Social service as the world knows it is big business today. In a number of countries government has become a mammoth social agency in its attempt to meet people's needs. For example, President Nixon has pointed out that in the last five years the United States government alone has spent over two hundred and fifty billion dollars on social programs but still meets with great frustration and no vast success.
We find that churches, too, are turning in increasing degree to social welfare programs in order to serve humanity. One Protestant denomination is pledged to raise twenty million dollars for this purpose within five years. Yet in spite of such efforts poverty increases, wars continue, racial tensions build, and serious crime in the United States has nearly doubled in a nine-year period. Where are we failing?
No one questions the necessity of alleviating social ills or that human footsteps must be taken. Certainly definite programs are a part of government's role. But isn't something more expected of the church? According to a poll sponsored by the National Council of Churches, the majority of American adults disapprove of church involvement in social issues. Just what degree of social involvement is permissible for a church may be debatable, but if churches become so involved in welfare programs that the spiritual basis of their service to the world is overshadowed, they are not being true to their primary mission, and the results will not be successful.
