“The strong must stand with the weak and defend their cause.” That is Walter Rauschenbusch’s third of Jesus’s social principles in The Social Principles of Jesus. If you are reading it with me, feel free to comment. If not, feel free to ask a question. In any case, observe the rules stated at the end here.
According to Baptist theologian Rauschenbusch, Jesus had a social platform or program. It was what liberation theologians have labeled “the preferential option for the poor.” That is a two-sided coin. God has a preferential option for the poor and the church, Christians, ought also to have a preferential option for the poor.
In this third chapter Rauschenbusch, anticipating liberation theology a half-century before, argues that Jesus sided with the weak, the poor, the outcasts of society, and so should Christians. “The strong can take care of themselves.”
I agree wholly with Rauschenbusch. True Christianity is about two things—glorifying God and serving the needy, in the context of belief that Jesus Christ is the human and divine model of humanity.
Stephen King says his book The Stand is about “dark Christianity.” It’s not immediately obvious to the non-discerning reader why. To the reader who reads “between the lines,” however, it’s clear. Many Christians flock to the side of “the dark man” because he promises to protect them and has the power. But he is evil and they are blind to that. How often that has happened throughout Christian history.
If Jesus came to any American city, where would he go to church? To the church of the wealthy and powerful? Or to the church of the poor and weak? The answer should be obvious, unless it is only to stand in the door and call the wealthy and powerful to turn and follow him.
I once preached at Waco’s Church Under the Bridge. It meets (or then met) under a long overpass of I-35 halfway between Dallas-Fort Worth and Austin the heart of Waco. It’s dirty, messy, loud and open. Open to anyone. God is worshiped and the gospel is preached and food is served. The organization that operates Church Under the Bridge, Mission Waco, is devoted to the poor of the city. Nearby, however, is another church, Crossties Ecumenical Ministry, that meets in an old, run-down house in the heart of the poorest neighborhood in Waco, one of the poorest in Texas. Crossties operates The Gospel Cafe, feeding hundreds of hungry bodies without charge every week. But more, the women who lead it are devoted to defending the poor in a cultural and political context where they are looked down on and even persecuted. To anyone who will listen they tell horror stories about the ways in which the legal system is stacked against the poor.
Rauschenbusch argues that Jesus sided with the weak, including the poor. Not as a revolutionary but in solidarity with them. Seeking their spiritual and physical restoration. If the contemporary Western churches did the same, Christianity’s reputation would not be struggling—except among those infected with Social Darwinism.
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