FOUR APPROACHES TO LEADING CHANGE
It was October 27, 2018, when a local man in Pittsburgh entered the Tree Of Life Synagogue and opened fire. He killed eleven people, critically injured two, and wounded five others in the attack. The entire world was in shock as we mourned this senseless and appalling act.
Locally, spiritual leaders gathered for memorial services and prayer vigils to grieve those who died during this incredible tragedy. At that time, I had been pastoring Allison Park Church for twenty-seven years. There were many ways I had been trying to build bridges and impact my city but I wondered:
What more should I be doing to contribute to positive change in my city and in the world?
How do I do more to build bridges?
How do I do more to work for peace?
What can I do to stand against evils like racism and antisemitism?
How can we pray for and work for the coming of the Kingdom of God, which is Jesus’ vision for our broken world?
These are questions that I have been thinking deeply about for quite some time. In this series of blog posts, I am working to unpack my thinking regarding Christian spiritual leadership in a broken and polarized world.
In this, the second post of the series, I want to outline four different streams of leading change and bringing impact to the world around us. All four of these are valid. All four are necessary for genuine societal change. Knowing which stream you are in is crucial because each stream requires an approach that is well defined, with certain guardrails, and clearly defined targets in mind.
Here are the four streams of impact I have identified:
#1 - Bridge building
One of the most important activities that we can engage in is the work of bridge building and making peace. Jesus commended this activity in his greatest sermon, the sermon on the mount: “Blessed are the peacemakers for they will be called the sons (and daughters) of God.” Matthew 5:9. When we work for peace, we are acting like our Father in heaven.
Building bridges is helping people who come from different places, even potentially hostile places, learn to talk to each other. It’s an attempt to establish empathy and understanding, build common ground, host conversations that lead to greater understanding, and find ways to work for peace and for the benefit of the communities where we live.
One of the organizations that I got involved with in 2019 is the MULTI-FAITH NEIGHBORS NETWORK. The goal of MFNN is to help Imans, Rabbis, and Evangelical Pastors build friendships locally and work for religious freedom in our cities and around the world. I love the idea of “multi-faith.” It is often very different from “inter-faith.”
Multi-faith means that we work to form friendships without any compromise in what we believe, how we pray, or the way we approach our faith. There is no expectation to compromise our convictions or dumb down our doctrine. Inter-faith, however, is very different and often means trying to eliminate anything from our religious practice that might be offensive to someone else. Inter-faith is attempt to find the common ground of our beliefs and this is where we end up with reducing every worldview down to a non-inspiring vanilla kind of nothingness.
I do not agree with the concept of interfaith! However, I do believe in multi-faith activities and I can work to build bridges and work for peace with anyone. During the pandemic, Allison Park Church worked with synagogues and mosques from across our city to provide food and clothes for the Afghan Refugees who were being transferred into our city.
A few months ago, I attended the MFNN event in Washington DC. Around my table were Muslims, Mormons, Rabbis, Hindus, and those from the Bahai faith. We talked about global issues and outlined places in the world where Christians were being persecuted, Muslims were being attacked, and Jews were under assault. The vision behind MFNN is that when we work for peace, we protect each other in seasons of crisis.
It’s a beautiful idea. It is worth pursuing with all of our hearts.
#2 - Cause specific advocacy
A second stream of worthy activity is similar to the bridge building, but is more focused and specific. While we were all enduring the pandemic of 2020, I listened to an episode of the Carey Nieuwhof podcast where Carey was interviewing the now-late Tim Keller. Pastor Keller outlined one of the reasons for the polarization in our culture and described four social issues that should be vitally important to all Christ followers:
Pro-Life -We should do everything we can to value and protect life from “the womb to the tomb.”
Christian Sexuality - We should be immovable in the New Testament teaching about marriage, sexual integrity, and truth.
Poor & Marginalized - We should work tirelessly to care for those in need and to bring structural change to provide ongoing help.
Racism - We should do everything we can to stand against racism and work for the advancement of those who have been mistreated.
The challenge we face is that the first two issues tend to be RED concerns politically, and the second two tend to be BLUE concerns. But all four issues should be a concern for Biblical Christians!
To address these four social issues, it is vitally important to find organizations to partner with that can help us advance these causes consistently. For example, at Allison Park Church, we actively participate in several cause-specific ministries when it comes to being pro-life.
First, we have a small group for women who are walking through an unplanned pregnancy and, due to life circumstances, are considering an abortion. Embrace Grace is a ministry where women provide the friendship, support, and backing to make the choice for life.
