I must apologize already as I do not want to mislead readers who see this piece’s title because after hearing the term ‘woke’ used over the past few years, I am still not clear of its meaning. In fact, over the past few months, I have been doing my own, ‘man on the street poll’ in which I have asked numerous people how they define this term, and I am yet to receive a consistent response.
One thing I can at least glean is that the term woke is used predominantly by conservatives and in fact, by many Christians. Clearly woke is used to describe an agenda contrary to their own and often used to label individuals whom they regard in disdain. In receiving correspondence from many conservatives, I am under the impression that I should get behind this anti-woke agenda. There is constant reference to ‘woke mobs,’ a ‘woke culture’ and ‘woke people.’ As an observation, I wonder if anyone has taken the time to notice that woke rhymes with poke. With that said, perhaps the use of the term woke is the best way for people on the right to poke at the frustrations they have in our current environment.
I also wonder if people who are labeled woke identify themselves with this term. Regarding abortion, I consider myself pro-life, but I would never tell people to label me as anti-woman’s rights or something along those lines.
From my perspective as a Christian, I can look back over time and see that there have always been troubling circumstances in culture. The consistent pattern is that they are all rooted in a disregard for human worth and dignity which stems from a disdain for God, Himself. Nothing is new under the Sun.
Also consistent throughout time is God’s demand for complete allegiance to Himself and His requirement for people to turn from their wicked ways and bow before Him in repentance. Furthermore, He has commanded His people throughout the ages to widely proclaim this universal call for repentance. With that said, God has also required His people to point people to His Son, Jesus as the source of Grace and truth. It is by His Grace, coming through the atoning work of Jesus on the cross at Calvary 2,000 years ago, that people can come before God in repentance without fear of condemnation. Jesus identified Himself as the truth and that by Him we are made Holy. Not only that, but only through Jesus do people have access to God.
Once again, while woke seems to be a popular term to identify people with these days, using labels to place on others is nothing new. People have been given labels that correspond to their political persuasions, religious backgrounds, socioeconomic status, and others throughout time. A title of a Jonathan Edwards sermon, ‘Sinners in the hands of an angry God’ is a fitting description of how God has viewed people throughout the ages. If true revival is desired in society, we should start by considering how God views everyone, rather than coming up with special labels to apply to one and other and certain groups whom we take exception to. While Edward’s sermon title seems to carry huge weight, so does the curse Jesus bore on the cross as He endured the wrath that mankind’s sins deserve. So, the question to ask yourself is do you recognize the need for Jesus to intercede for you as He did on Calvary’s cross? If so, God will forever ascribe the label, ‘redeemed’ to you otherwise the label ‘condemned’ for all eternity.
In His Image 