Everyone is analyzing what the Iowa caucuses mean for the GOP race. The evangelical turnout was huge, and many of the candidates — some Protestant, some Catholic — have reached out to Christian voters, and some of them have even spoken persuasively about their Christian faith and how it informs their political views. These are positive signs, to be sure. At the same time, I am struck by how there still seems to be no consensus on Protestants and Catholics working together.

One campaign’s faith outreach I know of seems almost exclusively targeted at evangelicals, though this is perhaps by default rather than intention. And another campaign, arguably Christian in name only, tried to drive a wedge between evangelical voters and another candidate by hinting that this other candidate might have been a closet Catholic — not the evangelical he said he was — because the man’s father was from the historically Catholic island country of Cuba.

My fear is that our failure to work across confessional lines may undermine our duty to help the nation we all love. Our shared positions on matters like the dignity of life, marriage and family, religious and economic freedom, and good governance have the potential to powerfully serve the common good, but perhaps only if we work and pray together. Our lack of collaboration points back to a sad fact of our Christian history. It is a bad fruit of the divisions in the Body of Christ.

Given the decay of the West and the growing hostility toward all Christians, we do well to remember for that the first thousand years of Christianity, we were one. I know the theological issues which separate us are real, complex and not easily settled. I know there is blame, across the board, and much need for repentance and healing.

But the Jihadist persecutors of Christianity do not ask our brethren in the Middle East or northern Africa what kind of Christian they are before they martyr them. Nor do the secularists seeking to drive Christ from the public square here in this nation stop to ask if the Christianity they are herding toward the exit is Catholic, evangelical or Orthodox. How is it that the enemies of Christ often grasp the fundamental unity of those in Christ, while Christ’s own brothers and sisters often miss it?

Fortunately, we still have religious freedom, and the persecution we face in the West is only coming in what might be called a soft form. But, that is all the more reason why we must choose to rediscover one another as brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ and find a way to collaborate. The hostility is accelerating. The hour is late.

I have spent decades forging principled alliances with other Christians on the right to life, the defense of marriage, the indispensable role of moral values for society, the primacy of religious freedom and how we can help the poor without disempowering them. In such efforts, I have worked alongside many evangelical Protestants as well as Orthodox Christians.

But, I know some evangelicals who, even if they think I am a Christian, consider me to be one in spite of my confessional affiliation as a Catholic, and tend to want to keep the relation steered away from shared religious commitments. I also know that some of my fellow Catholics who are reflexively suspicious of evangelical Protestants. In both cases, I’m speaking of something more than people differing with one another over theological matters. I’m referring rather to a hold-your-nose-near-the-spiritual-stranger-and-keep-walking attitude. This is not charitable, does not please God and undermines our common causes.

The entire Body of Christ needs an evangelical renewal, reform and revival. Every Christian needs to personally encounter Jesus Christ and respond to his call. And not just once, but continually. All Christians need to be filled with the Holy Spirit and view themselves as sent on mission into this present age, which has forgotten God. And, we need to find ways to work together in this vital missionary task.

As the presidential primary contests unfold, we also need to find a way to come together as Christians for the sake of the nation. In that effort, we might just discover how much we have in common. After all, Christianity is not some-thing, but Some-One, the Evangel, the Good News, Jesus Christ.

Twenty-six years ago I wrote a book entitled Evangelical Catholics. The subtitle: A Christian call to penetrate the darkness with the light of the Gospel. The book was controversial among some Protestant Christians, as well as among many Catholics. I was honored to have a gracious and supportive foreword written by one of the great evangelical Protestant leaders of my lifetime, the late Chuck Colson.

Since then, the phrase “evangelical Catholic” has become more acceptable in Catholic circles. It is used by both the lay Catholic theologian George Weigel and Catholic commentator John Allen. The fastest growing segment of the Catholic Church are men and women involved in movements which emphasize the necessity of personally encountering the Risen Lord Jesus Christ, turning away from sin and choosing to follow Jesus as a disciple on a mission. In that sense, they can all be called evangelical.

As I wrote in that book, “The root of evangelical (in Greek, euaggelion) literally means good news or gospel.” I continued, “An evangelical Christian then is one who believes the good news about Jesus Christ and proclaims it.”

Some of my closest Christian friends are evangelical Protestant Christians who inspire me by their lived faith, courageous Christian witness and moral coherence in their political and social participation. Together we seek to inform our political and social participation by the Christian faith. I am glad much has changed over the decades, but we all have a long way to go. I hope that in the remaining months of this presidential primary season, faithful Christians from across the confessional spectrum find a way to come together, to pray, and to act, for the sake of the nation we all love.

May our One Lord, Jesus Christ, be revealed in our words and our actions. And, let us choose to make His prayer our own: “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” (John 17:20, 21)