People around the globe are talking about 'wokeness'. For those who need clarification, to be 'woke' is “to be alert to racial or social discrimination and injustice” (Oxford English Dictionary). In many ways it's an awakening and a movement that seems to be penetrating many corners of our public life.

Defining precisely what 'being woke' or 'wokeness' means is complex; it is fluid and can mean different things to different people, and to varying degrees.

So that said, let me make some observations about wokeness.

Justice is in Jesus’ heart

First, there are significant positive aspects of the woke movement. At its heart lies a genuine concern about things that I'm deeply committed to as a follower of Jesus: namely justice and dignity for all human beings. Jesus began his ministry with a direct commitment to justice. Jesus' first speech was this:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour.” (Luke 4:18-19 NIV)

There's a lot of Christian 'moral DNA' in wokeness. Christian leaders, such as William Wilberforce and Martin Luther King Jr, rooted their struggle against racism in the teachings of Jesus.

I support the heart of wokeness' dedication to justice and also its speaking out against celebrating individuals in history who were racists. Racism is a grievous sin that contravenes the Judeo-Christian tenet of Imago Dei (all human beings are made in the image of God) and we all need to repent for times when we have got this wrong. We should honestly re-evaluate the past and, where appropriate, admit the wrongs of historic figures and repent of historic injustices.

Within the good of the movement, however, I want to offer words of caution.

A troubling tone

Particularly troubling is the way that wokeness deals with dissenters. People are defined as either 'woke' or 'not woke' in a way that extends far beyond a concern for racial justice and this shuts down dialogue and the possibility to grow in awareness around other justice issues.

Jesus did a lot of listening in his day, especially with people who disagreed with his teachings. Jesus asked questions to help people get to the root of their beliefs. He challenged people with truth but it was done in a posture of love and compassion with the hope that the person's eyes and heart would be opened. The posture of the woke movement often leaves no room for discussion, leading to 'cancel culture' – a whole new form of vindictive exclusion.

Jesus did a lot of listening in his day, especially with people who disagreed with his teachings.

The divisive tone of wokeness can actually work be counter-productive. I want all to be awakened to injustice and systemic racism in society, but this often involves patience, dialogue, and deep listening.

Concerning attitudes

I find a troubling naivety within the movement with its apparent view that sexism only occurs with men, and racism only with white people. The sad reality is that all human beings have a tendency to be unjust to others. As the Bible says well, “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23 NIV). This means that all human beings treat other human beings unfairly. All of us love others inadequately in our personal lives and in our political and communal structures. And we all human hold some form of conscious or unconscious bias. It is part of the fallen and broken world which goes against God's original design of perfect love for all.

Motives of wokeness

At the heart of the woke movement seems to be a bitter mindset that delights in finding breaches of its moral code. The fuel for wokeness often seems to be anger: something seen not just in violent demonstrations but in the hunting out and pursuit of offenders. Journalists, executives, celebrities and even preachers increasingly find themselves carefully checking what they write or say, lest those committed to a woke ideology slander them on social media and then at their door. People are tagged as either 'woke' or 'unwoke' and are not seen as whole, complex human beings with moral and immoral biases. This kind of generalisation about a person is the very posture 'wokeness' decries.

Problematic actions

While there's much to be said for evaluating the sins of the past with justice, there's much more to be said for seeking to remedy the sins of the present with grace. Although in theory I applaud the demands for reparations over past historic injustices, I find them problematic in practice. Let me give an example. I am a Greek Cypriot, and over history Cyprus has been looted, colonised and oppressed by Romans, Arabs, Turks and the British. So whom do we Cypriots take to court? What is needed is for us to come together to work for a more just society today, with followers of Jesus on the front line.

What is needed is for us to come together to work for a more just society today, with followers of Jesus on the front line.

One human family

The message of wokeness calls on all people and the whole of society to treat every human being with love, dignity and justice (which, paradoxically, is something they are not doing). This reconciling message lies at the very heart of God, exemplified in the person of Jesus. In this sense we all should be awakened; yet we need to acknowledge that there are significant aspects missing in the woke movement. Jesus' final prayer was that his followers would all be one ... one human race, one human family, one church. This requires speaking the truth in love and an abundance of patience and grace.

Forgiveness and grace needed

Ultimately, then, I feel that wokeness needs to be greeted by wariness. Although it has much that is good in it, I cannot help but sense that at its heart lies an aching void. The concept of 'being woke' is an attempt to create moral boundaries but without God. It offers only a bleak and hopeless world in which a stern and constantly shifting morality subjects all to a judgement from which there can be no redemption or restoration. Far more preferable is the Christian message which, while it points out our deepest moral failings, offers us through Christ both pardon and a changed life. Ultimately, wokeness needs both real grace and true forgiveness, and only God can give us that.

Wokeness ... offers only a bleak and hopeless world in which a stern and constantly shifting morality subjects all to a judgement from which there can be no redemption or restoration.

It seems to me that for all its focus on the problem of injustice, wokeness offers no solution. But supposing there is a solution? Supposing there was a perfect being, a man perhaps, who, utterly undeserving of any judgement, willingly became the victim of injustice and was subject to mockery, torture, brutality and ultimately death so that, having taken injustice on himself, he might offer forgiveness to all who sought it? Is it possible that, at the deepest level, wokeness points us to the cross of Christ?

Notes

This a slightly shorter version of Canon J.John's blog, which will soon be appearing on his Philo Trust website. If you wish to read the full version, click here to link to his blog page.