Dealing With Racial Segregation Among Christians

Subliminal segregation must be identified and destroyed. Let’s guard our hearts against pride.

Most people will admit God has a special anointing on people of color. I hear many people of color, both Hispanics and African Americans, saying that it is “our” season in God. The problem is that they share this idea mostly when they aren’t with their white brothers and sisters.

Behind the scenes, they use words such as “they,” “them,” “we” and “us.” Yet the apostle Paul told the Corinthians that there should be no schism in the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:24). I’m concerned our ethnic pride may be leading us toward division.

Schism is defined as “a formal division” or “separation.” I realize there are white people in the body of Christ who are prejudiced. But I also believe many blacks need to be delivered from what I call “ricochet racism.” This occurs when the oppressed take on the bondage of the oppressor through unforgiveness and retaliation.

This spirit usually operates subconsciously. Subliminal segregation must be identified and destroyed in the body of Christ. When we talk about racism it usually concerns the attitude of whites against blacks. As a black minister who talks with other blacks behind the scenes, I admit that we need to come clean.

We must allow the Holy Spirit to deal with our behind-the-scenes conversations and actions. If we would be real, then we would see that we need to repent of the way we talk when we are not around brothers and sisters who are not like “us.”

Please do not get mad about this. Just get delivered so we can be the bride Jesus is coming back for, the one without spot, wrinkle or blemish. This issue is a blemish and it is ugly in the sight of God.

Not everybody is guilty, but a whole lot of “us” are. How do I know? Because I was not merely prejudiced; I was a racial revolutionary.

I was raised never to trust a white man. My father has never been to a Shoney’s or a Denny’s because he thinks the white man owns them.

My grandmother and grandfather went to prison for killing white people in the 1940s and 1950s. In middle school I led riots in which my friends and I beat white people bloody. I am sorry to admit that I enjoyed it.

But thanks to God’s mercy, my racist devils came out! This is why my church today is multiracial and multicultural. Whom the Son makes free is free indeed! (See John 8:36.)

Before I knew Christ, I moved from the ghettos of Jacksonville, Florida, to Gresham, Oregon, to run track for Mount Hood Community College. I thought I had gone to white people’s hell. There was no black radio station, no black people—and the hardest part, no grits!

The team members casually called me the N word. After continually trying to beat them down to no avail—fighting was always the answer—I figured out that they simply did not know any better. I became the fastest runner on the West Coast in junior college.

Our relay team qualified for nationals. It consisted of three white girls and me. I knew when we got to the East Coast those black sisters would run us off the track.

I decided to focus on my personal races because I felt that our relays were handicapped. Everybody knew white girls could not sprint! I was the anchor leg and did not want the embarrassment of receiving the baton in last place.

Now I clearly see how the Holy Ghost burst my bubble. My teammates brought the baton to me in first place. I had to do only my own part for the team to win.

Our team became national champions. Although I was the only black on the team and the most valuable athlete that year, God used this experience to show me the importance of teamwork.

I have come to know that we are living in a day when “white boys can jump” and “white girls can run,” and there are some blacks who cannot do either. We all need to draw from the anointing of the ethnos, or nationalities, because God has called us to be one winning team.

Yes, there is a special anointing on people of color in the last days. But let’s guard our hearts against pride and schism so that we don’t become a hindrance to the overall vision of Jesus Christ.

Kimberly Daniels is overseer of Spoken Word Ministries in Jacksonville, Fla. She and her husband, Ardell, travel extensively to train Christians for deliverance ministry. Daniels is the author of the book Clean House, Strong House. For more information log on to kimberlydaniels.com.