came the social gospel movement. Religious leaders of almost every denomination began to offer suggestions for the solution of the new America's social dilemma. Some were strongly influenced to join the movement by Darwinian philosophy, others by the rising liberal religious philosophies, others by the social teachings of Jesus, and others by a mixture of these.
For the purposes of our study, we make one broad generalization about this movement. They felt that the primary message of the gospel was social justice; and they felt that the church was obligated to do something about it. For many of the reformers, social justice became the central message of Jesus and the good of society became equal to the kingdom of God.
The Biblical principles of self-abasement and love have thousands of everyday applications both spiritual and social. A Christian teaching his neighbor the doctrine of Christ or giving the same neighbor a needed meal would be acting in harmony with Biblical principles and would be doing what he ought to do in both cases. Is one more important than the other? Certainly not! As far as the Christian is concerned--he is under obligation to be of a mind to do them both. However, as far as the fundamental design of Christianity is concerned, the spiritual act is more important. There is no doubt that there is great truth in the adage that Christian lives are great sermons, However, the fact remains that the only truly important thing occurs, as far as the neighbor is eternally concerned, when the spiritual act of teaching the gospel is done.
When we move into the area of the work and mission, it is obvious that anyone, whose attitude toward the scriptures would lead him to emphasize the social teachings of the New Testament, would downplay the spiritual teachings of Jesus and clearly would become an adherent of the social gospel.
A Kingdom Not of this World
Jesus conception of the church was clearly spiritual when he told Pilate that "His kingdom was it of this world"(John 18:36). It would be totally incongruous with this spiritual conception of the church to envision the kingdom of our Lord sapping its strength thrashing about trying to cope with the many social injustices in the kingdom of man. Problems which the church of the Lord cannot begin to solve even if it were to expend the last ounce of its energy. "For ye have the poor always with you" (Matt. 26:11).If Jesus Christ had intended for His church to solve the world problems of: poverty, delinquency, starvation, the helpless,the aged and the homeless, he would have given the church a problem to solve far beyond its ability to succeed. Indeed, the whole so-called "Christian world" has not touched the hem of the garment).
What About Benevolence?
But the question would arise: Did not the Testament church engage in benevolent work? It is true that the needs of 1st century saints were met. But this is a far cry from making the kingdom a social utopia with social objectives. We should understand, however, that there is clear scriptural authority for the physical care of the saints as the work of the church. But is the purpose behind this provision social or spiritual? Even the social provisions of the gospel which provide for the physical care of needy saints by the church have deep spiritual undertones (II Cor.8:7,8,24;9:10-14)
The Expanding Social Gospel Influence
A few years ago 207 gospel preachers
signed a letter entitled, Expression of Concern. This letter
stated, "We are deeply
disturbed over !he liberalism that is so evident in the brotherhood today. By
"liberalism " we mean especially the following items...the typical emphasis of
the denominational world on recreation, entertainment, and solving the social ills of
society has been incorporated into the thinking and programs of many congregations,
supplanting the God-given work of meeting desperate spiritual needs of those both within
and without the body of Christ"
The expansion of the social emphasis into the
spiritual kingdom is everywhere evident The social gospel concept is seen when the church
become involved in running educational institutions, entertainment and eating facilities;
boy scout troops, "cradle to the grave"
physical care, hobby shops, hospitals, etc.
There is nothing wrong with much of the preceding list as such, until they become the work of the church. Such practices have as much place of being associated with the church of the Lord as the Lord's Supper has of being observed in the Tuesday morning meeting of the local Lion's Club.
