What is “Woke?”
We hear about it incessantly. Some hate woke-ness. Some wear the label with pride.
But it seems that for many the label is a sort of “I know it when I see it” kind of thing. Are there any firm boundaries to woke-ness?
Well, there’s actually a definition to be found in the Merriam Webster dictionary:
“Aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice).”
But that’s an undefined definition. The umbrella of racial and social justice now shelters sexual perversion, vaccine mandates, and government-sponsored media narratives – and I’m probably missing something. Plus, as we’ve learned over the past two years, the umbrella can expand or shrink as political winds may dictate. (It might even now be woke to embrace Ukrainian Nazis.)
How do we Christians deal with “woke?” What should we hear when someone uses woke rhetoric?
First and most importantly, what we should “hear” is whether it’s discordant or harmonious with Scripture. For instance, does the currently woke statement, “White people are worth less than colored people” line up with Scripture? Does it ring a warning bell when you hear it? Is that statement more acceptable than “Colored people are worth less than white people?” If so, why? If not, why not? What does Scripture say about it?
Second, we should listen for the agenda behind the woke-ness. In what direction are we being prodded by the woke statements? Is the intended path wide and leading to destruction or is it the narrow way leading to life? Again, what does Scripture say about it?
For the record, I’m virulently anti-woke. When I hear “woke” I hear “immoral.” It’s just a newly-named, well-worn tactic that began with, “Did God really say…?” in Genesis Chapter 3. This little essay is not going to rehearse all the woke vocabulary and fashionable expressions and I’m not going to bring up all the Scripture that refutes it. It’s there and you should go find it.
My point is that if we don’t keep our noses in the Word of God to familiarize ourselves with it intimately and thoroughly then we will find ourselves unarmed to deal with not only the woke crowd but also all of the world.
To be woke is to be asleep to God’s gift of Scripture.
~John Bingaman, March 2022
(Image courtesy of Free Stock photos by Vecteezy)
