Anyone else struggle with the word “woke?” I think it’s such an awkward word. Say it. See what I mean? Woke. What is woke anyway? Is it a real word? Yes. It’s slang for the past tense of awaken. But, that’s not how the world uses it. If it was we’d say awoke instead of just woke. Awoke doesn’t sound nearly as harsh as woke. It’s short, it’s abrupt, it’s pointed for a reason. One can’t hardly go through a day without hearing the word. In news, in podcasts, in print, on the street, on the radio, everywhere. Woke.
The world would tell me that woke means being aware of systemic injustices and prejudices. The world tells me that if I’m aware of those things then I’m woke — it’s trendy to be woke. Woke is used as a weapon in politics, in social issues, and in moral issues, and if you aren’t woke you’re ignorant, asleep, unaware. We are expected to be woke to absolutely everything, and it can only be a certain kind of woke – the woke the world is proclaiming. If we’re not woke, we’re intolerant, we’re bigots, we’re heartless, we’re radical (all harsh sounding and negative). I’m not being flip, but isn’t it just like us humans to make up words to fit our causes and confuse our issues? We do that to draw our minds away from the real issues, the real causes, and the real solutions. We’re really, really good at identifying problems — being woke – in our world and in others. But, let’s be real, it is so much easier to point out the fault (unwokeness) of others. It’s much easier to point out the prejudices and injustices of others (publicly) than to take care of our own prejudices and injustices (privately), it’s easier to look without than within and easier to point out someone else’s lack of wokeness than to actually awaken ourselves.
“A Jewish man was traveling from Jerusalem down to Jericho, and he was attacked by bandits. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him up, and left him half dead beside the road.
“By chance a priest came along. But when he saw the man lying there, he crossed to the other side of the road and passed him by. A Temple assistant walked over and looked at him lying there, but he also passed by on the other side.
“Then a despised Samaritan came along, and when he saw the man, he felt compassion for him. Going over to him, the Samaritan soothed his wounds with olive oil and wine and bandaged them. Then he put the man on his own donkey and took him to an inn, where he took care of him. The next day he handed the innkeeper two silver coins, telling him, ‘Take care of this man. If his bill runs higher than this, I’ll pay you the next time I’m here.’
“Now which of these three would you say was a neighbor to the man who was attacked by bandits?” Jesus asked.
The man replied, “The one who showed him mercy.”
Then Jesus said, “Yes, now go and do the same.” Luke 10:25-37
You don’t have to be called woke to see the injustices and prejudices in this story. Can you see it? Read it again and think about it. The world would say the Good Samaritan is woke. The Good Samaritan wasn’t woke because he saw a man along the side of the road who had been subjected to injustice. The Good Samaritan was woke because he saw a man along the side of the road whose only hope of healing was the compassion and care that could come only from His Heavenly Father.
We need to be woke, but not to the world’s kind of woke. You see, in order for each of us to be truly woke, we have to have an awakening – we have to be awakened to Jesus. Think how woke the world would be if we would all just wake up to Jesus and His message of salvation. There’s no greater awakening than to know where you will spend eternity. It makes you look at everything completely different, it is life changing! It changes us from robbers and bandits to Samaritans (following the example of Jesus). It changes us from those who just talk about woke to those who are truly awake. It changes us from pointing out the woke or unwoke in others to focusing on the Only One who can awaken us.
You see, the bottom line is that you cannot change the injustices and prejudices of the world and those who live in it without your soul being awakened. Once our souls are stirred and filled with Jesus Christ, the Samaritan, we can then take on the prejudices and injustices in the world – that is a natural development to a changed heart. Any work on injustices, prejudices, or social issues that are not a derivative of a relationship with Jesus Christ are futile and short-lived. Our actions without Christ at the center are hopeless and the world doesn’t really need any less hope, does it?
Be alert, be aware, be awoke, be awakened to Jesus Christ. Works without faith is useless. Woke without Jesus is pointless. Don’t let the world define you.
Crown Him with many crowns
The Lamb upon the throne
Hark How the heav’nly anthems drowns
All music but its own!
Awake, my soul And sing
Of Him Who died for thee
And hail Him as thy matchless King Thru all eternity.