Not Neutral, But Independent

Telling the truth in the public square without falling prey to partisanship

Photo: Nathan Troester/Icon Media Group

The late Tim Keller was arguably the most influential evangelical pastor of his day. He founded Redeemer Church in New York City, started the City to City church planting network (which is now starting churches in global cities around the world), created The Gospel Coalition, and wrote multiple bestselling books relating faith to life. He wrote a church manual called Center Church that deeply influenced the way I think about ministry in a city as diverse and complex as Houston.

And he also popularized (in certain evangelical circles) a way of thinking about church/political engagement called The Third Way.

(Some caveats: To be clear, plenty of other theological tribes employed Third Way thinking prior to Keller. Keller was simply the popularizer among evangelicals with a particular theological bent. Further: I am not referring here to the attempt to synthesize center-right and center-left ideas into policy. I’m speaking about a specifically theological stance.)

The Third Way, for our purposes today, means the church approaching the government and politics without adhering exclusively to the right or the left and instead preserving a unique way for approaching issues in government. This different approach is neither right nor left but a Third Way—an attempt to embody the Kingdom values Jesus taught. (For more on this, please read my book.)

I believe that the Third Way (or Kingdom Way) is the only possible faithful path for pastors and church leaders in the public square. My reasoning is simple: If I always side with the right or always side with the left on issues, then I lose my credibility. As a pastor, my job isn’t to speak primarily about politics, but when politics and theology intersect, I want to be able to honestly and faithfully take folks to the text and help form a Scriptural response to whatever the issue at hand may be. If I hold fast to Third Way thinking, I can avoid having my policies formed primarily by pundits, but can instead have it formed (hopefully) by Jesus.

Since the Republican Party is currently in power, and since most of the folks in my theological tribe tend to be conservative, let’s talk about that particular perspective for a moment. I myself registered as a Republican when I was 18 years old.

That being said, my first calling is that of a Christian pastor, which means I have an obligation to stand up for the rights of the poor and those who do not have a voice. The Republicans in my state have refused to fully fund the public schools (despite having a constitutional obligation to do so) since 2019 while helping (predominantly wealthy) families by allowing a stipend to fund private school education. This policy decision disproportionately affects the poorest kids in my city and state. As a result, I’ve spoken out on it. This is my Christian duty.

I feel the same about Afghan Christians being forced to self-deport back to a country where they will be tortured, raped, and killed. Or about a federal budget proposal that provides tax cuts for the wealthiest citizens while cutting Medicaid. Or about our government not pressuring Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.

You get the point.

These are not stances I take because I have decided to become a dyed-in-the-wool leftist Democrat. These are stances I take because I am a Christian. I’m commanded to care for and speak up for the poor, so I do. To be clear, there are plenty of things I also criticize on the left based on my understanding of what the New Testament teaches. (For example: Refusal to place any sort of boundaries around abortion access, ignoring recent European studies on the long-term effects of gender-based medical procedures for minors, etc.) That’s what Third Way thinking requires—the ability to speak to issues on both sides. If the church is to be the “conscience of the state” as MLK famously said, then we must not feel the pressure to always defend the right nor the left. We must instead simply speak the Christian position.

As our national politics and attitude has shifted rightward since 2016, there are a growing group of pastors who argue that Christians must be completely sold out for Republicans. Echoing arguments from evangelicalism of the Jerry Falwell days of the 1980s and 1990s, they say this is a battle between good and evil, right and wrong. The only way to be faithful, they argue, is to lean hard to the right—accusations of partisanship be damned. On one hand, they have a point: There are plenty of issues of right and wrong, good and evil. We should absolutely confront those.

But what happens when the very politicians they (or we) stumped for during election season start doing things themselves that are unethical or downright evil? As you might imagine, most of those who have been the most vocal go silent on that front. That’s the problem with becoming a partisan pastor. If I cannot speak prophetically to my own party—to the politicians I voted for or preferred—then I have lost the mantle of pastor and have simply become a partisan prop.

The Third Way doesn’t prevent us from voting or supporting a candidate. Far from it. All Americans should participate in the public square. But the Third Way does demand that those of us who call ourselves Christians—particularly those of us who call ourselves pastors—tell the truth, even when it will be unpopular—even when it may cost us political favor. I must not fear losing access. I must simply speak what I believe Jesus teaches in the New Testament in a way that brings it to bear on the public square. That’s Third Way thinking.

Some have accused proponents of Third Way thinking of attempting to be neutral. Nothing could be further from the truth. Third Way thinking is not neutral in the least; it is doggedly faithful to Jesus. It is an attempt to uphold the Way of Jesus in the public square—whether or not that way “wins.” In fact, I would argue that the Third Way frees us to be more vocal, as we do not feel beholden to any particular politician or party. The Third Way is not neutral, but it is an equal opportunity offender—it will show the shortcomings of both American political parties (or the politics of wherever you may be).

For my part, I’d rather be independent, anyway. Hitching my wagon to the politically independent Way of Jesus is way more freeing than anything the traditional political realm could ever provide.

Not neutral. But independent. In Jesus’ Kingdom Way.