According to Wikipedia, Woke (/ˈwoʊk/ WOHK) is a term that originated in the United States, referring to a perceived awareness of issues that concern social justice and racial justice. It derives from the African-American Vernacular English expression stay woke, whose grammatical aspect refers to a continuing awareness of these issues. First used in the 1940s, the term has resurfaced in recent years as a concept that symbolizes perceived awareness of social issues and movement.
According to some folks in the Twittersphere, wokeness is “being sensitive to injustice” or “being aware of and actively attentive to important facts and issues (especially issues of racial and social justice).”
The prevailing attitude of wokeness is not, as some have claimed, merely “being sensitive to injustice.” It is much more than that, worse than that. Wokeness is another gospel.
And we’d be wise to recall what Paul said about believing another gospel (Galatians 1:6-9). At its core, wokeness is the belief that human dignity can be reclaimed or restored some other way than through Christ.
It makes sense that this generation of unbelievers who have rejected Christ are woke because it is the 21st-century zeitgeist. Those who reject Christ will naturally find a deficient substitute for the real Savior.
What doesn’t make sense, however, is that so many evangelicals in this generation have jumped on the woke train. While the woke crowd claims to be rectifying injustices in the service of others, ironically, it is all about themselves. In other words, being woke is merely an insatiable desire for vainglory. It is a way to feel like (and be seen as) a cultural warrior against injustice, real or perceived.
Vainglory might be an antiquated term to modern ears, but given the wokeness of the culture, it might just be the most relevant word in our vocabulary today. According to the dictionary, vainglory is the excessive or unwarranted pride in one’s accomplishments or qualities. It is also a vain, ostentatious display. It is, further, an extravagant pride or boastfulness; a tendency to exalt oneself or one’s own performances unduly; an inflated and pretentious vanity; a vain pomp or show.
While those riding the woke train would argue they are anything but vainglorious and are only about identifying injustices in the world, their vitriol says otherwise. The woke demand that God, the universe he created, and all who live in this universe he created, affirm their truth and coddle their hurt feelings. Did you catch that? “Their hurt feelings.”
Along the train ride to wokeville, the woke take on the bitterness of the real or perceived injustice done to others. They own the pain of some injustice and therefore believe their own views, their own feelings, and their own “truth” must be validated or the other is a racist, abusive, or hateful, and should be silenced or canceled. It is the only way the woke believe they can be saved: be validated and affirmed (their version of loved) or sacrifice the other on the altar of bigotry.
In short, wokeness is nothing more than a giant temper tantrum thrown by wanton children in adult bodies joined by older adults afraid of getting on the wrong side of said childish adults. (Maybe we need to revisit what Plato said about the feverish nature of democracy and its lust for the base proclivities of youth.)
The Apostle Paul reminded the church at Philippi to “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” -Philippians 2:3
The word translated conceit here is kenodoxia, literally vainglory (kenos = empty + doxa = glory). Conceit is a close translation and shares some aspects with vainglory—which was probably not used here for its relatively antiquated place in the modern English language—but vainglory is the more literal translation and the more accurate term for the situation.
Vainglory is an empty glory, that which the apostle John refers to as “the pride of life” (1 John 2:16). If the woke crowd were really about rectifying injustice in the world, they would start with their own hypocrisy and repent of their demand that their “truth” be affirmed and their aggrieved feelings be catered to.
To be clear, I’m not arguing the answer to wokeness is slumber. Not at all. I’m not advocating anyone turn a blind eye to injustice. The answer to all injustice, including the injustices resulting from the vainglory of those on the woke train, is the gospel of Jesus.
Dr Postma,
this is a “top ten” all time read for me. Outstanding writing and insight! Thank you.
Glad it was a blessing!
Thank you for this message Pastor Scott!!
Very refreshing.
Thank you, Helena. Blessings!
Scott – thanks for this expose’ on wokeness. Vainglory is empty glory; and: kenos + doxia = empty + glory…. good lesson!
Your entire lesson here was so clear. I also loved your command of the English language, which has been lost to so many.
Blessings!!
Thanks, Joe. Good to hear from you. Hope all is well in Vegas!
Thank you! This completely explains what I have wondered about it. The only true way to be “woke” is to have salvation and to become a new creature in Christ.
Indeed!
Thanks Scott. This has clarified some things for me and I will think about it more. It’s highly relevant to what’s going on in NZ culture. I guess I admire people’s urge to fix things and your comments have nailed my cognitive dissonance between my belief in the gospel of Christ and my more open-minded stance. I’m also aware of the 20th century social gospel denominations which I’ve generally viewed as a balancing force to evangelicalism. Do you think the social gospel was part of the kingdom of God?
Hi Elizabeth. One of the issues I have seen with the social gospel, strictly speaking, is it denies the truth of Scripture and views the gospel narrative as simply a myth that teaches us how to live with one another in the world. Simultaneously, most evangelicalism truncates the gospel to that of personal redemption while denying the social implications–a sort of “pie in the sky” theology if you will. C.S. Lewis rightly noted the gospel was the true myth, and that makes it both/and. It is about personal redemption but it’s also much more than that. Its implications address every social issue directly and deeply. Though Christians are pilgrims in one sense, we were created for this world. Perhaps, one of the less obvious issues is the eschatological theories that permeate much of evangelicalism–at least in the U.S.–creates an anti-social, huddle and cuddle mentality. That is a serious mistake in my understanding. Anyway, that might have been much more than you were looking for but thanks for commenting. Blessings!
