Can We Unite With Catholics, Mormons, Hindus & LGBs?
In the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder and a conservative resurgence in the USA, there are new calls for reconciling Protestants, Catholics, Mormons, and others. Meanwhile, some are calling for believers to come out and be separate from any political alliances with unbelievers.[1]
How do we resist the temptation of ecumenism yet love our neighbour? How can we biblically distinguish between church unity and civil cooperation, not mistaking engagement in an earthly sphere for endorsement in religious belief?[2] We’ll look at legitimate and illegitimate cooperation with unbelievers, all hinging upon the purpose for which we are uniting.
Often!
We all unite with unbelievers – in sports (both playing and coaching), hobbies and recreation, business, military service, medical teams, some schooling, neighbourhood watch (due to high crime levels, Community Police Forums are very useful in South Africa), residents’ associations, maintaining public spaces (parks, road repair, litter removal, etc.), disaster relief, firefighting, testifying in court or serving on a jury, and much more.[3]
Voting is a partnership with others in a democracy for the benefit of your fellow-imager bearers and countrymen (Gen. 1:26-28; 9:6; Jam. 3:9). As Charlie Kirk’s pastor, Rob McCoy, likes to say, “Unless Jesus Christ is running for office, you’re always voting for the lesser of two evils.”[4]
Pagan rulers are “ministers of God” to restrain evil, uphold law and order, preserve peace and justice, and do good for a land, as part of His common grace (e.g., Pharoah, Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus, etc.; Rom. 13:4). Joseph partnered with Pharoah to save lives during a famine (Gen. 41). Daniel served faithfully under pagan kings in Babylon (Dan. 1-6). David united with the Philistines to pursue a common enemy (1 Sam. 29; 1 Chron. 12). Yet in each case, these godly men did not compromise their faith. Christians can stand with secular rulers in the civic realm while refusing to bow to their idols. Charlie Kirk was a heroic example of this in both godly patriotism and bold witness.
God’s Word urges us not to isolate but to have non-Christian friends (1 Cor. 5:10; 10:27). The salt must have actual contact with our decaying society, and the lampstand must be inside the dark room to illumine (Matt. 5:13-16). Neither our salt or our light should be shut up in a “cellar of separatism”.[5] Christians should be the best citizens and most loving neighbours, treating others the way we would want to be treated (Matt. 7:12).
Joey De Runtz explains:
Francis Schaeffer, seeing the rise of secular totalitarianism and moral collapse [in the 1970s], coined the term “cobelligerent” to describe those who fight the same enemy on a specific front, but do not share the same theology. An “ally” shares your faith; a “co-belligerent” shares your enemy. In A Christian Manifesto, Schaeffer warned that silence in the face of evil is itself evil. This is biblical (Prov. 31:8-9; Isa. 1:17; Ezek. 33; Eph. 5:11).
If Christians refuse to act unless the cause is carried entirely by regenerate saints, they surrender the civil sphere to Satan. If the state legalizes murder, and Muslims, Catholics, and secularists all protest while evangelicals remain silent—who is more faithful to the image of God? If we refuse co-belligerency, we fail to love our neighbor.[6]
For Example
If my Catholic or Mormon friend wants to defend human dignity, monogamy, two genders, the death penalty, limited government, or a free market, I stand with them. When my unsaved neighbour (whether gay or straight) protests socialism, tyranny, corruption, abortion, or sex-trafficking, I will say ‘amen’. I will thank God for every instrument of His common grace and reflection of His Law written on human hearts (Isa. 44:28; 45:1; Rom. 2:14-15), all the while seeking to evangelise these same neighbours as we work together in the civic realm.
Our church in South Africa linked arms temporarily with charismatics and Muslims in a lawsuit against the state for violating constitutional religious liberties and shutting down church services during Covid, for which our whole nation suffered in a myriad of ways. This court case also afforded us evangelistic opportunities along the way with our co-belligerents.
Likewise, Christian apologist, Voddie Baucham, had a long-standing friendship with Mormon, Glenn Beck, and would speak on Beck’s talk show or at political rallies together as fellow freedom fighters. Yet privately Voddie would surely evangelise Beck, and Voddie’s rejection of the false Christ of Mormonism was no secret.[7]
I remember as a boy helping make and display campaign signs for my father as he ran for a local city council position for the good of my beloved hometown of Katy, Texas. My family knew that if Dad (a respected, local Christian veterinarian) won that election, he would link arms with other leaders in a civic realm, yet never presuming that they shared the same faith.
