Early in his career Rauschenbusch pastored a church in a New York City neighborhood known as "Hell's Kitchen." Inspired by liberal theology, and seeking to apply the teachings of Jesus to urban problems, he became active in the labor movement. While teaching at Rochester Theological Seminary in New York State, he wrote Christianity and the Social Crisis. Charging that evangelicalism made salvation too individualistic, Rauschenbusch insisted that the Kingdom of God--not just personal salvation--was the goal of faith; Jesus' Kingdom offered social salvation for social sin. Rauschenbusch perceived the ethics of the Bible--particularly of the prophets and the teachings of Jesus--to confront greed, individualism, and injustice. In his own day Rauschenbusch influenced progressive politicians such as Woodrow Wilson and later reformers including Martin Luther King, Jr.