A Time for Unity

By Luke McConnell

The election is over, and the political season has come to a close. I’m glad it’s come to an end. I’m not under any illusion this means the end of all conflict or baseless conspiracy theories, but hopefully things will automatically calm down a bit. 

I’m writing this before election day, so I’m not sure who won or if a winner has even been declared. Frankly, it doesn’t matter because our faith is not based on who sits in the Oval Office, or which party has control of the House of Representatives, the Senate or the split of justices on the Supreme Court.

Our faith is based on the work of Jesus Christ on the cross and his subsequent resurrection, which defeated sin and death and made it possible for us to have a relationship with God. Period. 

Personally, this year’s election and political season has been enlightening for me. I’ve found myself involved in more political discussions than ever before and to be honest, I’ve cared a lot more about politics than I ever have. 

It’s been good for me to work through personal feelings on different policies and to have a different type of dialogue with friends and acquaintances. 

However, it hasn’t all been positive. I’ve noticed many believers act like this election is everything; as if life would be meaningless if their candidate didn’t win. I’ve seen a level of emotion in social media posts and discussions that’s unhealthy at best, and downright sinful at worst. I have found myself responding to things more emotionally than I have in the past as well. 

As believers, I think many of us have lost sight of where our allegiances lie. Our allegiance is to the kingdom of God, not the kingdom of America. 

Moving out of this season is an important time for us as a country, but also for us as Christians. I’ve never seen the Church as divided in opinions as I have in this political season. The vitriol spewed the past several months amongst believers has looked no different from that spewed by people outside the Church. 

And that’s why I think a call to unity is important for us as believers. We need to refocus on what matters and what is important. 

Paul writes in Ephesians 4:2-6, “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

Several words stand out to me in that passage. Humble, gentle, patient, bearing, love, effort, unity and peace. Then there’s the overarching theme of oneness in the latter portion of the passage. Sadly, I’d say those words haven’t described a lot of Christians recently.

Here’s the deal. Achieving unity involves a lot of humility and selflessness. It’s hard! But remember, we are unified in the most important area of all: the gospel and faith in Jesus. To attack a fellow believer over a political view or to suggest someone can’t be a Christian if they vote a certain way goes against the work Jesus did for us on the cross. 

There are no qualifiers in our faith. There are not Democratic Christians and Republican Christians. There are just Christians. To put other adjectives on our identity as believers is to elevate those adjectives to a place they should not be. 

Paul makes it clear in Ephesians 4. There is ONE faith and ONE Lord and ONE God over all. He is the God over the person who voted for Biden and over the person who voted for Trump. He’s the God over the person who wants more taxes and over the person who wants tax cuts. 

We MUST remember everything about us is tied to Jesus and not to politics. As we move forward in the weeks and months ahead, ask yourself, “How can I promote unity and peace?”

“One Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” Let’s be one church as well, Council Road. 

Author Bio
Luke joined the staff at Council Road after seven years at News 9 in Oklahoma City. Luke worked as a sports writer for three years before working in the sales department for four years, the last two as an account executive. In addition to his role on staff, Luke also serves as the play-by-play voice for Southern Nazarene athletics. 

Originally from South Carolina, Luke graduated from the University of Oklahoma in December 2011. Luke and his wife, Mary, have been members at Council Road since the fall of 2012. They have twin boys, Jackson and Cameron. Mary is in her ninth year of teaching third grade at Wiley Post Elementary School.