By Dannah Adesanya
I remember the first time I heard the word “woke” used in a Christian context.
It was during a Bible study back in university. One person passionately argued that the Church needed to be more “woke” to the injustices happening around us. Another, visibly uncomfortable, muttered that Christianity wasn’t about “social agendas.”
The tension in the room was thick – and familiar.
Today, wokeism has become a cultural current that sweeps into everything: politics, media,education – and yes, even the Church. It started as a genuine call to awareness and justice. But somewhere along the way, it’s evolved into a worldview that sometimes feels at odds with the Gospel.
As believers, how do we navigate this? How do we stay awake to the needs of our society without falling asleep to biblical truth.
Woke but not watchful
To be clear, being awake to injustice is a deeply Christian instinct. Scripture is full of commands to care for the poor, defend the oppressed, and love the stranger (Isaiah 1:17; Proverbs 31:8–9).
Jesus Himself consistently elevated the overlooked. But biblical justice is rooted in God’s righteousness, not merely human emotion.
In The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer warns of “cheap grace”-a grace that preaches forgiveness without repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession. In today’s terms, we might say it’s a grace that affirms everything but transforms nothing. That’s the danger when political correctness becomes our gospel.
When the Church begins to prioritise cultural approval over divine conviction, we may find ourselves no longer following Jesus – but following a Jesus made in our own image.
The Gospel and the cultural pressure to please
C.S. Lewis once said: “We want not so much a Father in Heaven as a grandfather in Heaven – a senile benevolence who, as they say, ‘liked to see young people enjoying themselves,’ and whose plan for the universe was simply that it might truly be said at the end of each day, ‘a good time was had by all.”
That quote has aged remarkably well.
Much of what is promoted under the banner of wokeism today – radical redefinitions of truth, identity, and morality – asks the Church to soften its message to avoid offence. But the Gospel has never been about pleasing people. “If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.”- Galatians 1:10.
Being loving doesn’t mean being silent. Being compassionate doesn’t mean compromising. The Word of God, as Hebrews 4:12 reminds us, is “living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword.”
Jesus: The model of grace and truth
Jesus didn’t ignore culture – He engaged it. He met people in their pain and stories. But He didn’t lower the standard of holiness to fit their lifestyles. He said to the woman caught in adultery, “Neither do I condemn you… Go and sin no more.” (John 8:11) He spoke the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), not the truth without love -and not love without truth.
It’s tempting in our time to lean into one side. We either become “truth warriors” who forget to love, or “love preachers” who forget to correct. But the Gospel is both. As Timothy Keller wrote in The Reason for God: “Truth without love is harshness; it gives us information but in such a way that we cannot really hear it.
Love without truth is sentimentality; it supports and affirms us but keeps us in denial about our flaws.”
So where do we stand?
We engage culture – but we don’t bow to it.
The early Church in Acts didn’t just blend in; they stood out – because their identity came from Christ, not Caesar.
We speak up for justice – but through a biblical lens.
Justice isn’t just about rights – it’s about righteousness. Amos called for justice to “roll down like waters” (Amos 5:24), but that was rooted in God’s standard, not human ideology.
We train ourselves and others to discern.
Paul prayed for the Philippians to grow in discernment (Philippians 1:9 -10) – the ability to approve what is excellent. Not just what is popular. Not just what is safe.
Final thoughts: Awake, but anchored
There’s a reason Paul writes: “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” – Ephesians 5:14. The Church doesn’t need to fear being woke. But we do need to be watchful. Awake – but not alarmist. Discerning – but not dismissive. Compassionate – but not compromising.
We are people of the Book, not just of the moment. We follow the Lamb, not the trends. And we do so not with anger, but with hope – because Jesus is still building His Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matthew 16:18).
Let us wield the sword of truth – humbly, boldly, and wisely.
The world is watching. More importantly, heaven is.