What is the Social Gospel?

I know I am going to sound like a broken record when I say that a Christian has to use words when presenting the Gospel. Many Christians will tell me that lost people know I am a follower of Christ because the way I live my life. Many Christians think that living a faithful, devoted life to Jesus is enough for evangelizing to the lost when in reality they are promoting the Social Gospel.

What is the Social Gospel? It is when we live the gospel without declaring it. For example, helping on old lady pack her grocery sacks in her car because she was having difficulty getting them in her car. Sounds noble and very Christ-like for a Christian to do it, but it is not sharing the gospel. Here is another one: a wealthy billionaire decided to give one million dollars to help children in Africa get fresh water to drink, bath, and clean themselves. Sounds very generous, which it is, but this billionaire is not a Christian, just a generous man who wants to make a difference.

Matt Chandler, in his book, The Explicit Gospel, wrote, "Red flags should go up, for instance, when we see the phrase 'Be the gospel' or hear the unfortunately oft-repeated line, 'Preach the gospel at all times; if necessary, use words.'" When pastors use those words, it makes me wonder that Chandler described, it makes me wonder what version of the Bible are they truly reading. To honest I think some pastors say those phrases just to comfort people who are scared to share the gospel.

The Social Gospel, which really is not Gospel at all, is a dangerous one because it puts faith in the actions of people rather than confidence in the Gospel, which Paul said, "It is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes" (Romans 1:16). The Social Gospel also promotes laziness and cowardliness. The power of the Gospel is in the message itself and who the message is about, not the messenger.