Should Christians ‘Stay Woke’?
- Monique Duson
- 5 days ago
- 10 min read
Updated: 1 day ago
Meanings can shift over time. This is true of the word “woke.” The definition tends to shift based on the political affiliation of the person using it. On the right, woke is a pejorative that inartfully defines those on the left. On the left, woke explains a position of virtue, standing against the oppression of the marginalized. And, for some, woke means something else entirely.
For example, in a social media post, we asked followers to define “woke.” We received over 100 responses, ranging from the more traditional definition to descriptive definitions of how woke is observed in action. Here are a few of the responses:
To become aligned with the socialist communist worldview
Awareness of racial injustice
Being aware of and wise to systemic racism, oppression, and injustices toward any minority not considered part of the "dominant" classes
"Reverse" racism
Special “knowledge” of the Gnostic cult kind
A synonym for critical consciousness
Viewing everything through the lens of victimhood
Because there is so much confusion surrounding the term, I wanted to take a few minutes to explain its historical development, its use in current culture, and how it has come into many evangelical churches. I will also share some of my concerns about it.
A Short History of the Word “Woke”
The word “woke” has a long history in black vernacular and culture. As early as the 1930s, black activists, artists, and communities used the word “woke” or the phrase “stay woke” to remind black people to remain aware of racial injustice. At that time, many parts of America were dangerous for black people, and the saying “stay woke” became a shorthand for blacks to communicate the need to “keep your eyes open” to racial injustice and potential violence. To “stay woke” was to stay aware because your life could depend on it.
Marcus Garvey (1887-1940), political activist and author, used the phrase “Wake up!” to call for a social and political uniting of peoples from the African diaspora around the world back to the African continent:
Wake up, Ethiopia! Wake up, Africa! Let us work towards the one glorious end of a free, redeemed, and mighty nation. Let Africa be a bright star among the constellation of nations.
One of the most notable usages of “stay woke” at that time came from the black musician Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter. In 1938, after learning about the Scottsboro Boys (nine black young men who were falsely accused of raping two white women in Alabama), Lead Belly wrote and recorded the song Scottsboro Boys. At the song's end, when reflecting on meeting the boys, he warns to “be a little careful when they go along through there—best stay woke, keep their eyes open.” Lead Belly used the term to warn blacks that when traveling, they must stay alert or awake to the threats and dangers of traveling across the racist South, where whites were ready to criminalize and even kill black people.
But just as the national view on race and racism has largely shifted over the course of the last 85 years, so has the definition of woke.
“Woke” Evolution
Fast-forward nearly a century, and the definition of woke has expanded beyond the solitary use of racial injustice to include everything from recognizing the injustice and inequities of racial and gender minorities to standing up for animal rights.
The term's current usage can be aptly summarized when reading Brazilian educator and philosopher Paulo Freire. In his influential book, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Freire introduces the term “critical consciousness.” He writes, “The term [critical consciousness] refers to learning to perceive social, political, and economic contradictions and to take action against the oppressive elements of reality.” (1) Freire's definition of critical consciousness captures the heart of what “woke” has evolved into. To be “woke” today involves recognition and action—recognizing the contradictions that bring about injustice and taking action against the recognized injustice. Woke has come to mean much more than being aware of racial injustice. Being woke today is to have a special knowledge of all issues of injustice.
In a 2020 Vox interview, A History of “Wokeness,” Chloé Valdary, founder of the “compassionate anti-racism” program Theory of Enchantment, states:
“My sense is that by ‘woke,’ what people mean is a new form of being ‘enlightened,’ repackaged for our modern era,” she said. “The Enlightenment was meant to be an era of new progressive ideas, and folks fancied themselves awakened by new ideas and knowledge.” Similarly, “people today who identify as woke also see themselves as having been awakened to a new set of ideas, value systems, and knowledge. The mode and the values are different, but the sensibility—the idea that previously you were blind, and now you can see—is the same.”
As such, the term has continued to evolve and become, for many, a single-term catch-all to call for action on almost any culturally relevant social issue, real or perceived. A quick perusal of the #staywoke hashtag on X provides many relevant examples. The following two articles also illustrate the expansion of the word:
With everyone from dog breeders to hip-hop artists to evangelical pastors using the word, I’m left asking the question, “What do you mean by that?”
