The Sin of a Racist Spirit
What do we do when we see a rat in the room?
We get rid of it! Now some may jump on a chair in fear for a while, but eventually they have to climb down off that chair, catch it, and dispose of it. On the other hand, others who are more daring may charge after that rat with a broom and chase it down until they trap it in the corner.Then there are those who are downright fearless and will go after the rat, step on it, and smash it with their foot.
A racist spirit is the rat in the room and we must go after it and squash it under our foot. We should not be the one standing on the chair calling for someone else to deal with it. We are all responsible and need to deal with this spiritual rat that racism is and not be afraid.In Guatemala we had two cats. And oftentimes in the night, when we were all asleep, the male cat would crawl through the cat door with a little rat in its mouth and call out to our female cat. I’m telling you this was a very distinct meow, and the other cat would wake up instantly from a deep sleep and run down that long hallway as fast as it could to go and devour that rat alive.
Personally, I think we should be like our old cats in Guatemala and every time we hear a racist slur, or witness a racist act we ought to take immediate action by eradicating it, and not allowing that rat of racism within our midst. Rats are rodents that carry infectious germs and deadly diseases, and they are not to be tolerated around us. As Christians, we need to be willing to speak up and take action against the spiritual rats of racism, but do so in the name of the Lord—with love.Ephesians 4:14-16 says, “We should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.”
The level of the sinful weapon of racist hate launched against the entire human race from the hands of satan, himself has caused an upheaval of division of grievous proportions. But God has given us an even greater supernatural weapon to overcome the power of hate—His love. And there is only one way to spread this love, and it’s by sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the lost and dying people around us.
The enemy likes to exploit ignorance. Hosea 4:6 says, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge…” So if the enemy can keep people distracted and focused on the rat of racism, then this ignorance can cause division, death, and destruction.This leads us to wonder with all the challenges and opportunities for racial division, “Where is the voice of the Church?”
As the Church, God’s people, we are the leading voice on this earth. We are the ones called to be poured out vessels that release healing and deliverance to hurting people.Perhaps, because of fear, is She, (the church, the Body of Christ), like the one who climbed up on the chair screaming for someone else to come and remove the rat of racism?
If so, why? Doesn’t His Word tell us that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but instead has given to us supernatural power, love and a sound-mind, (see 2 TIM. 1:7).If we are a voice, a representation of Christ, how should we address this issue with one another?
Speak the truth in love. Job 33:3 (AMP) show us how to speak, “My words will express the uprightness of my heart, and my lips will speak what they know with utter sincerity.”
Forgive one another. Colossians 3:13 (AMP) describes this process in such a beautiful way, “Bearing graciously with one another, and willingly forgiving each other if one has a cause for complaint against another; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so should you forgive.”
Be teachable—willing to listen and to receive correction. Hebrews 12:6 (AMP) talks about the love of the Lord and His correction, “For the Lord disciplinesand corrects those whom He loves, And He punishes every son whom He receives and welcomes [to His heart].”
Be willing to unite to work toward making necessary changes. Psalm 133:1 has this to say about unity, “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity!”
I have many testimonies about how the power of God’s love brought correction upon the Church to heal the one damaged done by a racist spirit. One such testimony brings me back to a time of about twenty years ago when I ministered in a local Church in Tanzania, East Africa for an end of the week long healing conference. We experienced a glorious time together in the presence of the Lord, hugging and holding hands, singing and dancing with all our might. We feasted on the healing Word, and receiving our manifestations of healing and creative miracles. Little did we know we would soon see a powerful and unusual miracle that was about to take place that would take the people by surprise. It was now Sunday morning, and we are heading to the meeting place to begin the last service for that weekend—it was the grand finale.
After breakfast I stepped outside of the local restaurant and there sitting outside the door was an elderly man that had been badly beaten by life. He was homeless, as many were in that area. It was obvious he had not had a bath in a very long time. His clothes were tattered and torn, and he had no shoes. It was at this moment, when I noticed his bare feet that I began to really see his battle scars. He was missing toes, and not just toes, but fingers, and bits of his ears, and I realized that he had been a victim of leprosy. He was not contagious, these were old battle wounds from many years ago that he had suffered from this demonic disease. And he also suffered from mental illness, whether this was from another battle, or because of this battle I did not know, but it was obvious this man carried great pain with the shame of rejection.I remember extending my hand and greeting him with the local greeting that I had learned, and he returned the kind gesture with his shiny eyes and joyful smile. As Jesus would do I invited him to come to the service as my special guest. He accepted and we walked over to the Church service.
As we walked into that meeting hall, me in a pretty dress, and he in his Sunday’s best—all that he had, we sat down and he was seated next to me. I looked around and noticed that the dust from the dirt floor had settled from last night’s powerful time of worship and miracles. But as I stepped inside I felt something ungodly and sinful begin to raise from the foundation of the leaders inside—a racist spirit. And the people had to be delivered from it, and this man had to be healed from its wicked powers.
Yes, you heard me, wicked powers within the foundation of the Church. How dare I even think to invite someone that they felt superior over because his physical appearance was different from their appearance? We forget that our outward appearance is not who we are, and that God creates all people as equals in Him.
