As It Is in HeavenÖrnek

Day 3: Digging Up the Roots:

Before we can move forward in making the church look like heaven, we must first stop to dig up the roots of racism, bias, and division that may be embedded in our hearts. When you are weeding your yard, you have to be sure to pull out the weeds’ roots. If you just pluck off the heads, things look good for a while, but those weeds will start to poke up again before too long. To squash racism, we’ll need to dig up the roots.

In Romans 12:2 (NIV), the apostle Paul states, “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

When we allow the world to be our guiding force, we will fall into the same flawed, imperfect way of thinking as the rest of the human race. To defend against this, we need to renew our minds and be transformed, so we can discern God’s will to fully follow Him.

Throughout Scripture, we find undeniable truths about race and our differences that many in the world choose to ignore. One of these is in Acts 17:26 when Paul discusses the creation of man from one man and God’s plan for them all: “From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.”

Another verse relating to our individual design by God is found in Psalm 139:13-16. According to this verse, we were knit together in our mother’s wombs by the Lord!

From these verses, we can see God had and continues to have a plan for each of us—encompassing the nations we come from, the ethnicities we are, and our individual identities.

Next, we must consider where these roots of racism and division originally came from: our common enemy! Think of it this way: if there is no racism in heaven, where does it come from? Surely, if ever a message is from hell, it’s one that contradicts Scripture, and racism denies the Bible’s teaching that we are all created equally and wonderfully in the image of God. Plus, the enemy knows that what is said in Mark 3:25 is abundantly true: “If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand.”

Jesus Himself made our enemy’s goals clear in John 10:10: “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Why then, are we letting the enemy destroy the unity and steal the peace that should be within the church?

Ultimately, racism is a sin issue—not a skin issue. The racism that manifests itself is simply the head of that which has taken root within the hearts of believers and nonbelievers alike.

So, how can we dig them up? Prayer is one way! In Ephesians 6:12, Paul says that “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” We need to be asking God to break the hold of the powers of darkness. God says in 2 Chronicles 7:14, “If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”

Through God renewing our minds, staying rooted in His Word, and defending against the deception of the enemy, we can start to dig up the roots of racism that have taken hold in our hearts and in the hearts of those in the church. Once we have done this, we can continue to take steps that get us closer to making today’s church look just a little bit more like heaven.