The problem is sin in every form, Sir. The duty of a true preacher of the gospel will focus on getting people (of any melanin amount) into eternity by teaching repentance of sin and accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior (John 3).
Revelation 5:9
“And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation...”
Galatians 3:28
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.”
AMEN!!!!!
This is the real problem. If you attend a church that preaches a social gospel, you are receiving “spiritual food” that does not nourish the soul. It is, in effect, spiritual junk food.
The two great commandments (as preached by Christ) are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and to love your neighbor as yourself. The order is important. Loving God apart from His own divine intervention (apart from His in-dwelling Spirit) is impossible. Loving God is seeking Him by a sincere faith (”If you seek Me with all your heart, you will find Me”). It is the prostration of one’s soul before an absolutely holy, righteous, just, perfect God and realizing, like the prophet of old “woe is me, for I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips,” and then receiving His mercy (withholding of divine judgment for sin) and His grace (unmerited favor that enables one to walk in faith). Loving God is, a personal dedication and devotion to His perfect will. This means sin consciousness, sin avoidance and seeking cleansing for when one falls (Be ye holy, for I am holy).
The second commandment, loving your neighbor as yourself, is the focus of a social gospel message. It may carry a reminder of the first commandment, but the focus is on the second. It is an attempt to clean up the mess on earth by identifying and drawing attention to its social ills. Sounds good, but it cannot succeed (”apart from Me, you can do nothing”). While it is true that Christ came to “speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves”, He never came to serve groups, mobs, classes, whole swaths of society. And He never came to fix society. He came to seek and fix individuals (”My kingdom is not of this world”). He builds His church one saved sinner at a time. He never came to change society, but to rescue those who, by “virtue” of their sinful nature, were part and parcel of a fallen people who make up society. By seeking to carry out a “social gospel” without there being an emphasis on godliness (God-likeness) which means the removal of personal sin (so that those sinners might come to God by faith for salvation) there will be no long lasting impact - you haven’t been the vessel of change of the sinner that Christ commanded “go ye into all the world and preach the gospel,” You are, in effect, acting contrary to His purposes (and what did He tell Peter when he tried to do that? - “Get ye behind Me, Satan. You are an offense to Me; for you mind not the things of God, but those that be of men”) The true gospel is not about changing society, but about changing sinners.
Excellent reply.