The Social Gospel

The Social Gospel

 

In the late 19^th century, many Christians in the United States and Canada were upset and concerned by the poverty level and the low quality of living that people endured in their neighborhood slums.  The social gospel movement began in the Protestant Church.  It started with hopes that public health measures and new laws enforcing schooling for children could make a difference.  That the poor could develop skills and improve the quality of their lives. 

 

Workers a century ago were working 12- hour days, six days a week often in factories where safety was not a concern.  Many children were also forced to work long hours.  Liberal Christians in the social gospel movement worked to outlaw child labor. A Baptist pastor, Walter Rauschenbusch, railed against the selfishness of capitalism and promoted a form of Christian Socialism that supported the creation of labor unions.  And Washington Gladden, another American pastor, spoke up for workers and their right to organize labor unions.  Many employers and wealthy owners of large corporations and businesses were outraged. 

 

While many liberal mainline Christian churches in the United States became involved by starting orphanages and hospitals and free clinics for the poor. And they provided food and shelter for the homeless, other Christian churches refused to preach about social problems.  Dwight L. Moody, a prominent conservative Evangelical minister of that day rejected the social gospel ministry claiming that helping the poor distracted people from the life-saving message of the Gospel. He held revival meetings and many people were brought to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  Dr. Moody was effective in influencing the middle class against safety nets for the poor. 

 

Walter Rauschenbusch, a Baptist minister, wrote several books stating that the Protestant church preaches to the individual and calls him or her to repent of sin.  But none of the churches shed light on the sinfulness of institutions and monopolies that oppressed their workers.  Many Christian reformers were inspired by these ideas and the social gospel movement began to grow. 

 

The AFL (American Federation of Labor) was a pro-Christian group that preached unionization with much enthusiasm.  They worked tirelessly to improve the day-to-day life of the American worker.  This movement was countered in Philadelphia by Christians bringing in Billy Sunday, a famous conservative preacher, to preach against labor unions.  Billy Sunday believed “that the organized labor shops destroyed individual freedom.” 

 

Many of the mainline churches in the U.S. began programs for social reform. Settlement houses sprung up offering services such as daycare, education, women’s suffrage, and health care to needy people in slum neighborhoods.  The Y.M.C.A. and the Salvation Army were started because liberal Christians believed that God was calling them to meet the needs of the least and the lost. But many churches opposed these actions and called them “Godless” communism or socialism.

 

Many of the churches that were deeply involved in the social gospel movement were also liberal theologically.  Many of them did not believe that all of the stories in the Bible were actually true. And of course many churches that were less interested in the social gospel movement were more conservative theologically and believed and still believe that the Bible is God’s Word.  And these differences can still be observed today. 

 

Franklin D. Roosevelt, U.S. president from 1932 to 1945, was an Episcopalian Christian who claimed that his main purpose as president was to help make life better for the average man, woman and child.  And he believed that God had called him to do this work.  He made the federal government a powerful instrument of social justice and equality.  His New Deal recognized rights never before granted to African American. 

 

Roosevelt passed the first national minimum wage and he restricted child labor.  With the Social Security Act, he gave Americans security in old age.  His unemployment insurance gave those who lost their jobs help until they found new employment.  His Glass-Steagall Act created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and provided federal protection for Americans who have savings accounts.

 

 He set up the Securities and Exchange Commission to regulate Wall Street.  And he gave veterans the G.I. Bill to guarantee war veterans a way to go to college.  Millions of Americans were able to go to college and this may have created the American middle class. The Rural Electrification Act gave lights and heat to rural America.  And the Tennessee Valley Authority helped bring prosperity to rural areas in seven states through flood control and electricity.  The conservatives opposed Roosevelt’s work but the liberals believed that he was one of our greatest presidents.

 

I believe that we can believe the Bible to be God’s Word and also believe in the social gospel. I think those two things go together. When Jesus taught us the Lord’s Prayer, He taught us to pray “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:9-13)   When we try to relieve hunger and homelessness, or stop slavery or unfair practices, it would seem that we are doing God’s will in making our world a little more like His kingdom. 

 

After Jesus died and rose from the dead He spent some time with His disciples.  One day while they were all together Jesus stopped to have a conversation with Peter. Three times Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him.  And three times Peter insisted that he did love Jesus. And then three times Jesus asked Peter to “Feed My sheep”.  (John 21:15-17)

 

It seemed that Jesus was saying that Peter could show his love for Him by feeding His sheep.  And I believe that we can do that too.  We can show our love for our Savior by feeding the hungry and by giving to the poor.  Jesus tells us that: “Whatever you do for one of the least of these, my brothers, you do for Me…” (Matthew 25:40)