Thanks, that response takes my thinking to the next step.
I am having trouble seeing how having a concern for the dignity of people who have historically been oppressed is throwing a vainglorious temper tantrum. I read the gospel to be the mystery that God is reconciling the world, not just the Jews, to himself through the life, death and resurrection of Christ. That all who believe Christ and claim him as their savior are saved. Being aware that not all Christians are afforded the same dignity in this world is not always vainglorious, it can be a healthy awareness of others. It is a recognition that my experience is not the only experience and that God is building a kingdom of people from every tribe, nation and tongue without showing any partiality and that should be a goal of all of us who claim his name. I agree that non-believers may take a term such as woke and use it in ways to virtue signal that they are more aware than someone else. And that this often results in canceling voices they disagree with. I hope that as brothers and sisters in Christ we will be quick to hear and slow to label others falsely. Injustice does exist, even in the church, so when someone makes us aware of it repentance may be a more appropriate response than name calling.
Hi Signe,
Thank you, sincerely, for your comment. I value your thoughts about this subject. To be clear, I don’t believe having a concern for the dignity of people who have historically been oppressed is a bad thing. It’s something we should all be aware of and apply the gospel to, as we should to all sin. What is concerning is the virtue signaling of which you spoke that creates a cancel culture rather than a platform for rational discourse. There are people losing their jobs and being banned from social media platforms not because they are racist but because they do not embrace the kind of virtue signalling expected of them from the “woke” culture. Take Disney’s firing of Gina Carano for conservative statements she made on social media as one recent example. As John Piper noted in his book God is the Gospel, this part of the culture wants to redefine love as “to make much of.” This is where the vainglory of which I was speaking comes in. Those who will not adopt and apply their standard of love (to make much of) gets punished, sacrificed, or canceled. The degree to which the woke culture wants race made much of actually incites racial enmity where it doesn’t actually exist. And it is vainglorious because it competes with Christ as the savior of the culture. Christ is the only one of whom much should be made–all of Christ for all of life. Blessings!
Well written Scott. One of the concerning things I’ve noticed among those who champion the cause of racial injustice (which is a problem that needs to be addressed and that the American evangelical church has a pretty bad track record on) also downplay other sins and injustices. So, racism becomes the worst sin, and we can’t read Jonathan Edwards anymore, but we stop talking about abortion and gay “marriage”. It is unfortunate that various “causes” get associated with various groups, or political parties, and so anyone who champions a Biblical view of sin and injustice is bound to offend people on all sides! Which is what happened in the ministry of Jesus… We need to be truly “radical” on every issue, and not just the ones that are currently popular or trendy.
Good point, Greg. Identity politics distorts the mission by elevating one “trending” issue over other important perennial issues.
Thank you for sharing these thoughts on our culture’s idea of wokeness and how we should think of it as Christians. I loved reading this article as I am currently studying Galatians in depth. Paul clearly states, “If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed.” This false gospel of wokeness aims to please man’s flesh. Paul says if he were trying to please man he would not be a servant of Christ. What does that say about the way we, as Christ’s servants, should act?
This is definitely an important topic to discuss as we seek to love God and love others.
You’re welcome, Hannah. Thanks for the valuable insight: “This false gospel of wokeness aims to please man’s flesh.” You’re on point! Blessings!
Thank you so very much for this clear and well written article. I have shared it with my husband (who is a pastor). My husband is helping put on a conference in the DFW area called Wokeness and the Gospel June 11-12, 2021. We would love for you to attend and share with your friends.
facebook.com/wokenessandgospel
Twitter: @WokenessG
https://equiptoserve.regfox.com/wokeness-and-the-gospel
You refer to Galatians 2:6-9 in your article and I believe you meant Galatians 1:6-9.
Thank you for reading, Joy. The conference sounds very interesting. And, yes, I did mean Gal 1:6-9. Thank you for pointing that out. It’s corrected now. Blessings!
Hi Joy.
I registered for your husband’s conference!
I am actually Jewish racially (my parents were Orthodox Jews) but I know Yeshua is The Messiah and this whole social justice thing infiltrating churches has been extremely disturbing to me.
I feel the message that many well known Evangelicals are now preaching is not the true Word of G-d and its really been heartbreaking for me and has caused people who I thought were my friends to stop being friends with me.
It’s a very divisive message.
Great thoughts! When the whole “woke” thing hit the fan last summer, all I could think of was, “this is a different gospel”! There was shame, condemnation, legalism, self-righteousness and false accusations. Even if one admitted to being white privilege, there was no atonement or redemption but rather the result of being exiled, cancelled and frantic apologies for sins one may have never committed as well as ones that predecessors had. What a yoke of bondage. This religion makes no room for mercy, grace, forgiveness or restoration. “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you?”
So True, Shelli. The religion of wokeness makes no room for mercy, grace, forgiveness or restoration. Blessings!
Thank you for your truthful insight. I knew there was a way to describe the woke crowd but couldn’t put my finger on it until I read this, vainglory. Well said.