Pew Research Center has just released a new report on what Americans believe about God’s nature and activity. The report begins by reminding us that Americans are still a religious people with 56% believing in the God of the Bible and 33% believing in some spiritual force or higher power. (Notably, these are much higher numbers than the number of people who attend worship regularly.) At the same time, the report reinforces the statistical trend of stating that if you are white, younger, more educated, a Democrat or Democratic leaning, or a man, you are less likely to believe in God or a higher power at all, and much less likely to believe in the God of the Bible.

Perhaps the most surprising finding in the study was the commonality of beliefs between white Republicans or Republican leaning Americans and nonwhite Americans. As shown in the chart below, white Republicans are much closer to the beliefs of nonwhites of all political affiliations than white Democrats are.

As the chart shows, this agreement goes beyond simply belief in God’s existence. It carries over to what people believe the nature of God is like. When it comes to accepting that God is all-loving, all-knowing, and all-powerful, 67% of white Republicans believe all three compared to 66% of nonwhite Republicans and 64% of nonwhite Democrats. This stands in marked contrast to only 35% of white Democrats believing all three.

The report goes on, revisiting this same dynamic through a different lens, looking at the beliefs of Americans by their religious tradition. Tracking with the political demographics, the white Evangelical category (which is largely Republican) proves to be in much closer harmony with the historically Black Protestant category (which is largely Democrat) than the white mainline Protestant category (which is largely Democrat).

The same trend reappears in other study questions about communicating with God and about God’s involvement in the world.

Anecdotally, this trend comes as no surprise. I have heard stories from whites who are part of mainline denominations, but whose theology tracks more evangelical, finding greater acceptance among nonwhite Christians than among whites of their own denominations. The reason for this is that the two shared a common language of faith that grew from common assumptions about the nature of who God is and what God does in the world. This is why, for example, a conservative Christian radio station can be just as meaningful to white evangelicals as to historically Black Protestants, featuring both white and Black preachers on it.

If this is the case, why do nonwhites so often identify with white mainline Protestants in the public square? The answer has to do with human response. We can agree on who God is and what God does, but if we do not agree on how we are to live faithfully in light of God’s nature and work, then we cannot move very far together. We can listen to the same radio stations and preachers, and we can say amen to the same core beliefs, but we cannot live out our faith with one another in our daily lives.

We can agree on who God is and what God does, but if we do not agree on how we are to live faithfully in light of God’s nature and work, then we cannot move very far together.

The nonwhite experience in the United States is one marked by disempowerment, neglect, oppression, and cycles of poverty and lack of opportunity. And, while certain white communities have experienced terrible struggles, especially where there has been a lack of education and employment available, they never have experienced the kind of systemic racism that nonwhites have. As a result of this, nonwhite Christians read the Bible as a call for working toward bringing justice in the name of the all-loving, all-knowing, all-powerful God. Systemic change and social transformation are necessary because people’s lives are being broken now. This does not disregard the eternal call of the gospel for salvation, but it extends that call for salvation into this world.

White evangelicals have been slow to hear and respond to this message, focusing more on the call to saving souls. To be sure, they are beginning to recognize the biblical call for justice, but it is a relatively slow and recent move on their part, and it is stunted in part by the fractured nature of evangelicalism. White mainline denominations have been more open to the message of justice, tracing it back to their participation with the social gospel in the early 20th century. This has made them more natural allies for the nonwhite community over the years.

At some point, though, the nature of what a just society looks like will have to be determined. When that arises, what people believe about ultimate things will matter.

The question is, how long can this alliance stand? The common desire to work for justice is politically expedient for nonwhite Christians and white mainline Protestants to maintain. At some point, though, the nature of what a just society looks like will have to be determined. When that arises, what people believe about ultimate things will matter. The foundational issues of what God’s nature and work are like will need to be discussed and agreed upon in ways that look difficult to do between these two groups.

The challenge is clearly with white Evangelicals at this point. Having awakened to the call for justice, can they show themselves capable of shaking loose their longstanding complacency toward–and sometimes complicity with–the systemic injustices against those who have been historically oppressed in the United States? If they can, showing that they can work for justice for all in the name of Jesus Christ, they will find nonwhite Christians ready to connect in deep ways because the two groups already share so many core beliefs in common.