Whether then our co-belligerency is done occasionally as churches, or more often as individual Christians as we have opportunity, we can do so with a clear conscience for love of God and country.
Disclaimers
I would not see such partnerships as syncretism, ecumenism, or being unequally yoked, but rather as being a good neighbour and a responsible citizen, seeking to “do good to all people” (Gal. 6:10; 1 Thess. 5:15). To demand perfect agreement in religion before working together politically is asking for heaven on earth, which will only come when Christ returns with His perfect monarchy.
No doubt, co-belligerency will be messy and taxing at times and will require much prayerful discernment and seeking wise counsel (Php. 1:9-11; Eph. 5:10; Prov. 11:4; 15:22). We must be willing to walk away if we cannot continue such cooperation in good conscience, fearing God over man (Prov. 29:25; Gal. 1:10).
Yet our chief aim as believers is not any earthly realm but the invisible, heavenly realm – to “seek first His kingdom” (Matt. 6:33). We pour our greatest energies and efforts into what is eternal, not temporal (2 Cor. 4:18; Col. 3:2). As John Piper says, “Christians want to alleviate all suffering, especially eternal suffering.”[8]
To that end, our closest partnerships are with fellow believers in the cause of the Great Commission (Matt. 28:18-20). Nothing is more useful to our society than to see hearts changed by Christ! Only when lives are transformed will communities and nations be changed in any lasting way.
Never!
We cannot have any spiritual or religious unity with unbelievers, nor join them in prayer breakfasts, worship services, pulpit sharing, ecumenical councils or interfaith forums, since we do not serve the same Lord. Any organisational cooperation in ministry must begin with spiritual oneness in the gospel (Jn. 17:21; Eph. 4:3-6). Doctrinal purity must precede fellowship, and we cannot soft-pedal our evangelical essentials (Jam. 3:17). A church must have nothing to do with platforming any false religion.
We are not even permitted to “greet” or “receive” false teachers who deny this gospel; they are “to be accursed” and warned against in the church (2 Jn. 9-11; Gal. 1:6-9). “What fellowship does light have with darkness?”, asked the Apostle Paul (2 Cor. 6:14-18). We cannot be “unequally yoked” in marriage, close friendships, or business ownership.[9]
Back in 1994, MacArthur and Sproul refused to sign the Evangelicals and Catholics Together[10] statement because it required them to accept Catholics as fellow believers. This would compromise the gospel. Again in 2009 Sproul and MacArthur refused to be co-belligerents with the Manhattan Declaration, despite agreeing with its moral convictions, because the definition of a Christian was (again) vague, and justification by faith alone was compromised.[11]
Don’t Blur the Lines
Jesus warned that all who name His name are not necessarily true believers (Matt. 7:21-23). Christ mandates the local church to exercise His keys of the kingdom to affirm who is truly in His kingdom or not (Matt. 16:18-19; 18:15-20; 1 Tim. 3:15; 6:20-21; 2 Tim. 1:12-14). Creeds and confessions have been written for that purpose – to clearly define what it means to be a Christian. Confusion over that definition has been a fatal flaw in 20th century Christianity, as shown by Iain Murray in his modern classic, Evangelicalism Divided.[12]
Christ’s Bride must remain pure, undefiled by false converts. Wolves must not be allowed into our pulpits and must be removed from our pews. Sitting at a community table for civic service must never be confused with sitting at the Lord’s Table as the redeemed. Honouring an upright political leader or brave neighbour mustn’t be conflated with receiving a new church member through baptism.
Conservative unity is emphatically not the same as Christian unity![13] The cure to Christless conservatism is not pietism or leftism (nor more moralism), but evangelising our fellow conservatives and urging them to come to Christ, the Author of liberty.
When we make it clear that our unity in the civic realm does not make us brothers in Christ, we preserve our ability to evangelise Catholics, Mormons, gays and all others who are lost and hell-bound, as we once were until the gospel came to us. Ben Shapiro says he is thankful for a free society where Christians try to convert him, a Jew.[14] J.D. Vance and Charlie Kirk had a close friendship, working together very effectively in the political realm; yet Vance testified that Kirk often tried to convince him to become a Protestant. Keeping those differences clear is the key.
