The Social Transformation Framework

The energizing component of the social transformation framework is the movement. It is launched by a catalyst who is instrumental in bringing together like-minded leaders from cornerstone organizations. These organizations supply the movement with its purpose, principles, people, and initial set of resources. Importantly, they also identify and enable levers of culture change. These levers impact, influence, and shift key aspects of culture to achieve the movement’s goals.

To illustrate how these components work together, we will use some examples from the Civil Rights Movement. See below for how this Movement would be illustrated using the Framework.

All social impact movements, whether social, political, cultural, or Kingdom-minded, pursue a common agenda of change through collective action. The Movement’s catalyst (whom we will discuss in more detail shortly) initially articulates this agenda. Other critical elements of The Movement, such as purpose, values, and guiding principles, are developed as she engages other leaders.

Generally speaking, a movement is driven by a desire to see the increased presence of an agreed-upon set of values and principles. For example, the Civil Rights Movement was primarily driven by two goals. One was to overturn the biased application of separate-but-equal public facilities, accommodations, and transportation through desegregation. The other was to ensure equal access to the ballot box.¹

A Kingdom-minded Movement is a form of collective action motivated by a Christlike love to serve people. A key purpose of a Kingdom-minded Movement is to see Kingdom values and Kingdom principles displayed in society in ways that transform it.

To advance a Kingdom-minded Movement, the key actors must possess a Transformation Mindset that values collective action by a community. Their focus is on “right conduct” rather than “right thinking.”²

Thus, a Kingdom-minded Movement not only includes believers in Christ but also what Dr. Wagner describes as people of goodwill. There is no doctrinal litmus test. Such a movement is populated by people motivated by love to engage in collective action that improves the spiritual, physical, emotional/mental, relational, and financial well-being of their community’s members.

They see themselves as the instruments of change, not just its beneficiaries. Thus, they are willing to take accountability for actions that better the lives of their fellow community members.

Given her anointing, gifts, and assignment to expand the Kingdom of God, a Kingdom-minded Movement is likely to be launched by the God-given vision of an apostle (but not necessarily so). The movement itself is apostolic in that its goal is to establish Kingdom culture. And like all apostolic endeavors, one of their roles is to ensure the message of reconciliation is delivered.

The Catalyst is the Movement’s visionary. She is instrumental in launching the Movement. In a social impact movement, she will have a strong desire to transform her society and a vision for what a transformed society would look like.

The Catalyst is not only a visionary but a gatherer. She engages like-minded leaders from other organizations to join the collective action needed to propel the Movement forward. These “cornerstone organizations” have, or have access to, the wherewithal, resources, and other means necessary to launch and sustain the movement in its early stages.

Dr. Martin Luther King is considered the primary catalyst of the Civil Rights Movement. His “I Have A Dream” speech has become the classic representation of Dr. King’s vision for American society. In pursuit of that dream, he was joined by like-minded leaders of other “cornerstone organizations” who helped to sustain the movement.³

In a Kingdom-led Movement, the catalyst is normally someone who operates in the office of the apostle and is anointed with the accompanying gifts. She has received a vision from God, consistent with her mantle and metron, for transforming society. She engages others, including those who possess one of the five grace gifts, in the launch of the Movement.

The apostle becomes a catalyst for a social impact movement when she 1) makes plain the vision of transformation based on what she has heard from the Lord and 2) gathers a group to provide counsel about launching and advancing the movement. Everything she does is rooted in a Kingdom perspective.

Because she understands that a spiritual battle accompanies social transformation efforts, she also enlists the help of an intercessory prayer team experienced in spiritual warfare. Intercession is a powerful weapon, and it serves a vital purpose. This team should not be an after-thought or an add-on. It should be considered an indispensable part of advancing the movement.⁴

The intercessory prayer team ensures that the Movement’s activities are bathed in prayer. It cultivates the presence of the Spirit of the Lord. It takes authority over “principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

The Catalyst also forms an advisory council. The advisory council includes, but is not limited to, leaders who possess one of the five grace gifts. There is safety in the multitude of counsel. Thus, an advisory council is essential. It mitigates the possibility that the Catalyst will engage in Lone Ranger-type leadership. But its primary value is to undergird the Movement’s leadership with the blessing of Spirit-filled wisdom.

