The Christ Ideal

The question may be asked, Was Jesus a socialist? The answer depends upon what is meant by socialism. Very adverse views are held by different exponents of social philosophy. From the point of view of some, Jesus was the most radical of insurrectionists, in sympathy only with the labourer, unqualifiedly opposed to the rich.

Others deem this view entirely incorrect, and declare that Jesus was the first true individualist. Still others see a truth in both points of view, and have made much headway in the endeavour to free Christianity from salvationism and make it a social, not a personal religion.

There is a basis for all these interpretations. Jesus chose his disciples from among the common people. He mingled with those whom the wealthy despised. He condemned riches, counselling men not to seek money but to serve. He called all men brothers and sisters without regard to family ties. His teaching was based throughout on the principle of justice, equality, the servant as his master, the master as his servant. And if his doctrine were faithfully and quickly applied, it would without question involve society in the most radical revolution the world has seen.

But Jesus was as ready to help the individual, to explain the laws of the new birth, or the spiritual life, as to give counsel concerning society at large. He was a man of peace, not a law-breaker. It is a mistake to suppose that he would have favoured strikes and other external means of coercive social reform. The world cannot be coerced into righteousness. That which is sound and true comes by slow degrees, and Jesus came not to destroy, but to fulfil.

Jesus was indeed radical, but his was the radicalism of the inner life. If we believe him when he counsels men to seek first the Kingdom of God, when he declares that Kingdom to be within or invisible, and that it comes without observation, we cannot also believe those who affirm that Jesus was a social reformer, in the usual acceptance of the word.

Jesus explicitly taught that the Kingdom of God is first spiritual, then social. He condemned those who clean the outside of the cup and the dish, while the inside is full of the fruits of grasping and self-indulgence. He disbelieved in all whitewashing methods, in all external tampering and doctoring of effects. He advised men to begin at the heart of things, first to set themselves right; then the world would be righted. And above all he emphasised the great law of immanent divine activity whereby all phases of human society are carried forward to completion as rapidly as men and women are rightly adjusted within.

The social method of Jesus was thus in keeping with the law of growth everywhere exemplified in nature, the change from centre to circumference, from seed to maturity, from the simple to the complex. He took into account the conflicts, slow transformations and progressive changes which must result ere the whole lump of human unregenerateness be leavened. Therefore we may learn what his social gospel implied by close study of nature, by observation of plant and animal life, and the contemplation of our own mental development. By such a study we learn that new ideas gradually work their way from the individual to the social mind, at first combatted, then considered, finally accepted and assimilated: Jesus’s idea of the spiritual Kingdom has been working its way out among men for nearly nineteen hundred years.

Accordingly, Jesus urges his followers first to love God, then to love men. We must first seek and find as individuals, learn the divine instinct, and harmonise with the divine tendency, then broaden our lives socially. For it is not according to human laws that society is to be regenerated. It is by co- operation with divine forces. And we must first learn the law before we can obey it.

This much, then, we can say confidently, that no spiritual growth or moral reform is truly Christian which stops with the individual. Jesus did not come to make men contented in themselves, he was not a mere optimist. He was a lover of humanity, a believer in justice and freedom for all. Therefore the mere individualist, one who seeks his own good, to be free from the ills and annoyances of life, will find small comfort in the Christ world.

Society is an organism. What affects one relates to all. It is therefore my concern if another suffers. It is my duty to quicken the consciences of men to this great fact that society is an organism, one great family, and that all men should elevate their conduct to the dignity of brotherhood.

The good work can surely begin. Society is an organism already; we do not need to make it such. All men and women are in reality brothers and sisters. Simply to learn this fact, to feel compassion for those who are enslaved, is to make a beginning. And even here and now, in the present social order, one can accomplish much by inspiring the passion for brotherhood. To inspire the passion is to prepare the way for economic liberty, for cooperation instead of competition.

No occupation is so burdensome that it cannot be made an opportunity for the growth of character. No tyrant is so cruel that the oppressed may not display sweetness and love and forgiveness. No prison walls are so narrow as to exclude the Christ, no cell so dark that the light of God may not shine therein.

We must therefore choose between two ideals, the equality of the Spirit and equality of material possessions. For spiritual equality does not necessarily imply an equal distribution of material wealth. There is a diversity of gifts, and men should be free to choose that kind of external life which is most in keeping with the inner ideal.

Again, we must take into account the varying degree of receptivity of seekers after the Kingdom. Some are mere babes in the spiritual realm. Others are giants of spiritual strength. To each is given in the visible world that which corresponds to the inner state of development.

If Jesus should visit our earth again, we should hardly expect him to ally himself with existing social organisations. He would not become the exponent of any particular scheme of social reform. He would come among us as the man of peace, spreading abroad in all the land a quickening spiritual presence, a life, a love, a power, such that no man who should feel it, or really hear his words, would fail to respond by living a better life.

Therefore the true disciple of Jesus does not waste energy in the attempt to force men into line. He knows that all men will respond if approached aright, that all desired results will follow when the heart has been touched. Therefore he concentrates. Therefore he ceases to be pessimistic, and no longer assails men because of their selfishness. All his efforts are bent upon making men unselfish.