Thoughts on the Social Gospels

"[The Twelve apostles] went out and preached that people should repent." --Mark 6:12 (NIV) "A Social Gospel is one in which the world is made a better place from which people go to Hell." --Pastor Marty Haas Somehow I feel inadequate to fully grapple this topic. I am not as well read in this area as I wish to be... even though there seem to be ties to the Emergent Church in here somewhere. Still I heard this quote over the course of the weekend and it really stuck with me. Anyone who knows me would know I am not a fan of Rick Warren's views... The Purpose Driven Life is not exactly biblically-sound. But things have seem to have gone from Bad to Worse with Ricky's "PEACE PLAN." What is the P.E.A.C.E. plan? Well, a strategy to have every small group in Ricky's church, and then tens of thousands of small groups in other churches, become engaged in solving the five biggest problems in the world: Spiritual Lostness, Lack of Godly Leaders, Poverty, Disease, and Lack of Education. Why is this a problem? For the entire story, I would encourage the looking over this site: http://www.letusreason.org/Popteac26.htm But basically... Rick Warren wants to use the church to make the world a better place. Awww. Isn't that sweet? He's preaching a social gospel... the good news here is that Christians can be nice people and just be mushy with everyone-- no matter what their background, situation, or faith. Warren would have us all be the basic equivalent to "Barney Christians" Sickness a problem in the world? Well, let's get working on that and eliminate sickness! Poverty is a big problem... let's do something about it and end poverty by using the church as a tool! But this is an error in the Church today. For starters... if the goal is to END poverty... this can never happen and is going against what Jesus himself told us. "The poor you will always have..." (Mat 26:11). Should the body of Christ take care of the sick and needy? Yes. There should be humanitarian efforts done by the Church. However, this should not be the focus of the church. The Church's primary focus is not outreach-- it is ministry to those in the Body. In the Age of the Megachurch and her Watered-down Gospel, I know this is very unpopular. But it is true. If the Church is a gathering of believers (1 Cor 12:12-27)... what fellowship can light have with darkness? (2 Cor 6:14-16) Also... another point I found interesting that was made on that site... Warren wants to use Matthew 25 to say it is the church's responsibility to feed the hungry, clothe the needy, nurse the sick, and take care of those in priosons throughout the world. Let's look at what Jesus ACTUALLY said... "I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me" (Matthew 25:40, NIV, emphasis added). So who are "these brothers of mine"? Well, look at Mark 3:35 (NIV): "Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother." Okay... so those who do God's will are Christ's brothers... Can nobelievers do the will of God? Check out what the Psalmist said: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned waway, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one" (Psalms 14:1-3, quoted by Paul in Romans 3:10-12). So no. Wo what is Jesus commanding us in Matthew 25 to do specifically? ... to take care of fellow Christians (believers) in their times of need. Nothing more is given in this command. Yup... I dare go there... But today, we tell people to come as you are... but not that they will be transformed by Christ into something apart from the old self (2 Cor 5:17). The Gospel of Christ calls people to repentance (Mark 1:15; 16:12)... not to "make the world a better place." A goal to make this world a better place out of some humaniterian cause is arrogance. Warren and his contemporaries seem to be caught up with the notion that we (the church) must make the world think we are really COOL! Churches have more in common with Pink Floyd Lazer-Light Shows than with the Word of God... a number of bands and artists who label(ed) themselves as "Christian" now seem to have very few (if any) Christian messages within their music (ie: Switchfoot, Superchic[k], Relient K, to name a few). And we think that handing someone a sandwhich is equivilant to sharing with good news of Christ with that person... All this does is create a better looking exterior... while the inside of the person remains rotting in sin. Are we going to offer a new shirt to clean up the outside? Or go in, at the risk of being hated and unpopular (John 15:18-19), and offer them a true remidy for their sinfulness-- the truth about theh loving grace of our Lord Jesus Christ? I opt for the later. <>< Currently Listening The Eleventh Hour By Jars of Clay see related