The Problem with Using the Term Woke
The problem is that the word has become increasingly difficult to use in productive public discourse because it’s often without clear context or definition, manifesting as derogatory, politically affiliated, or performative.
Social justice warriors often use the word performatively to stand in solidarity with every “marginalized” (another word that needs to be carefully defined) person or people group. This includes standing against racism (the historical definition) as well as more progressive stances such as being pro-LGBTQ+ or standing in solidarity with Palestine.
In 2020, many people, including many “woke” celebrities and companies, posted black squares on “Blackout Tuesday,” garnering hundreds of thousands of likes—but rarely, if ever, culminating in anyone standing against real injustice.
In 2018, the Harvard Crimson (Harvard University’s student newspaper) wrote an article, “Performing Woke,” raising similar concerns about the performative posture millennials have taken when it comes to “woke”:
What does it mean to be woke? Knowledge of social justice issues is so Civil Rights Era and (therefore) out of date. In the age of constant social media connection and instant gratification, we need excitement! Sustained community-based activism and political work just takes too long. Tweeting about how I just bought a PRIDE t-shirt and “ended homophobia” inside Target only takes a few seconds. That, my friends, is woke culture in 2018: a performance in two parts — posting about social issues online and expectantly waiting for the affirmation to pour in. Many on the political right use the term to demean and shut down conversations, accusing the people or the issues of being “too progressive.” I have seen attempts to highlight legitimate issues of injustice (according to biblical standards) shut down because the conversation was deemed “woke.”
It has also become attached to political affiliation. Many who identify as political conservatives use the word pejoratively to stand against progressive ideologies and see those who identify as woke as nothing more than “useful idiots.” Unfortunately, some of those same conservatives have a very difficult time defining the word they so ardently despise.
For example, last year, during an interview on The Hill’s web show, Rising, Bethany Mandel (someone I would classify as conservative), author of Stolen Youth, was asked to define the word “woke.” Mandel fumbled for an answer and eventually responded:
So, I mean, woke is, sort of, the idea that, um, woke is something that’s very hard to define, and we’ve spent an entire chapter defining it. It is sort of the understanding that we need to totally reimagine and redo society in order to create hierarchies of oppression. Sorry, it’s hard to explain in a 15-second sound bite.
I agree with Mandel. Defining the word “woke” has become difficult. However, her poorly structured definition pejoratively described how the word, at times, is acted out in the culture. Whether I agree or disagree with her description of the word in action, Mandel failed to offer a clear definition.
Should the Church be Woke?
Adding to the confusion over the meaning of the word “woke” is how it has come into historically conservative Christian institutions. For example, Pastor Eric Mason connects the historic definition of “woke” with the Christian worldview. In his 2018 book, Woke Church, he makes his case that every church should be “woke.”
Early in the book, Mason tips his hat to the historic definition of the word when he says, “Woke is a word commonly used by those in the black community as a term for being socially aware of issues that have systemic impact.” (2) He then builds on this historic definition and folds it into the Christian worldview. He explains:
My desire in this book is to encourage the church to utilize the mind of Christ and to be fully awake to the issues of race and injustice in this country. Pan-Africanists and Black Nationalists use the term “woke” to refer to no longer being naïve nor in mental slavery. We have borrowed the term and redeemed it to be used in the context of being awakened from deadened, sinful thinking. In fact, every believer has been awakened from sin’s effects and Satan’s deception (Eph. 5:14). Thus, the believer is able to be aware of sin and challenge it wherever it is… Being woke has to do with seeing all of the issues and being able to connect cultural, socio-economic, philosophical, historical, and ethical dots. A similar term is conscious. (3)
The verse Mason refers to says, “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine upon you.”
I agree that Christians are to walk in the light of Christ. However, I propose that Mason makes a subtle sleight of hand here. In bringing in cultural, socio-economic, philosophical, historical, and ethical matters, I believe Mason makes an equivocation fallacy. Paul’s wording of “wake up” would have known nothing of our 2024 American social ills; Paul is referring to the believer’s resurrection from death in sin to life in Christ. This is a metaphor for salvation, not an instruction to understand “isms” and equity.
