Mark 11:15-18 (NASB) says, “15Then they came to Jerusalem. And He entered the temple and began to drive out those who were buying and selling in the temple, and overturned the tables of the moneychangers and the seats of those who were selling doves; 16and He would not permit anyone to carry merchandise through the temple. 17And He began to teach and say to them, “Is it not written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations’? But you have made it a robbers’ den.” 18The chief priests and the scribes heard this, and began seeking how to destroy Him; for they were afraid of Him, for the whole crowd was astonished at His teaching.”

It is impossible for a racist to make it to heaven because racism is hatred to someone because of their color of skin or their heritage. It is hating someone without even knowing who they are! 1 John 3:15 says, “Whosoever hates his brother is a murderer: and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.” John 8:44 says, “You are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father you will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks of his own: for he is a liar and the father of it.” 1 John 4:20-21 says, “If a man say, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar: for he that loves not his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he who loves God love his brother also.”

You cannot be an effective minister or evangelist of the gospel with racism in your heart! In Acts 13:1, you have the first missionary team of the church and the first church board set up in the first church, which was at Antioch, where the disciples of Christ were first called Christians. The scripture says that these 5 men were prophets and teachers, who were Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius, Manaen and Saul. Barnabas was a Jew from the island of Cyprus. Simeon was apparently black from Niger, meaning “the black.” Lucius was from the African region of Cyrene. Manaen was a Greek who grew up in a future King’s home. Saul was from Tarsus, which is now in Turkey, then known as Asia Minor. In other words, the first church board was very diverse in race and ethnicity, but they had one belief in God Almighty!

Our divine mission for Christ is to make heaven a “Diverse City” as in the words of Toby Mac. Matthew 28:19-20 imposes the Great Commission, which is, “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

Peter has been on both sides of the spectrum. In Acts 10, you have for the first time where the Gentiles were baptized in the Holy Ghost, and Peter was a significant part of that. Romans 11:17 teaches us that we, as Gentiles, have been engrafted in this thing, in this way of salvation and infilling of the Holy Ghost, and the reason is because God has no respect of persons, neither respect of color! We are all one in the sight of God as part of the Body of Christ. Romans 11:11 says, “I say then, have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy.”

Even though Peter was used by God and is a witness in the infilling of the Holy Spirit upon Cornelius, an Italian centurion, and his entire house, but yet, according to Galatians 2, he shifted gears a little bit. Paul rebuked Peter to his face because he was to be blamed because even though he had already eaten with the Gentiles and taught that the middle wall of partition was broken down between Jews and Gentiles, when certain Jews came from James, he became fearful, just he did at the time of Jesus’ Crucifixion, withdrawing all fellowship with Gentiles. Just as he became ashamed and a coward at the time of Jesus’ death, he became fearful and ashamed when those Jews who were of the circumcision drew near. Since Peter is a very influential leader, other Jews followed his hypocrisy, including even Barnabas. But when Paul saw that they did not walk uprightly according to the truth of the gospel because of their racist ways, Paul confronted Peter in front of everybody and said, “If you, being a Jew, live like the Gentiles and not like the Jews, how is it that you compel the Gentiles to live like the Jews?” No matter the background, we are justified through faith in Christ Jesus, not because we grew up in church or because we are of a certain race, but we are all justified by faith in the Savior of the world!

Racism and its ability to divide the God’s people has no place in the Body of Christ. When Miriam was rebellious and spoke against Moses’ marriage to an Ethiopian woman, she was cursed with leprosy. When Jesus, who was a Jew, had no more strength to bear His cross up atop the hill of Golgotha, it was a black man by the name of Simon of Cyrene that picked up His cross and helped Christ finish His purpose in this life! Racism does not belong to God, and it sure cannot enter Heaven! It is because of racism that Christ became so angry. Racism was Satan’s attempt to annihilate the Jewish people through Hitler and the Holocaust, which killed over 6 million Jews! Racism has no place or order in the sight of God. Peter was at high status in the church, and even Barnabas, but Paul openly rebuked them for their hearts of racism. If you don’t separate yourself from racism, racism will separate you from God!

While racial riots may be a key in bringing people from major cities to rural communities for safety, I am of good faith that we can behead the spirit of racism in America. How do we slay this giant of racism? I believe we should follow a set of steps that I truly believe will help us to collectively overcome by the wisdom and power of the Holy Spirit: