Denial and Affirmation Two

We are not “woke” in the sense of having embraced a progressive ideology that is grounded in Critical Theory rather than the Bible, but we do see the need to be awakened to the global and indeed cosmic impacts of sin, including racial injustice, and to be attuned to the biblical call for gospel-driven efforts toward reconciliation and restoration. 

Commentary  

Our world is shrouded in darkness, but the light of Christ shines into the darkness, bringing new life (Jn. 1:4). In Christ, by the power of the Spirit, we are to be transformed by this new life in the Kingdom of light. One biblical way to describe this transformation is to be “awakened.” Paul exhorts, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you” (Eph. 5:14). 

Paul gives this admonition, for the darkness of the world around us threatens to lull us back to sleep spiritually. Like those who enjoy a warm blanket on a cold winter morning, we can prefer to stay in darkness, but Christians are called out of darkness into the light of the new day – “The hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed” (Rom. 13:11). 

We also can slide into spiritual sleepwalking, going through the motions in our lives without any real life or passion for Christ. In John’s record in Revelation, Jesus exhorts the church to “wake up” (Rev. 3:2). We need to be awakened to a reminder of our own need for the gospel (Rev. 3:3), and to the realities and dangers of the darkness around us. 

So, awakening is used throughout the New Testament, as a metaphor for new life in Christ, living in holiness rather than sin, and as the antidote for empty moralism. 

In recent years, the word “woke” has entered into our cultural vocabulary, but it has become nearly definition-less. Language that started as a specific term within minority communities to refer to the need for awareness of ongoing inequalities and injustice was quickly coopted left and right. For some, “woke” has come to be more narrowly defined by the progressive end of secular ideologies in terms of contemporary Critical Theory, the ideology of “antiracism,” human sexuality as a social construct, and radical individual autonomy. For others, “woke” seems to have become a catchall term to describe anything perceived to be coming from the political left. 

Though we do not look to any secular ideology to change or transform lives, that is, we are not seeking to be “woke” in that way, neither do we want to be found dead or cold or asleep. Scripture is clear that regarding the pervasive impact of sin in our world (Ps. 14:1-3; Rom. 3:23), it should not surprise us that the systems and structures that sinful people establish will themselves fall short of perfection, leading to injustice and oppression (Prov. 13:23; Ps. 82:3). As those who have been reconciled to God in Christ, we are now entrusted with the ministry of reconciliation (2Cor. 5:18-19), and we are to participate in God’s work of bringing his will on earth as it is in heaven and of renewing and restoring all things for His glory (Rom. 8:20-25; Rev. 21:5). 

Throughout the New Testament we see the tensions that rise up as Jesus brings people together from across the lines that divide us, crushing the dividing wall of hostility (Eph. 2:14), and calling all people into one new family (Gal. 3:28-29; Eph. 2:19). One way to love our neighbors as ourselves is to reach across the walls of racial divides, awakened to, and aware of the historically rooted racial challenges and injustice in our nation, in love and for the good of all people. Our desire is to see all people awakened to the new life in Christ, and to be reconciled to him and to one another.