What is a "social gospel" and should Christians be involved in social justice?

For a Christian perspective on this, we need to look to Jesus, who lived in one of history's most corrupt societies. Jesus never issued any call for political change, not even by peaceful means. He did not come to earth to be a political or social reformer. The gospel Jesus preached did not have to do with social reform or social justice or political change. Rather than attempt to change governments and institutions, who are made up of people, Jesus came to change people's hearts and point them to God's kingdom. He preached the saving power of the gospel and the transforming work of the Holy Spirit.

Yes, Jesus showed deep compassion for the poor, the sick, the dispossessed and the outcasts of society. He healed them, but before taking care of the physical or emotional need, he first took care of their spiritual need. Paul explained the Christian view in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5: "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ."

Social justice is based on the concepts of human rights and equality. The Bible supports social justice with regard to the plight of the poor and the afflicted, orphans and widows and to people unable to support themselves. The nation of Israel was commanded by God to care for the less fortunate in society. Jesus told us to care for those who are hungry and thirsty, who are sick or in prison, the outcasts of society (Matthew 25:34-40).

Jesus reflected God's sense of justice by bringing the gospel message to the lower rungs of society. The wealthy also needed to hear the gospel message but it is noteworthy that the well-to-do, the upstanding and respected members of society are less likely to see their utter spiritual bankruptcy before God and embrace the message of the gospel.

Christians are under a personal obligation to love their neighbour as they love themselves (Matthew 22:39). We have a responsibility to be good stewards of our own wealth because all wealth comes from God. Christians can give to charities or organisations they want to support. Christians should take a God-centred approach to social justice, not a man-centred approach to social justice. We see Christ Jesus as our Saviour. When he returns, he will restore justice. In the meantime, Christians are to express God's love and justice by showing kindness in practical ways to those less fortunate.

P.S. There is also a movement called Liberation Theology that started out in South America. It is based on Marxist ideals and revolutionary causes and was criticised in the 1980's by the Catholic Church. Liberation Theology has now moved from the poor peasants in South America to the poor blacks in North America and is known as Black Liberation Theology. Check out the links below.

The social gospel is the working out of the gospel message at the social level, i.e. in how we live as a community. They may not use the term "social gospel" but pretty well all Christian traditions agree that the gospel calls us collectively as well as individually, and that there should be a collective as well as an individual response to it.

This is completely mainstream. It's the Christians who deny this who are at the margins.

Social gospel? If Christians believe in what Jesus (NOT St. Paul) said, then it was all about social justice. Peace, tolerance, non-discriminatory, forgiveness.

I've never met a 'true' Christian. Even my father, an Anglican priest did not say he was a Christian. He said he tried every day to be more Christian.

Social Gospel is the idea that Christianity should place more emphasis on social issues instead of preaching about salvation, death, heaven, hell, etc.

It is the product ot intellectual Christians partly....

It doesn't work....look around.

A good example of a social gospel is found in Liberation Theology. It is rooted in a view of Christ derived from Marx's principle that we come to know reality only insofar as we come to realise the necessity of transforming it. This leads to knowing Christ only as we get involved in implementing his programme, which, in South America, is taken to mean entering into the struggle for liberation. It becomes a battle against exploitation and capitalistic development.

The exodus of enslaved Israel from Egypt is taken to be its theological basis which turns into a reason for political liberation in today's world. As its advocate Jon Sobrino states about Jesus' most fundamental gesture: "is taking sides with human beings in a concrete situation where the existing politico-religious structure has dehumanised people. It has turned those with power into brutes, while alienating and oppressing everyone else." This has become a preoccupation because in Liberation Theology whatever is unrelated to liberation is ignored and the emphasis falls, instead, on those elements in the life and teaching of Jesus which might serve as examples and ways of liberation today.

The problem with this type of social activism is that the emphasis on the historical Jesus can lead to effectively dismissing the Jesus of faith. Liberation Theology claims that those who focus on the Christ of faith turn Christian faith into religion. This leads to a strange warning against belief in the resurrection of Christ (even though that was a historical fact). Sobrino claims that the event of the resurrection is "what makes it possible for Christian faith to stop being Christian and turn into a version of religion. I want to show historically that the most radical temptation facing Christianity is the temptation to focus one-sidedly on the risen Christ, and that the way to overcome the temptation is to go back once again to the historical Jesus."

Yet Liberation Theology is to be applauded regarding its bias towards the poor. Jesus' mission was to preach good news to the poor, to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and to release the oppressed (Isaiah & Luke 4:18). Jesus warned that at the last judgement men's destinies would depend on their attitudes to the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, the sick and the imprisoned (Mat. 25:35 onwards). Jesus' activities sometimes linked him with the Zealots, the advocates of violent Jewish revolution (Acts 5:33 onwards). But Jesus never endorsed the Zealots or any other political party of his day. He publicly confronted all the major power-blocs in Jewish society and refused to sanction the narrow nationalism of the Zealots, said Caesar was due his tribute, Herod was a fox, tax-gatherers were like the heathen, and so on. Liberation Theology is also right to insist that sin is not merely a matter of individual action but also of social structures, some of which must be opposed.

It is Jesus' teaching on the kingdom of God not being of this world, or like it at all, that shows Christians the right balance, however. We do what we can for the poor and the social outcasts, where we are, according to our means - but we also show them that liberation comes by being born again, from above, because the risen, glorified Christ has promised to indwell all who come to him in faith. He never turns away anyone who comes to him. The Christian gospel is both social and spiritual. But getting the balance right has always been incredibly difficult to achieve. Jesus got it right by being perfectly attuned to God's will for him on earth. We must seek God's will for how we are to live, work and witness in a sinful world.

Even those who have become church members and have been baptized show little change in their outlook. Many of them still cling to their former beliefs or practices, often with the approval, if not also the blessing, of their church. In China, for example, Roman Catholics are allowed to continue their ancestor worship, although this is forbidden elsewhere. Plaques beseeching the blessing of the door god are often seen around doorways of “Christian” homes. And in Okinawa, animal depictions of native gods are put on roof corners to protect the family.

What about those who have benefited from the church programs? In their newfound financial and material security, it is not uncommon to hear them say that the answer to today’s problems is to rely on oneself. The result is that many of them have either totally separated themselves from any church involvement or, at best, kept themselves at a respectable distance.

Missionaries of the churches have had many fine opportunities to instruct the people in what the Bible teaches. But rather than teaching them to follow Jesus’ admonition to “keep on, then, seeking first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these other things will be added to you,” they have placed the emphasis on the “other things.” (Matthew 6:33) Through their social programs, they have done much to help people physically, medically, and educationally, but the benefits are primarily of a temporal kind. Without providing a spiritual outlook, frequently such programs only become an incentive to strive for more temporal, or worldly, advantages.

The churches set out to preach the gospel. But what has resulted, in many instances, is the promotion of the Western, materialistic way of life. Yes, they have gained many converts. But as we have seen, many of these have turned out to be more worldly and materially inclined than ever. In Jesus’ day, he said of religious leaders: “You traverse sea and dry land to make one proselyte, and when he becomes one you make him a subject for Gehenna twice as much so as yourselves.” (Matthew 23:15) In this sense, Christendom’s effort in preaching the gospel through social means has backfired. It has fallen far short of the great commission given by Jesus Christ: “Go therefore and make disciples of people of all the nations, . . . teaching them to observe all the things I have commanded you.”—Matthew 28:19, 20.