While I can appreciate Mason’s desire to recapture the word and to see churches committed to justice, he overlooks how the term is being used today. It is no longer solely associated with racial injustice. Today, it means standing for justice according to the culture’s definitions. Yet culture's definition of justice is deeply flawed, with much of it rooted in critical theory. Because of woke’s connection to critical theory and critical consciousness, it’s nearly impossible to be woke” about race and nothing else. Not only does this go against the cultural understanding, it no longer represents the accurate meaning of the word.
Mason later connects Paul’s words in Ephesians with W.E.B. Du Bois’s idea of double consciousness, a concept that forms the foundation for identity for many in the black community:
This double consciousness that Du Bois identifies is the struggle of blacks in America. It is a struggle to emerge with a strong sense of self and dignity, while being fully aware of the perception of our people in the eyes of white America. Most African Americans have had at least two life-altering experiences that are burned into their memory—the moment they realized they were black and the moment they realized that was a problem. (4)
From there, Mason wants to add a third consciousness, something he calls “Christ consciousness.” He explains:
Being truly woke is rooted in Christ Consciousness. This is the anchor. This is the common ground. At our core, without being conscious in Christ, our souls are still in bondage and can only see things from the natural, fleshly appearance. Our Christ Consciousness gives the double consciousness depth and character. Our Christ Consciousness elevates our awareness to our responsibility to care for and love our brothers—even those who don’t look like us. However, if one is regenerated by the gospel, yet unaware of the double consciousness of African Americans and other ethnic minorities in America, one’s clarity on justice and race issues will be clouded and even absent. Therefore, to be fully woke, one needs to have all three aspects of consciousness. (5)
While I agree that Christ consciousness (what I would call our “salvation identity,” or being aware of who you are in Christ) should be the foundation for all Christians, I question what Mason means when he suggests that our “Christ Consciousness” will elevate our care and love for our brothers. The words “care” and “love” must also be carefully defined. When we become aware of who we are in Christ, any stain of cultural markings must pass away. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come; The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Cor. 5:18). There is no longer any need to tip-toe back and forth between culture's monikers and what the Word of God says.
Should Christians Use the Word Woke?
I have a confession: I sometimes use “woke” as shorthand to describe those on the left. And, yes, this often is a pejorative. Writing this and recognizing my participation, I’m not happy about it, but I think it’s important to acknowledge and confess for two reasons: first, it’s wrong and unhelpful, and second, as Christians, we don’t need to borrow the culture’s language when Scripture speaks plainly.
If the goal is to awaken the Church to righteousness and justice, Scripture already gives us the language and framework to do so. We are called to be alert (1 Peter 5:8), to walk as children of light (Ephesians 5:8), and to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God (Micah 6:8). But we must first understand what these words mean according to Scripture’s definitions, not culture’s. These are timeless commands, untainted by political spin or cultural redefinition.
When we adopt the world’s vocabulary, we inevitably import the world’s baggage. Today, “woke” no longer simply means “aware of injustice.” It carries an entire worldview, rooted in critical theory, subjective morality, and identity politics, that often stands in opposition to the truth of Scripture. Using it without qualification risks confusing our hearers and obscuring the gospel we’ve been entrusted to proclaim.
Instead of striving to be “woke” by cultural standards, Christians should strive to be Christ-centered, rooted in the Word, discerning of false ideologies, and steadfast in the call to love God and neighbor according to His definition of love and justice. The gospel does not need rebranding to be relevant. It needs to be preached clearly, lived faithfully, and applied courageously.
In the end, the question is not whether the Church should “stay woke." The real question is whether we will stay faithful?
Notes:
Copyright © 1970, 1993 by Paulo Freire Introduction © 2000 by Donaldo Macedo
Mason, Eric. Woke Church (p. 25). Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Mason, Eric. Woke Church (p. 25). Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Mason, Eric. Woke Church (p. 27). Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition.
Mason, Eric. Woke Church (p. 27). Moody Publishers. Kindle Edition.