The apostle who leads a social impact movement is active and influential in society. She is a recognized leader in several cultural spheres. She may lead an apostolic ministry. She is also instrumental in bringing the “local” Ekklesia into the Movement.

The apostle’s leadership includes elements of the servant-leadership model. One of her primary roles is to serve the people as they are equipped for the work of transformation.

As I mentioned earlier, Cornerstone Organizations are led by leaders who share the Catalyst’s vision. The Catalyst engages these leaders to give meaning to the Movement’s purposes and principles. Depending on how early they are involved in the launch of the Movement they may even be part of the process of articulating its vision and goals.

In addition to Dr. King’s organization, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), the Cornerstone Organizations in the Civil Rights Movement included groups such as the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), and the Congress Of Racial Equality (CORE).

These organizations are not subservient to the Catalyst. They make important contributions to a Movement in their own right.

Firstly, its leaders empower, equip, and release its people to become a significant part of the core group that launches, supports, and advances the Movement. In the Civil Rights Movement these leaders included John Lewis (SNCC) and James Farmer (CORE). They helped to ensure the members of the organizations were active participants in the movement. For instance, both men were more active in the Freedom Rides than the Movement’s catalyst, Dr. King.

Secondly, its leaders supply the Movement with values and guiding principles as well as resources. In the Civil Rights Movement, it was James Lawson, a director of CORE, rather than Dr. King, who was viewed as the architect of nonviolent protests. In addition, the NAACP was a major contributor of funds. It also successfully attracted other funders to the movement.

Thirdly, its leaders play an instrumental role in identifying and enabling levers of culture change that achieve the goals of societal transformation. One of the enablers is instilling the Transformation Mindset. It also involves more concrete actions. For example, in the Civil Rights Movement, five separate “cornerstone organizations” (SCLC, SNCC, CORE, NAACP, and the Urban League) came together to form the Voter Education Project. The activities it coordinated as part of voter registration campaigns across several states contributed to the conditions that eventually led to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

In a Kingdom-minded Movement, the leaders of the Cornerstone Organizations, including the Catalyst and her group of advisors, develop the values, principles, and transformation mindset that guide the Movement. They also provide the initial financial, technological, facility, and equipment resources that launch the Movement. They sustain the movement during its early stages.

In a Kingdom-minded Movement, most of the organizations will be Christ-centered. They come together to act as one body for the purposes of the Movement.

Another important role for the leaders is to supply the Movement with the saints (spiritually mature sons and daughters of God) who become the core group of leaders and influencers. These saints and other people of goodwill are critical to furthering the Movement’s vision.

The leaders take steps to ensure that each Saint’s participation in the Movement is aligned with their God-given calling and purpose. These saints help the Movement by, among other things, serving in their areas of expertise (e.g., planning, training, entrepreneurship, technology, etc.) and recruiting others to do the same.

In addition, the leaders of Cornerstone Organizations equip and release individuals in their organizations to engage in transformation activities in their respective spheres of culture. In doing so, they contribute to an increase in the number of Kingdom-minded leaders who possess not only the maturity and the mindset but the credibility (competence and character) to make an impact.

Examples of the influence exercised by these Kingdom-minded leaders include:

• Infusing Kingdom principles into economic models, policies, and activities, e.g., relational economy, social entrepreneurship (business/economy);
• Establishing values-based curriculum in schools (education); and
• Creating a Kingdom-centered cultural atmosphere that supports the development of strong marriages and healthy families (family).

A lever is a means of persuading or of achieving an end. The Levers Of Culture Change in a Movement are the methods and means Cornerstone Organizations use to create outcomes and circumstances that lead to the accomplishment of the Movement’s goals.

Because the goals of a movement can vary, the type of lever used by movement leaders to achieve the movement’s goals can vary. The levers of culture change depend on the type of movement and the nature of the transformation being pursued. Without endorsing any of them, some examples we have already witnessed, with varying degrees of success, include:

• Media (if we change how gay persons are portrayed on television, we can change how people think about homosexuals);
• Political activism (if more Christians become politically active, government will reflect Christian values);
• Legislative agendas (if we change the laws on abortion, there will be fewer abortions); and
• Peaceful demonstrations (if we protest gun violence, there will be fewer mass shootings).