There is no doubt, for instance, that hospitality is a Christian's responsibility (Rom. 12:13; I Tim.3:2; Heb.13:2; I Tim.5: 10; 1 Pet.4:9). When it comes to what can and should be done by Christians in their homes on an individual level we have clear Bible teaching. Acts 2:46 tells of them worshiping in the Temple facility, but when it came to the common meal they were "breaking bread from house to house" and "did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart". 1 Cor.11:22,34 contains the solemn admonitions "What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in?" and,
"if any man hunger, let him eat at home". Scripture places such activities in our day to day lives and does not assign it to be the function of the church. It is our sole Christian responsibility to perform these Christian acts and not that of the church of Jesus Christ. The Use of the Social Gospel It is sometimes said by those who promote such activities that these things are done simply to implement the spiritual progress of the church. In other words, these things will draw more people to hear the gospel and will aid the church in converting people.Jesus said, "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me to draw him "(Mat 6.44). What method does God use to draw men and women to Him? The answer is found later in John 12:32. There, Jesus said, "and if I be lifted up from the earth,I will draw all men unto Me" He is simply saying that when we see the love of God made manifest through the crucifixion of His Son, we will be drawn to Him. We remember that Paul was
"not ashamed of the Gospel,for it is the power of God for salvation"(Rom. 1:16). Surely, the gospel is sufficient to convert the world and the church is sufficient to implement its spread. Throughout the Scriptures, God never used the carnal methods that many churches are using to draw the crowds.Food and fun will not draw souls to Christ. Instead, it fills the church with unconverted people whose main interest is not on spiritual matters, but physical. If any of these carnal churches let the food and games cease, then the crowds will quickly disappear, just as they did in the first century. Clearly, the early church offered the world nothing but the gospel.
The Fishes and the Loaves We must not ignore the lesson of the fishes and the leaves in John chapter 6. In this chapter, we are told how the crowds kept coming to Jesus. Jesus took a young boy's lunch and fed 5,000 men, not counting the women and children, and had twelve baskets of leftovers. Later when the crowds caught up with Him, instead of praising them, He rebuked them and said, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves and were filled." (Jno 6:26) Instead of giving the crowd what they wanted,Jesus spoke words to them that they needed to hear. He reminded them that there are some things more important than physical food. As the discussion continued, He told them that He was the Bread of Life that everyone must eat.Because He spoke some difficult words that required some thinking to understand, they began to grumble against Him. Why? How could this be? The answer is simply that they were following Him for the leaves; not because they wanted to serve God first. When Jesus offered the leaves, to the multitude, they were willing to follow Him. When He offered Himself to them, they quickly lost interest and went home. And Jesus let them walk away. He would not cheapen the call of the gospel for those who were carnally minded!
AN ANGRY JESUS.
The angriest we ever see Jesus become was over the abuse and misuse of the place that had been set aside to worship God. Jesus drove the money changers out of the temple. (Jno. 2:1;3-17). Why did Jesus do the things he did ? Was He "anti" money changer? No, He was opposed to the perversion of spiritual things at the temple. Though the Jews had not forsaken their other responsibilities of worship, it was still true that they had corrupted proper worship by making the temple a "house of merchandise": Shouldn't that passage cause us to tremble when we think of the fact that Jesus would come into places of worship among "His" churches today and find basketballs coffee pots,ping pong tables, etc.
Where will it all end?
If we embrace the social gospel, where will it all end? Moses stated of the children of Israel, "O that they were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end!" (Deut.32:29). As the people of God we must consider where seemingly innocent practices will lead us. To satisfy the demands of carnally minded people, how will we ever keep up with the world in the physical things it can offer. We must for truth's sake and the future's sake, make certain that we are not guilty of embracing the social gospel concept.
[ Introduction
- The Pattern Concept] [Lesson 1 - Defining The Church] [Lesson 2 - Authority Over The Church]
[Lesson
3 - How Scripture Authorizes (Pt. 1)] [Lesson 4 - How Scripture Authorizes (Pt. 2)] [Lesson 5 - The Universal - The Local Church]
[Lesson 6 - Church Not A Denomination]
[Lesson 7 - Timeline - Church's
Establishment] [Lesson
8 - Worship Christ Designed]
[Lesson 9 -Observing The Lord's Supper]
[Lesson 10 - Worship in Song] [Lesson 11 - Worship In Prayer]
[Lesson 12 - The All Sufficient Church]
[13 - Elders] [Lesson 14 - Deacons ] [Lesson 15 - Evangelists]
[Lesson 17
-Benevolence-According to the Pattern]
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This Page last updated: October 27, 1999