Woke: A Faith That Won’t Look Away

What “Woke” Really Means

The word woke has taken a long and complicated journey—from its origins in African American communities as a call to stay “awake” to injustice, to a cultural flashpoint in today’s public debates. But stripped of controversy, woke simply means awareness: the refusal to close our eyes to suffering, to pretend injustice doesn’t exist, to ignore the deep systems of oppression that shape our world.

This awareness first centered on racial injustice, but over time it grew to include issues of gender, sexuality, class, immigration, disability, and more. At its best, wokeness isn’t just intellectual clarity—it’s moral courage. It is empathy and compassion in motion. And for a time, especially in the wake of movements like Black Lives Matter, wokeness was embraced as a sign of moral clarity.

But soon came the backlash. Politicians and media voices began to weaponize the word, turning woke into an insult, a slur, even a theological threat. And in many Christian spaces—especially evangelical ones—wokeness became the target of sustained resistance.

But this resistance often masks a deeper fear: a fear of what Gospel-rooted justice truly demands. It’s time to name the objections clearly—and respond without flinching.

Four Christian Objections to Wokeness—And Why They Fall Apart

Objection 1: “Wokeness undermines biblical authority.”

This is a favorite claim of Christian conservatives: that woke thinking distorts Scripture, replaces divine truth with secular ideology, and cherry-picks verses to support social justice causes.

But here’s the truth:

Progressive Christians don’t reject Scripture—we dwell in it. We take Jesus seriously when he tells us to love our neighbors, welcome the stranger, set the oppressed free, and proclaim good news to the poor. That isn’t cultural compromise—it’s the Gospel.

The Bible is filled with people who “woke up” their communities to injustice. Moses stood before Pharaoh. Isaiah denounced empty religion. Amos thundered: “Let justice roll down like waters.” These were not political radicals—they were faithful truth-tellers.

And Jesus? He confronted oppressive systems with compassion and courage. He healed on the Sabbath, flipped temple tables, and touched the untouchable. That wasn’t safe, polite, or apolitical. It was disruptive love in action.

Wokeness doesn’t undermine the Bible—it honors it. When we advocate for justice, equity, and inclusion, we’re not rewriting Scripture. We’re fulfilling it.

Objection 2: “Wokeness promotes division and identity politics.”

Some argue that focusing on race, gender, or class fragments the Church. Faith, they say, should transcend identity—not highlight it.

But here’s the truth:

Jesus never erase people’s identity—he honored them. He didn’t tell the Samaritan woman to forget who she was. He saw her. He didn’t dismiss the tax collector, the leper, or the widow. He drew near to them, naming and healing what the world ignored.

Christian unity is not sameness. It is solidarity in difference.

Similarly, wokeness doesn’t divide—it reveals. It helps us see how systems of power work and calls us to love intentionally across lines of privilege. Ignoring people’s identity doesn’t build unity—it protects privilege and blind spots.

True Christian unity is forged not through silence, but through truth-telling, repentance, and reconciliation. That’s the work of love—and the work of the Church.

Objection 3: “Wokeness is a secular ideology infiltrating the Church.”

This argument treats empathy and justice as foreign ideas—smuggled in from psychology, critical theory, or the political left. But this suspicion ignores a simple truth:

But here’s the truth:

Empathy is not Marxist. Compassion is not partisan. Justice is not a liberal conspiracy—it’s a biblical command.

And if the Church needs to learn from psychology, sociology, or human rights movements in order to love better—so be it. All truth belongs to God.

Progressive Christians don’t worship culture—we worship Christ. And Christ was not neutral in the face of injustice. He took sides—with the poor, the sick, the excluded. He disrupted systems that harmed people. He chose mercy over law, people over purity.

Wokeness didn’t hijack Christianity. It helps Christianity focus on where justice is most needed!

Objection 4: “Wokeness threatens Christian unity.”

Some say being woke divides the Church—fostering resentment, suspicion, or bitterness. But we must ask: what kind of unity are we protecting?

But consider this:

Is it unity when Black and brown people are told to stay silent about racism for the sake of “peace”? Is it unity when LGBTQ+ people are told to hide who they are to avoid “division”?

Jesus prayed for unity—but never at the expense of justice. Paul urged harmony—but never without truth. The early Church confronted injustice in its own ranks (Acts 6, Galatians 2). Their unity was forged in courageous, uncomfortable love.

Wokeness doesn’t threaten true Christian unity. It calls us to pursue it for real.

Jesus: Awake to Injustice, Moved by Compassion

Christians must also remember that Jesus’ ministry wasn’t theoretical. It was visceral, risky, embodied compassion (or love in action).

In Luke 6:36, he commands, “Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” The Greek word eleos interpretted here as “merciful” most literally means “the personification of compassion.” Jesus isn’t just asking us to be kind. He’s calling us to a mercy filled with empathy and compassion.

This call to compassion is essential for Jesus, because he never separated love from action. In the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10), compassion crosses cultural and religious boundaries. The Samaritan doesn’t stop to calculate risk or reputation—he sees suffering and responds. That’s woke faith: awareness + action.

And in Matthew 25, Jesus makes his priorities unmistakably clear. When push comes to shove, Jesus is clear that he’s not nearly as interested in correct doctrine or personal piety. Instead, he wants us to move heaven and hurt to feed the hungry, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, and visit the imprisoned. “Whatever you did for the least of these, you did for me.”

To be clear, that’s not a detour from the Gospel—it is the Gospel.

Jesus’ life was a protest against injustice and a blueprint for radical empathy. In this sense, Jesus was the original woke revolutionary—awake to suffering and committed to justice.

Empathy and Compassion Are Central to Christianity

As such, empathy and compassion are not optional. They are the heart of Gospel-shaped faith.

Modern science affirms what the Church has long known: empathy strengthens communities, heals divisions, and fosters resilience. Compassion transforms both giver and receiver.

Progressive Christianity embraces empathy not as weakness but as courage—the courage to enter another’s pain and to act for their good.

To be woke in the Christian sense means more than awareness. It means a heart open enough to suffer with others, and strong enough to seek justice alongside them.

Empathy is love’s foundation. Compassion is love in action. This is the way of Christ.

Proudly Woke: A No-Holds-Barred Stand

At The Inclusive Christian, we wear the label woke as a badge of faithfulness.

While we live in a time when many churches have gone quiet in the face of injustice, we will not. We will not shrink back, shut up, or smooth over the radical call of Christ.

To be woke is to be awake to God’s image in every person, to the suffering of our neighbors, to the systems that harm, and to the Spirit that heals.

This is progressive Christianity. This is true faith. This is Gospel.