Maybe–if our default behavior is to try to change others before accepting them…

I think we all naturally gravitate towards engineering things in our favor, whether we’re conscious of it or not. It’s part of our broken, fallen nature seeking safety and self-preservation, and is not something we can escape. When we give in to this need for self exaltation, and organize others around our cause, then we recognize it as the warped type of social engineering you describe, where the goal is uniformity, not unity — promoting our own agenda, rather than participating in God’s mission.

The key to me is being aware of this, and humbly submitting ourselves together to become the community that God wants us to be. This involves dragging our own thoughts, feelings, convictions, biases, etc., into the light — sharing them with each other — airing them out — arguing if need be. And realizing that none of us has “the answer” in our back pocket. We all have limited perspectives at best, and we all need illumination from our Heavenly Father, the Waymaker, to show us the way forward.

This involves trust — trusting that God really does want to guide us and show us the way if we ask. It also involves trusting our Father’s heart, even when the path runs through the desert, is obscured, dark, or full of stumbling blocks. Because God’s purpose for the path often has more to do with the process — growing our faith, making us more dependent on him, and more loving/forgiving towards ourselves and each other — than the actual destination.

The question for me then is not whether we should try to engineer or not, but who’s agenda we’re advancing, consciously or unconsciously — each day — today — in this moment…

I have a different view of that. I think when your first perspective of who you are is that of a Sinful, fallen person you are more than likely to act that way. Its very similar to a the psychology of sport. To be a great athlete they have you focus on what you do right, rather than what you do wrong. For the most part Christians are focused on another world, so tell me how are they going to make this one better if thats not their priority?