In our example, one of the Levers Of Culture Change in the Civil Rights Movement was nonviolent direct action or nonviolent protest. For instance, to protest segregation in Birmingham, Civil Rights Leaders engaged in nonviolent actions, including Freedom Riders attempting to use bus station facilities, pastors praying on the steps of courthouses, and peaceful demonstrations on city streets. These nonviolent protests were met with violent responses from law enforcement.

The Freedom Riders were brutally beaten. Pastors were assaulted by law enforcement. Policemen turned dogs loose on protesters, and firemen turned their water hoses on protesters. The images of these events helped shape public opinion, which influenced lawmakers who eventually passed the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

We have already discussed one of the primary goals of a Kingdom-minded social transformation movement in the Introduction. As expressed by Dr. Wagner:

What Levers of Culture Change could we use within a Kingdom-minded Movement to produce such a society? Well, what levers did Jesus employ? Jesus employed levers that changed hearts and minds.

Set forth below are those levers. They can be applied to a variety of Kingdom-minded Movements.

• Love in action (see, the Good Samaritan);
• Serving others (see, Jesus washes the feet of the disciples);
• Meeting the felt needs of others (see, for an example, meeting the needs of the Least of These);
• Miracles, signs, and wonders, and other tangible demonstrations of the power of God (see, the Healing of the Blind Man Near Jericho; see, Jesus Feeds The Five Thousand);
• Displaying mercy and compassion (see, the Woman Caught in Adultery); and
• Prophetic encounters (see, the Woman at the Well).

These levers are designed to contribute to a society permeated with peace and justice and prosperity and health and righteousness and joy and harmony and love and freedom.

Perhaps one reason we have not seen an American society transformed into one that reflects Kingdom culture is that social transformation initiatives, including Kingdom-minded movements, rarely grow large enough or last long enough to make a difference.

Unfortunately, we have seen social transformation initiatives come to a premature end due to the death, retirement, or resignation (due to scandal and otherwise) of the Catalyst. This is because the leaders of the initiative did not establish the most important element of a strong foundation, a committed group of people.

A Catalyst whose behaviors reflect the mindset of a servant leader is more likely to be surrounded by and supported by a committed group of people. A servant leader does not ask people to relinquish their vision to support her vision; instead, she asks people to align their vision, if possible, with the vision of the social transformation initiative.

Thus, a successful transformation initiative includes many servant leaders who share a common mindset as well as values and principles. This dynamic contributes to the sustainability of transformation because it does not rise or fall with any single leader or even a set of leaders.

To develop a committed group of leaders, Catalysts must take the time to:

• Gain buy-in from key leaders and other influential people to the vision, the mission, the values, and the guiding principles of the initiative;
• Gain buy-in for the development and the expected outcomes of transformation initiatives;
• Achieve consensus on how to achieve transformation;
• Instill within the people a Transformation Mindset as well as the Movement’s values and principles (they must be role models for that which they are bringing to pass); and
• Equip the equippers and train the trainers.

Moreover, a Kingdom-minded, values-driven movement can increase its sustainability. For instance, to a certain extent, the goals of the Civil Rights Movement were based on particular outcomes, i.e., the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. These legislative acts eliminated or mitigated hot-button issues that gave the Civil Rights Movement much of its momentum.

A Kingdom-minded movement may have goals, but its goals are not based on achieving a particular outcome. For instance, one goal of such a movement is to increase the demonstration of Kingdom values and principles in society. The successful elimination of a hot-button issue would not cripple a movement based on an increase in the display of values.

Another way to increase the chances of sustainable social transformation is to use a consensus-driven process to develop (and then adhere to) guiding principles that focus not only on sustainability but also on accountability, responsibility, unity, and legacy.

These guiding principles, along with a committed group, will significantly increase the likelihood of a sustainable transformation.

Sustainable transformation is one of the desired outcomes of a Kingdom-minded movement. Sustainability is a desired outcome for any Kingdom-minded initiative. The likelihood of success and sustainability for any initiative launched by Kingdom-minded leaders depends on the leadership they exercise and the builders, building blocks, templates and tools that support them.