In July 2019, I described my journey to salvation in front of about 200 Christians at a church in a township near Cape Town, South Africa. As the pastor translated my testimony into the local Xhosa language, I had time to actually think concerning the differences between me and my audience within the small, sparsely furnished room, which was in desperate need of a recent coat of paint.
I knew lots of them were out of labor. Others traveled many miles day by day to function domestic helpers in large houses removed from the township’s downtrodden shacks. Through the open door, I could see stray dogs sniffing for scraps within the dirt roads across the church, and I wondered how the people on this church would react in the event that they could see my neighbors leading sweater-wrapped dogs around Manhattan streets on flashy leashes.
The chasm between the lives of those Christians and mine seemed immense as if we lived on separate planets somewhat than different continents. I lived in a high-rise that had an indoor bathroom and running water. I walked wide sidewalks next to bustling streets and passed storefront after storefront with “Help Wanted” signs. But within the week I had spent here, I had come to understand that I also had much in common with these Christians, who displayed a joy and a love for Christ that was tangible, alive, and vibrant. I used to be inspired by their enthusiastic faith.
As I ended my testimony, I added a thought inspired by Scripture and the time I had spent with these fellow believers. “According to the Bible, if we consider in Christ, irrespective of what, we’re quick family. Regardless of skin tone, where we live, what language we speak, how much money we now have, irrespective of our age, background, gender, or what job we now have—we’re family. I’m taking a look at my brothers and sisters in Christ immediately, and I’m so grateful we’re related!” My brothers and sisters smiled and nodded, confirming that our heavenly-ordained connection was indeed a present from God that was each promised and a miracle.
As the short-term missions coordinator at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan for over a decade, I used to be blessed to precise and experience that very same reference to Christians in over twenty countries. From Madagascar to Peru, I felt this bond many times and claimed the reality of God’s family in extraordinarily unlikely settings. I understood that embracing my brothers and sisters in Christ wasn’t only a way of getting a warm, fuzzy feeling. It was evidence that I belonged to God’s earthly kingdom, which stretched far beyond the borders of my American life, and in addition a preview of the day when all of the tribes of the earth will worship together as one, because the Bible guarantees.
However, over the previous couple of years, I even have been finding it harder and harder to determine that very same bond with Christians in my very own country. How can it feel a lot easier to embrace Christians from far-flung countries as a family while I feel so estranged from so lots of my fellow American Christians? I believe everyone knows the wrongdoer. Politics have infiltrated our American Christian family, creating outsiders and insiders. We too often label Christians who don’t share our political opinions as weak, misguided, imposters, and even heretics. In John 12:35, Jesus says,
“By this all will know that you just are my disciples if you’ve got a love for each other.”
But prior to now few years, American Christians have come to be known more for his or her hateful rhetoric and bombastic social media posts than for the love they show to one another. Our interfaith battle has been closely watched by the surface world, and it has delivered a severe beating to our Christian witness. If non-Christians see us at war with one another, why would they need to affix us? We evidently don’t even need to be together! As Christmas approaches this 12 months, I find myself despondent, worn out from loss and battle lines drawn by my fractured Christian family. And if I’m dismayed by this behavior, what about God? How grieved he must feel to look at His children draw lines and pick fights with one another! Especially once they use His name to justify their behavior. No earthly principles should separate those in Christ. Political ideologies don’t bind believers together. The Holy Spirit does.
Maybe you might be ecstatic by the outcomes of the 2024 presidential election and are delighted that everybody in your church appears like you do. Or perhaps you might be horrified by the election results but find comfort in all of the Christians around you who voted the best way you probably did. Either way, you surely know that there are other American Christians who’ve wildly different ideas about our country’s political path. How are you preparing your heart and your mind to embrace these fellow believers as your Christian brothers and sisters?
Kathy Keller reflected on Tim’s thoughts about politics in a recent article in Life within the Gospel, “Over the years, Tim talked with many professing Christians who had very strong political opinions from quite a lot of perspectives. They would often be very emotional and sometimes consumed by what they perceived to be unacceptable political affiliations with their Christian sisters and brothers inside our church. He would at all times point them back to Christ and remind them that our identity is in Christ and never with a political party — that our politics don’t guide or shape our faith, but somewhat the gospel should inform every aspect of our politics and that we must always live a life that reflects the gospel, somewhat than having our lives defined by a selected political view.”
Division weakens our faith and exposes us to enemy infiltration. And if we allow outside indicators, akin to political party affiliation, to find out who we must always welcome as our brother or sister, we malign the community God ushers us into when He saves us. On mission trips, I might often reflect on Romans 12:4–5:
“For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members don’t all have the identical function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and every member belongs to all of the others.”
We need one another. I’ll make it more personal. I want you. As Paul outlined in Romans, we’re at our greatest after we function as a team, as a unit, and as a body of Christ. I’m at my best once I acknowledge that I belong to my fellow Christians—even those who vote for various political candidates.
So, this 12 months, my Christmas and New Year’s prayers are all wrapped up in a single: I pray for peace. I apologize for acts of division I even have participated in. I pray to learn find out how to place more value on Christian identity than party affiliation. I pray for my spiritual family—in America and all world wide—to be unified.
Will you join me on this prayer?
“How good and nice it’s when God’s people live together in unity!” – Psalm 133:1 NIV
Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/tampatra
Christina Ray Stanton is a author and writer of over 50 articles and an award-winning book about 9/11 www.Christinaraystanton.com
