How to Start the New Year With a Heart Full of Unity and Joy

I knew many of them were out of work. Others traveled many miles every day to serve as domestic helpers in large houses far from the township’s downtrodden shacks. Through the open door, I could see stray dogs sniffing for scraps in the dirt roads around the church, and I wondered how the people in this church would react if they could see my neighbors leading sweater-wrapped dogs around Manhattan streets on flashy leashes.

The chasm between the lives of these Christians and mine seemed immense as if we lived on separate planets rather 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 in the week I had spent here, I had come to realize 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 was 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 believe in Christ, no matter what, we’re instant family. Regardless of skin tone, where we live, what language we speak, how much money we have, no matter our age, background, gender, or what job we have—we’re family. I’m looking at my brothers and sisters in Christ right now, and I’m so grateful we’re related!” My brothers and sisters smiled and nodded, confirming that our heavenly-ordained connection was indeed a gift from God that was both promised and a miracle.

As the short-term missions coordinator at Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan for over a decade, I was blessed to express and experience that same connection with Christians in over twenty countries. From Madagascar to Peru, I felt this bond again and again and claimed the truth of God’s family in extraordinarily unlikely settings. I understood that embracing my brothers and sisters in Christ wasn’t just 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 also a preview of the day when all the tribes of the earth will worship together as one, as the Bible promises.

However, over the last few years, I have been finding it harder and harder to establish that same bond with Christians in my own country. How can it feel so much easier to embrace Christians from far-flung countries as a family while I feel so estranged from so many of my fellow American Christians? I think we all know the culprit. Politics have infiltrated our American Christian family, creating outsiders and insiders. We too often label Christians who don’t share our political views as weak, misguided, imposters, or even heretics. In John 12:35, Jesus says, 

“By this all will know that you are my disciples if you have a love for one another.” 

But in the past few years, American Christians have come to be known more for their hateful rhetoric and bombastic social media posts than for the love they show to each other. Our interfaith battle has been closely watched by the outside world, and it has delivered a severe beating to our Christian witness. If non-Christians see us at war with each other, why would they want to join us? We evidently don’t even want to be together! As Christmas approaches this year, 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 watch His children draw lines and pick fights with each other! Especially when 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 are ecstatic by the results of the 2024 presidential election and are delighted that everyone in your church feels like you do. Or maybe you are horrified by the election results but find comfort in all the Christians around you who voted the way you did. Either way, you surely know that there are other American Christians who have 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 in the Gospel, “Over the years, Tim talked with many professing Christians who had very strong political views from a variety 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 within our church. He would always point them back to Christ and remind them that our identity is in Christ and not with a political party — that our politics do not guide or shape our faith, but rather the gospel should inform every aspect of our politics and that we should live a life that reflects the gospel, rather than having our lives defined by a particular political view.”

Division weakens our faith and exposes us to enemy infiltration. And if we allow outside indicators, such as political party affiliation, to determine who we should welcome as our brother or sister, we malign the community God ushers us into when He saves us. On mission trips, I would often reflect on Romans 12:4–5:  

“For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”

We need each other. I’ll make it more personal. I need you. As Paul outlined in Romans, we are at our best when we function as a team, as a unit, and as a body of Christ. I am at my best when I acknowledge that I belong to my fellow Christians—even the ones who vote for different political candidates.

So, this year, my Christmas and New Year’s prayers are all wrapped up in one: I pray for peace. I ask for forgiveness for acts of division I have participated in. I pray to learn how to place more value on Christian identity than party affiliation. I pray for my spiritual family—in America and all around the world—to be unified.

Will you join me in this prayer?

"How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!" - Psalm 133:1 NIV

Photo Credit: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/tampatra

Christina Ray Stanton is a writer and author of over 50 articles and an award-winning book about 9/11 www.Christinaraystanton.com

This article originally appeared on Christianity.com. For more faith-building resources, visit Christianity.com.