Kerby Anderson

Many religious leaders from various denominations have spoken out against what could be called “woke theology.” Earlier this month Archbishop José Gomez added his concern. As the leader of the Archdiocese in Los Angeles, he wanted to step forward to educate others.

He is concerned that the “space that the Church and believing Christians are permitted to occupy is shrinking” due to wokeism. He has noticed how “Church institutions and Christian-owned businesses are increasingly challenged and harassed.” He added that this is also true in so many other sectors like education, health care, and government.

The woke religion, he says, rejects the salvation of Christ for the salvation found in racial tension and class struggle. He laments that these ideas have not only overtaken the universities, corporations, and the media, but are also found within Catholic and Protestant churches.

He also explains that woke faith is incompatible with Christian faith for many reasons. First, it is atheistic and denies God and Christ. Second, it replaces biblical sin and salvation with a false view of salvation through racial struggle and constant warfare.  Third, it is a utopian vision that believes we can somehow create a “heaven on Earth” without Christ.

Woke theology is seductive because we do see injustice and inequality in our fallen world. But we do not need to employ a Marxist worldview and secular tools to address real social problems in our society. Many of the successful social movements in the last two centuries (abolition, suffrage, civil rights) rested on a biblical foundation. We don’t need woke theology to bring salt and light to our fallen world.