The Social Gospel

The Social Gospel according to Walter Rauschenbush (Social Gospel, 1900), paraphrased by me:.

All of Jesus' thinking and teaching centered on his hope for the kingdom of God.  We can understand his moral teaching only if we have that same center.  He wasn't a Greek philosopher or Hindu guru who taught how to withdraw from the world in order to obtain a personally elevated understanding of oneself.  He was a Hebrew prophet trying to prepare humankind for the coming righteous social order by attempting to teach us a goodness that would enable us to live in positive, just, synergistic relationships with one another, so we could become a truly social society.

All human goodness must embody itself in social goodness.  Fundamentally, people want to be in relationship with each other; we are drawn to social relationships.  We judge someone's morality by how they relate to and are active in the community.  A social person is moral; an anti-social person is immoral.  The highest type of goodness is a goodness offered by individuals who use all their gifts, without holding back, for the benefit of the community.  The worst type of badness is when a person uses the wealth, happiness and moral excellence of the community for selfish reasons.

All of Jesus' ethics were based on love, because love is the key to any society.  All human life originates in love.  Love holds together the family, the core human social group.  The expression of all love and friendship is the desire to get together and be together.  Love creates fellowship.

Pride disrupts society.  Love equalizes.  Humility becomes just a part of the community.  When Jesus heard his disciples arguing about which of them was most important, he rebuked them and brought a child in; because a child, before he or she has been influenced by the world, is social, quickly makes friends, happily plays with others, and is lonely without love.  When Jesus again heard the disciples arguing about where they would sit during their last meal together, he set the example of servanthood and community by washing their feet.

All of these acts and sayings reflect both the kingdom of God and God's intention for the ideal society.  Instead of society resting on coercion, exploitation and inequality, Jesus attempted to show us a what society could be if it were based on love, service and equality.  Love, service and equality were the core of Jesus' character and his view of life, so much so that he lived them out spontaneously and by example, through his speech and actions, teaching them to everyone.  God is the head of the household; men and women are neighbors, brothers and sisters, and all should act accordingly.  If humankind would simply love, all life would be true and good.  If humankind would simply seek the kingdom, all things would follow.  Under no circumstances should we allow fellowship to be permanently disrupted.  If individuals or a class or group found themselves outside the community, Jesus tried to heal the breach.