I had an interesting experience recently when one of the largest ministry organizations in the world called and asked me to do an online training session with about sixty members of their global leadership team.
After my talk, one of the questions asked was about cancel culture and how they should prepare if the cancel crowd comes after them.
In the process we discussed “wokeness” and how cancel culture is a symptom of that thinking, and how it’s almost become a religion – but a religion without forgiveness, redemption, or the possibility of salvation. From a Biblical perspective, it’s the antithesis of what the Church stands for and teaches.
It was a good discussion, but after the session, I got a call from one of top leaders who shared how offended many of the ministry’s leaders were after my talk. Apparently, many of their younger leaders felt being woke was exactly what Christians should be doing today – and worse, the global director of the ministry wasn’t even sure if that was a problem or not.
That experience taught me that wokeness has infiltrated church and ministry organizations at a higher level than many of us thought. Plus, the top leaders of many of these organizations don’t know enough to correct the erroneous theology.
As a result, we all need to look around and see exactly who our churches, ministries, and nonprofits are raising up, and what they believe about being woke. Without being too dramatic, the future of the church may depend on it.
And if you want to explore the issue in more depth, I’d recommend:
Christianity and Wokeness: How the Social Justice Movement is Hijacking the Gospel – and the Way to Stop It by Owen Strachan.
Live Not by Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents by Rod Dreher
Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism’s Looming Catastrophe by Voddie Baucham, Jr.
The Just Thinking Podcast, hosted by Darrell Harrison and Virgil Walker
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Phil Cooke, Ph.D. is a producer and media consultant to churches and ministries across the country. His latest book is “The Way Back: How Christians Blew Their Credibility and How We Get It Back.” Find out more at www.philcooke.com.
Danielle Jarvis
Soul Purpose
Matthias Browning
