Pastor’s Blog
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April 2022
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Dear CPC family,
Is Wokeness a new Christianity? This was the question asked in an article I read a few months ago. I’m sure you’ve come across the term ‘Woke’, even if, like me, you struggle to define it. We hear about it a lot nowadays. It seems to describe someone who is particularly concerned about matters to do with racial justice. For some, to be called ‘woke’ is a badge of honour; for others, ‘wokeness’ is spoken of in a more pejorative fashion.
Racism is a sin. The Bible’s meta-narrative of creation and redemption forbids the view that any one race is intrinsically superior to others. There are therefore aspects of Wokeness that a Christian can endorse. That said, it seems to me that the interpretive grid of this particular ideology, whereby reality is viewed almost exclusively through the lens of racial prejudice, has led to a worrying distortion of history and a corrosive underming of the very concept of truth. Such developments are incompatible with, and inimical to, the biblical worldview.
I was therefore intrigued to see how the author of the above-mentioned article would argue that Wokeness is the new Christianity. To his credit, he drew out a number of striking comparisons. For example, just as the Bible is the foundational text for Christianity, so Wokeness has, it was argued, its own quasi-sacred literature, particularly a book called White Fragility by Robin di Angelo. It is also the case that, like Christianity, Wokeness has developed its own language and terminology, such as ‘cis’ and ‘intersectionalism’. Other parallels were made, all of which seemed to bolster the case that, in many ways, the 21st century religion of Woke bears notable resemblances to Christianity.
But then it occurred to me that, despite the somewhat superficial similarities, there is at least one major difference between Wokeness and Christianity: grace. By which I mean that, whereas, if you fall foul of the strictures of Wokeness, you will be immediately ‘cancelled’ (witness the recent treatment of J.K. Rowling for daring to suggest that a woman is biologically-defined rather than socially-constructed), in Christianity, if you transgress God’s commands (which we all do), grace and forgiveness are always available for the sinner who repents.
As it happens, I believe that there are other substantial differences between Wokeness and Christianity. But the fact that, as Christians, we belong to a God who is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, who forgives iniquity and transgression and sin – surely this is the greatest and most powerful difference between, not just Christianity and Wokeness, but between Christianity and every other religion or worldview. Christianity is, at heart, a religion of grace; Wokeness is, in essence, a religion of works.
In the end, the religion of Woke, together with every other non-Christian faith system, is doomed to fail. Why? Because it does not acknowledge or worship the one true God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – who is the God of all grace. Perhaps there are echoes of the Christian faith in Wokeness; indeed, it would be surprising if there weren’t because, as creatures made in our Creator’s image, there will always be elements of divine truth, albeit perverted and distorted, in whatever explanations for Ultimate Reality we devise. But, no, Wokeness is not a new Christianity. For Christianity is true and is founded upon the Lord who is full of grace and truth. And that for which Wokeness seeks justice, such as racism, can only truly be found in the cross of our Saviour – the cross which also provides grace and forgiveness for those, like us, who deserve to be ‘cancelled’ and condemned, not by men, but by God.
What a joy it is to belong to the God who is rich in grace!
With love in Christ,
Doug
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