Second, we support financially and with volunteers, the Women’s Choice Network. This center is a place for women to go when they discover they are pregnant so that they can know all the options available to them before making a decision about their pregnancy.
Third, we have a Treasured Kids program at our church where we support families who are choosing to foster and adopt children at risk. More than twenty-five families have stepped up to provide a home for a child.
Fourth, we partner with the Light of Life Rescue Mission in the North Side of Pittsburgh. Light of Life works to provide places to sleep, services needed, and a pathway forward for the homeless who populate our city.
Partnering with cause-specific ministries for the cause of life is one of the ways to work to make the world a better place.
For the social issue of racism, APC has participated actively in conversations about race with local cause specific ministries like Gracism, Repairs of the Breach, Charity to Change and Pittsburgh F.R.I.E.N.D.S, in an attempt to lean into being part of the solution to this incredibly important issue.
There should be an effort to be active in all four of these social issues in very practical ways!
At APC, we give toward, serve with, work for, and advocate on behalf of all four of these social issues in every way possible throughout our region and our world.
#3 - POLITICAL ACTIVISM
This third stream of activity is a bit complicated, isn’t it? Politics by its nature can be divisive and combative, especially in 2025. I do remember a day, not that long ago, when you could be a Republican or a Democrat without it being a big deal to those around you as to which party with whom you were affiliated.
Now, it’s a zero sum game for many. Some in our culture will say, “if you are a _______, I can’t be friends with you.” or ‘If you voted for _______, I cannot continue in relationship with you.” Sometimes, within the church these political divisions take on even more intense declarations. “You cannot be a true christian and vote for ________.” or ‘If you vote for ___________ you are voting for evil. And if you don’t stand for _______ you are complicit with __________.”
Based on this cultural dynamic, many christian leaders have stated that it is wrong for believers, especially spiritual leaders, to be involved in politics. But that position is probably not a realistic or truly Biblical one.
It is true that it is not our primary responsibility to represent any political party, or even any specific nation, because our primary citizenship is in heaven, and our allegiance should be first of all to the Kingdom of God. The church is designed to be the embassy of heaven on earth. We, as followers of Jesus, are supposed to be his ambassadors, representing the Kingdom’s concerns in whatever nation we find ourselves in at the moment.
However, being a “Kingdom Christian” can involve praying for, partnering with, and influencing political leaders. If you are called to some type of political activism, and you are a christian leader, you have to be aware of the manner in which you conduct yourself. There are certain tools that are used in today’s culture war that are never in the arsenal of the christian leaders' tool bag:
Shame
Anger
Fear
Violence
Cancellation
These never represent the life and hope of Jesus. Instead, we need to act in humility, boldness, grace, faith, servanthood and forgiveness. It is possible to stand for a righteous cause politically, and encourage people to participate in the political process, while remaining Christ-like in all our efforts.
#4 - CHRISTIAN AGREEMENT AND UNITY
The fourth of these streams is unique to all the others. While the other three focus on what is happening outside of the house of God, the fourth one focuses on what is happening inside of the house. Simon Peter addressed how we should operate in bringing order and correction:
For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God? 1 Peter 4:17
In all reality, my primary responsibility is to shepherd God’s flock; to oversee and serve God’s family. The other three streams are most often about impacting society at large. The unity of body, and its alignment with the leadership of Jesus is a very unique track.
How I lead when it comes to “bridge building” may impact the health and well-being of God’s house. How I engage with “cause-specific” actions may impact the health and well-being of God’s family. What I do when I engage with “political activism” will most definitely affect the unity of the church.
However, working for unity and agreement is the most important thing to the heart of God! The only organization on earth that Jesus leads is the church. As part of the Church of Jesus Christ, we represent him. He is the Head. We are his body. What we do in this space must reflect his teachings, his attitudes, and his approach. Those we link arms with in the church must be those who qualify for us to “yoke with” in Christ. Not everyone who looks like a sheep is a sheep. Not everyone who carries the title of shepherd is a true shepherd. Some are wolves.
Here is the summation:
There are many who may vote the same as I vote, who are not in any way a good representative of the Kingdom of God.
There are others who I can share a cause with and work to make society better, even though they do not have sound theology or Christlike practice.
There are some people with whom I can build bridges with, but I cannot be in agreement with, when it comes to God’s house.
So how do I protect God’s house and yet not withdraw from the other three streams of activity? Great question. We will address that in future posts.