Two Spheres
As Augustine wrote long ago, the city of God and the city of man are built on different foundations, serving distinct purposes.[15] We must distinguish between the common kingdoms of this world and the eternal kingdom of Christ – between what “belongs to Caesar” and what “belongs to God” (Matt. 22:21). In the civic realm, we can rejoice when Judeo-Christian principles are being recovered by a Kirk, Vance, Rubio or whomever. Yet in the spiritual realm, we must resist all unbiblical, ecumenical unity with Catholics, Mormons, Hindus, gays or any other false religion.
The biblical church-state distinction has been a Baptist contribution to church history and modern civilisation:
God established both the church and the civil government, and He gave each its own distinct sphere of operation. The government’s purposes are outlined in Romans 13:1-7 and the church’s purposes in Matthew 28:19-20. Neither should control the other, nor should there be an alliance between the two. Christians in a free society can properly influence government toward righteousness, which is not the same as a denomination or group of churches controlling the government. (Matthew 22:15-22; Acts 15:17-29).[16]
Bret Laird gives this wise and well-rounded scriptural counsel:
We can partner politically with unbelievers, cultists, and false teachers as “co-belligerents” in the governmental sphere as long as we do not become unequally yoked with unbelievers in the church sphere. Yet…co-belligerency and guarding against ecumenism are not incompatible.
…Proper biblical application depends on accurate analysis. If a local church had evangelicals, Mormons, Catholics, Hindus, and theological liberals speak from the pulpit during a church service, it would be a clear-cut case of ecumenism. If a political rally included the same participants, it would be a clear-cut case of co-belligerency.[17]
Praise God for our evangelical forefathers in the faith that have fought and died for the freedoms we enjoy today in the West by upholding gospel purity while fulfilling civic duty. May we too learn the difference between the altar and the arena, so that we might serve Christ faithfully in both. May our Lord grant us much grace and wisdom to cooperate with unbelievers as needed, while uniting with believers in our highest calling of gospel advance.[18]
[1] https://blogs.crossmap.com/stories/revival-or-reaction-discernment-in-the-wake-of-charlie-kirks-assassination-lKOWD1-PNHD2XQVdBS0bu?utm_source=chatgpt.com.
[2] With thanks to Joey DeRuntz for his excellent work on this: https://www.mastersbiblechurch.com/blog/a-rejoinder-to-don-green-a-biblical-and-theological-defense-of-co-belligerency.
[3] Some of these are roles & vocations recognised explicitly in Scripture: Luke 3:14 (soldiers); Col 3:22 (employers & employees); 4:14 (medical), etc.
[4]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1PdXmbgxCA; https://www.frc.org/blog/2022/04/should-evangelicals-be-single-issue-voters-proposal-pinnacle-issue-voting#gsc.tab=0 (by Owen Strachan).
[5] Ibid, De Runtz.
[6] https://www.mastersbiblechurch.com/blog/a-rejoinder-to-don-green-a-biblical-and-theological-defense-of-co-belligerency.
[7] https://www.christianpost.com/news/voddie-baucham-says-he-wont-watch-the-chosen.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com
[8] https://www.desiringgod.org/messages/christians-care-about-all-suffering-and-injustice.
[9] Which I’ve addressed here: https://betweentwocultures.com/2024/11/12/unequally-yoked-in-business/.
[10] https://www.gty.org/articles/A149/evangelicals-and-catholics-together.
[11] https://learn.ligonier.org/articles/the-manhattan-declaration?utm_source=chatgpt.com;%20https://www.gty.org/blogs/B091125/the-manhattan-declaration.
[12] https://www.evangelical-times.org/evangelicalism-divided/?utm_source=chatgpt.com;%20https://www.gracechurch.org/sermons/383.
[13] https://washingtonstand.com/article/a-tale-of-two-conservatisms-at-charlie-kirks-funeral.
[14] https://churchleaders.com/news/514969-john-macarthur-ben-shapiro-tribute.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com.
[15] “Those two cities still impel people to engage in politics for radically different reasons. Those two cities inspire two different visions for American conservatism, which were evident…at Charlie Kirk’s funeral.” https://washingtonstand.com/article/a-tale-of-two-conservatisms-at-charlie-kirks-funeral
[16] https://www.highpointbaptist.com/baptist-distinctives.
[17] https://www.facebook.com/bret.laird (on 4 Oct. 2025).
[18] I have written in greater detail about differing levels of Christian partnerships here: https://www.antiochbiblechurch.org.za/partnerships-by-tim-cantrell/.