A friend in need,
I will try to clarify. I am not a member of the SA. However, in all fairness to them I would like to cite their mission statement: "The Salvation Army, an International movement, is an evangelical part of the universal Christian church. Its message is based on the Bible. Its ministry is motivated by the love of God. Its mission is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and to meet human need in His name without discrimination." Seems to me that they incorporate both the spiritual and the physical.
Now, in the info Blondie provided was a paragraph from the Watchtower 87 1/15, page 7: "It is undeniable that the missionaries of Christendom have made many converts by the social services they provide. But because such works are directed mainly at satisfying the people's material needs rather than their spiritual ones, these missionaries have not been successful in making real disciples of Jesus Christ (Mt. 7:22,23; 28:19-20). More importantly, they have not been able to point out any permanent solution to the social ills they are trying to overcome." Is this not criticism? True, not by you, but nevertheless by Jehovah's Witnesses. How can the Watchtower Society be so judgmental in claiming that Christendom's converts are not really disciples of Jesus? And although JWs may point to Armageddon and Christ's rule on earth as a future panacea to ending social ills, how and what are they doing better than the churches now to alleviate the same?
Do not JWs feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, visit the sick, welcome the stranger, visit those in prison, etc. (at least among their own)? Does that mean that they don't satisfy the spiritual needs of their own? Why then, claim that those who do the same for anyone (not only those within their fold), somehow are not putting the spiritual needs of those they serve, above the physical? Do you think that most churches who conduct social services do not also evangelize, conduct Bible studies, hold services and prayer meetings, yes, sometimes in a room adjoining the dining area? I continue to maintain that one can feed both soul and body.
As to James 1:26-27, if taking care of widows and orphans within the congregation is considered a form of worship, than how is it not worship if done outside the congregation? Would you not say that meeting needs is considered by James, at least in these instances, spiritual? And who continued this work before the Watchtower Society came into existence in the latter 1800s? The same could be said about Matt. 25 as well. Did Jesus have no "brothers" needing attention for centuries?