We, the Church are God’s hospital and we are to welcome and accept the lost and hurting people around us and bring them into the healing power of the love of God. As His ambassadors here on earth, how else can we heal, unless we first accept and invite all people into our midst?When a racist spirit exists within the Church, it’s evil and not welcomed by God. We must loudly hear Him saying, “Enough is enough!” It’s time to purge the Church worldwide of such a vile spirit.The basic needs of all people are that we feel loved and accepted for who we are, not rejected for our appearance, economical status, or level of education.
One of the things God hates is a divisive spirit, (See PROV. 6:19.). And a racist spirit is one that divides. Scriptures warn us that a house divided against itself cannot stand, (See MATT. 12:25.). We, the people, the true Church cannot be divided on this issue. We must practice honor, respect and love for one another, and stand untied in Christ.
Bowing our knees to evil will not cause transformation; however bowing our knees in humility with a heart surrendered to Christ can do this type of supernatural transformation. Blaming others or holding the sins of someone’s ancestors against them will not redeem the past hurt and injustice, either. Only the Blood of Jesus can bring this type of healing and forgiveness.If we choose to join with others to take action and protest against a racist spirit then let us do so in a peaceful and productive manner. Rioting and looting do not advance the cause for human equality, but sets the cause backwards, and ultimately fulfills the enemy’s plan. In fact, this is one of the many traps the enemy often uses to hold people in bondage to a racist spirit.
Colossians 3:17 instructs us concerning our words and actions, “Whatever you do [no matter what it is] in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus [and in dependence on Him], giving thanks to God the Father through Him.”
Matthew 5:16 about the importance of allowing our good works to shine before people. It says, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
I have friends from all around the world, and we don’t ignore our physical differences, but instead, we celebrate them. We get personal with one another and talk about hardships and sufferings that we have had to endure. And as friends, we share our cultures and family histories with one another. We also dine together, laugh and cry together, sing and worship the Lord together.
In all of our differences, God has created a great tapestry of unity through His Word, For example, John 13:35 encourages us in the faith like this, “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.God created all people with very unique traits, so to make a statement such as, “God is color blind” is not true. He didn’t design us with the same earth suit. Some are tall, while others are short. Our facial features are different, the color of or hair, eyes and skin are different. Even amongst our own nationalities we are different from one another. God made us so unique that no one else on earth has or will ever have your fingerprint!
While we notice one another’s earth suits, we should celebrate our physical differences; but we should never hold them against each other. To do so, would be racist, and that’s evil, sinful, and must be repented of. 1 John 1:7 reiterates this, “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His son cleanses us from all sin.”
What I am saying here is that we must treat each other as we are—equals, accepting the truth that we are all created in the mirror image of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Our physical differences shouldn’t matter to us.
God set the stage for this foundational truth in Genesis 1:27, “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.”
God is a spirit-being, and underneath our earth suits we too are spirit-beings. In fact, this is who we really are, and we have the choice of deciding what our spiritual-being looks like to God. For instance, we can be good and kind or we can be wicked and mean. We can be humble or prideful, peaceful or angry. We can have a giving nature or a selfish one. We can be faithful or unfaithful.
The point is that we are what we choose to be. And this has nothing to do with where we were born, who we were born to, our level of education, financial situation, or what type of job we have, either. It doesn’t have a thing to do with natural circumstances; but what we decide to do with what we have spiritually.
As believers, God gives us spiritual gifts, and what we do with these gifts affects our lives here on earth in the natural and spiritual realms.What are some of the basic spiritual gifts given to us by God?
Free Will. God has given us the power of a free will, but along with this free will comes great responsibility. The outcome of our life is a direct result of the choices we have made in life. This is why it is so important that we use our free will wisely and make wise choices. Galatians 6:7 (AMP) tells us, “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked [He will not allow Himself to be ridiculed, nor treated with contempt nor allow His precepts to be scornfully set aside]; for whatever a man sows, this and this only is what he will reap.”
Salvation. With this free will we can choose to receive or reject God’s Plan of Salvation. Romans 10:9 (AMP), tells us what we must do to be right with God. “If you acknowledge and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord [recognizing His power, authority, and majesty as God], and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” AMP.
Faith to Believe. Again with the free will that we have been given we can choose to be responsible and act in faith by believing and trusting God. Mark 11:23 (AMP) explains this by saying, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea!’ and does not doubt in his heart [in God’s unlimited power], but believes that what he says is going to take place, it will be done for him [in accordance with God’s will].”
There are no limits to the good that can be accomplished by the supernatural power of your faith. And being created equal by God and endowed equally with these three gifts from God: Free Will, Salvation, and Faith to believe. We can all choose to be blessed and assured in the goodness of God both on this earthly realm and in eternity as well.
In acknowledging the sin of being racist against one another let us pray and ask the Father to forgive us. Let’s pray…
“Father God, We, the Body of Christ ask for Your forgiveness for allowing our physical differences to stand in the way of how we treat each other. Help us to see past our earth suits and see that we are all created in Your mirror image. And that we are all equally loved and endowed by spiritual gifts from You. We also repent, for being passive as Christians and not speaking up against a racist spirit, and for tolerating it in our midst.Holy Spirit, we ask for your direction on how to heal all the damage that has been done between one another. And even though the world pitches this as an impossible situation, we know that with You all things are possible.
Help us to recognize that when Jesus died on the Cross and shed His precious Blood for our sins, He wanted us to know that all lives matter. Give us the grace to carry this same spirit as we interact with others in every area of our lives.
In Your holy name, we pray, amen.”
Becky Dvorak
