The heated debate sparked by Mark Galli’s editorial in Christianity Today calling for the removal of President Trump from office has struck a nerve in the evangelical community and our nation. But as evangelicals square off into pro- and anti-Trump camps, one obvious truth seems to be forgotten: Christianity is a religion, not a political movement.

And Jesus Christ isn’t a Republican, Democrat, Socialist, Communist, Libertarian, or member of any other political party or movement in the U.S. or any nation.

Several hundred clergy and religious leaders have condemned the Christianity Today editorial. Another group is speaking out in favor of it. There’s talk about coalitions forming both in support and against the president.

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All this has served to kick up a hornets’ nest within the evangelical community, dividing us over whether we support or oppose the president of the United States. But this not an issue that should be splitting our movement in two. If it does, the implications are dangerous to the fabric of our faith and the future of our country.

We first learned to engage the political world when the organization we served, World Relief, hosted Laura Bush as part of the first lady’s tour of Africa. We celebrated the George W. Bush administration’s life-saving efforts to thwart the AIDS epidemic through the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).

At the same time, we spoke out against the Bush administration when it chose to invade Iraq, costing hundreds of thousands of lives.

Years later, we worked with the Obama administration and a bipartisan group of senators toward an immigration reform bill that was strong on border security but compassionate toward immigrant families.

And we challenged the Obama administration’s proposal to fund abortions abroad with American tax dollars. President Obama’s chief of staff, Dennis McDonough, a devout Catholic, was instrumental in stopping this proposal.

If we were to ask Jesus if He is for or against President Trump, He would say “neither.” Jesus is not a politician. He is on the side of the poor, the marginalized, the immigrant and the prisoner. He’s on the side of truth, mercy and love. And He doesn’t judge, blame or shame those who differ with Him.

To give carte blanche support or opposition to any political party or politician – no matter what they say or do – is to forfeit our mandate as followers of Jesus.

At times the community of faith is called to partner with the government – for example, during times of critical need, injustice or crisis involving righteous conduct. Natural disasters and disease strike without mercy, regardless of the political affiliation of victims. There is nothing partisan about helping to save lives and promote recovery and healing.

The actions of churches in stemming the tide of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and in fighting sex trafficking are good examples globally. Responding to the call to “welcome the stranger” through refugee resettlement or immigration reform, or “visit the prisoner” by addressing the rampant incarceration rates among African-Americans, are examples closer to home.

But we are also called to serve a prophetic role by speaking up when our government fails to side with truth, mercy or love.

Not taking sides in political battles doesn’t mean we disengage by cloistering ourselves or sticking our heads in the sand. Jesus immersed himself into His culture because He loved people, and cared about their lives. So should we.

To follow Jesus, however, we must weigh the pros and cons of all policies – not just a favorite few, as important as they are – and consider the implications across the whole spectrum of life.

The voices of the unborn, the persecuted, the marginalized, the poor, the victim, the prisoner, the survivor and the elderly – to name just a few – must all be present in our discourse, commitments and decisions.

Do we care about the starvation in South Sudan, the death of innocent people in Yemen and the gun violence in Central America as much as rural poverty, incarceration or the opioid epidemic in the United States? Is an American life worth more than any other?

Putting faith above politics has never been more important. When we inverse that priority, we mute our prophetic voice and can become political pawns of the government.

Our decisions must also consider both the means and the ends. Justifying bad ethics for certain outcomes is not only wrong, but dangerous to our faith and country.

As Christians, we aspire to a faithful witness – representing the nature and ethics of Jesus in our thoughts, words and deeds. Our propensity for taking sides and endorsing policies that are helpful to some but hurtful to others distorts our witness.

Worse, putting our tribe first and deeming those who don’t agree with us as traitors or enemies presents an anti-witness to the world. We end up parading a mascot rather than the real Jesus, observing shibboleths and vacuous catchphrases or ideas to determine who’s in and who’s out.

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Our faith devolves into a caricature, crippling our message, and our churches start to feel like members-only clubs. The rest of the world calls us hypocrites, and for good reason. Our own sons, both on the cusp of voting and choosing their own expressions of faith, say they want Jesus, just not white evangelicalism.

Of course, taking sides isn’t new, but social media and their echo chamber have accelerated side-taking. It’s much easier to cast blame than take responsibility.

Jesus didn’t present a theology of good people or bad; we’re all in need of redemption. Admitting when we are wrong matters. Ignoring or excusing our flaws without genuine humility sets us against the biblical narrative, not for it.

Above all, we need to live out this humility through our daily ethics. Perhaps the most important thing we can do as followers of Jesus is to repent for placing policies, platforms and parties above people – and even above God Himself.

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When we place faith above politics, we become more engaged, not less. Our conversation will transcend political divides, and our voice will speak truth to both parties.

When we jettison the dangerous categories of us versus them, tribe or traitor and even conservative or liberal, we’ll experience the reform we long for in our faith communities, maybe even revival. And our country will look to us as a safe harbor in polarizing times.

Stephan Bauman is the former president/CEO of World Relief and author of “Break Open the Sky: Saving Our Faith from a Culture of Fear” and co-author of “Seeking Refuge: On the Shores of the Global Refugee Crisis.”