The idea of Social Gospel, in my opinion, is the application of Christian principles to reform society. This concept is displayed through Book One of March through John Lewis. Lewis grew up preaching as a minister, and wished to display his religious principles to better society through taking action, rather than learning about the history, which inevitably served as a huge stepping stone into the role he played: a civil rights activist.

Although I’m not particularly religious, the concept of Social Gospel applies to my everyday life through the implementation of a set of morals. From random acts of kindness to important decisions, every action I take is ran through my set of morals, which acts as a filter. The “filter” helps shape the outcome, such as how it will affect the receiving end of my decision, or who will walk away happier. This is important to me, as spreading happiness serves as a moral itself. I try to apply these morals to everything in my life, simply to better myself and everyone around me. Each decision I make reforms society in the smallest way possible, even if it’s as simple as making a single person happy.

In today’s society, I feel that Social Gospel is displayed through politics. Although this is a stretch, the political parties each serves as their own fundamental principles to reform their image of a perfect society. For example, the Republican party can serve as someone’s personal Social Gospel through their beliefs on abortion. On the other side, the Democratic party can serve as someone else’s personal Social Gospel through their support of LGBTQ+ rights.

The concept of Social Gospel can be applied to anything, as the definition is what you make it. Each person has their own variation of it, and how they apply it to their lives is completely up to them.