Though this writer has had to seek forgiveness many times for disdain of differing races, the poor, the homosexual, and the gender-confused, graciously, the Lord did not allow his ship to make it to Tarshish either. At snail’s pace, the Spirit is killing off his old nature allowing a new creation to live in Christ’s liberty. What freedom! Fellow brothers in Christ, do not let these vain philosophies infiltrate the PCA and mar her system of doctrine. There is nothing “woke” about philosophies that block sinners access to the freedom in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Dear Fellow Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

I love the Presbyterian Church in America, even with all her faults.

The “Woke” Movement accompanies three major shifts in philosophy. A summary of these three changes follows in a moment. Justifiably, people often loathe philosophical discussions. Philosophers wrongly think battles are fought only in the world of “ideas,” making Plato the winner of every philosophical discussion for the past 2300 years. However, Jesus taught the Gospel is first a matter of life and death, making souls the main battlefield in spiritual warfare (Mt 10:5-42). Yes, we must defend God’s truth as the Spirit has revealed it. But, souls are our ultimate aim. So for this “philosophical discussion” on wokeness, the intent is to edify and not darken, redeem and not tear down, to unite rather than divide, to grow in Christ rather than cause dissension.

Frequently, the discussion of Social Justice confuses the salvific propitiatory work of Jesus Christ with civil justice. Social Gospels and Social Justice confuse the two. In a lifetime, all stand before at least two judges: the King of Kings and the local circuit judge. We stand in the former courtroom each day, though, some are graciously declared not guilty thanks to the work of our Substitutionary Lawyer. And, from time-to-time, all of us stand in the latter courtroom for various civil crimes. As Andrew Melville asserted to James VI of Scotland, “…there are two kings and two kingdoms in Scotland: there is Christ Jesus the King of the Church, whose subject King James the Sixth is, and of whose kingdom he is not a king, nor a lord, nor a head, but a member…” (Rev. J. A. Wylie, The History of Protestantism, Vol. 3, p. 887). However, there is a hierarchy of moral principles. Civil justice finds its foundation on the justice of God. Divine justice was demonstrated mightily at the cross, meting out punishment on Jesus and mercy on the elect. Likewise, civil law and social norms should be rooted in the morality stemming from God’s inherent righteousness.

“Woke” is today’s go-to word indicating an awakening. Woke individuals acknowledge though once blind, now seeing clearly. In the case of Social Justice, the awakening might be a new realization of racial oppression. Others awaken to an alternate reality where there are more than two genders. This author desperately needs to be “woke” to his sins and blindness. The Bible and Jean-Paul Sartre both teach we are our own worst deceivers. But, “woke” means more than a mere intellectual or moral awakening. Some of the “woke” are asserting new knowledge, a “gnosis” if you will, unknown to the rest. Such new knowledge is telling, for it requires a change in epistemology and ethics. Being woke is indicative of a paradigm shift in philosophy.

Becoming woke appears to entail a “conversion.” All systems of philosophy have a conversion. There comes the point when one tosses out an old idea to embrace something new. But a “conversion” is more than mere mental assent to an idea. A child eventually concedes the moon is made of dirt and not Swiss Cheese. Such a simple change requires no change of heart. Many theists assent to the existence, sovereignty, and majesty of God without submitting their will to Jesus Christ. Demons do the same (Jam 2:19).

But, eventually, a conversion requires the submission of one’s will to a new authority. A conversion to Materialism denies the soul within, a spiritual reality without, to embrace all things are “matter.” A converts to Naturalism surrenders his will to a deterministic self-governing “universe.” The Pantheist surrenders his individuality as a part of “god.” A Christian surrenders his will to Jesus Christ. A convert to Collectivism (Hegelian, Marxist, Socialist, or otherwise) surrenders individuality to the majority. All these are acts of faith. The new governance might be matter, the universe, God, or the collective good of society, but all are submissions of the will to a new authority.

Recently, half-a-dozen Christian friends have self-identified (publically or privately) as “woke.” The personal godliness of these friends is not in question. These people are humble, exhibiting the Fruits of the Spirit way beyond this writer. In contrast, a few “woke” college students fell short of such character.  An air of justified arrogance preceded them while looking down on this “unwoke” professor. Some were “fighters” while others “warriors” for Social Justice. A few implied their teacher guilty of racial sins, whereas they are not. The teacher concurs he is guilty, but their declaration of innocence is telling for the pardon of sin requires the forensic acts of atonement and justification. But these acts of atonement and justification are not on the blood of Christ nor the imputation of Christ’s righteousness. A new alien sufficiency other than Christ’s propitiation is occurring. Becoming “woke” is a conversion to a new system of ethics and epistemology, but not evangelical kinds.

When becoming “woke,” one adopts the following three philosophical ideas. No, these do not mean a person ceases to be a Christian. But, the ideas are contradictory to the “ordained… system of doctrine,” which “Christ, as King has given to the Church officers…” (BCO, Preface I) to uphold, guard, and protect.

1. Collectivism – The first shift is from Individualism to Collectivism. Identity and meaning are now derived (in whole or part) by associating with an oppressed “class.” The Gospel is turned on its head, making “class” rather than the individual the primary focus of redemption. Life’s meaning is finding a niche in a new proletariat. The more oppression one has the more identity one gains. Though Social Gospel’s believe they are freeing individuals from society, in reality, such systems bind persons to the greater sins of society while still leaving them entangled in personal sins. For Hegel, a person finds meaning in this lifelong identity crisis (“struggle”).

Collectivism implies union with Jesus Christ (Eph 1:3-14) is no longer sufficient identity. However, the Bible says people are only made “complete in Christ” (Col 2:10). Collectivism, now commonly called “Cultural Marxism,” is pervasive in popular language: “minority,” “racism,” “sexism,” “feminism,” “white privilege,” “toxic masculinity,” “Identity Politics,” “self-identify,” “Social Gospel,” “activism,” “multiculturalism,” and “intersectionality” just to name a few.

The logical conclusion of Collectivism is sobering: the class has value, whereas the individual has no inherent value, meaning, or purpose. The riddance of unwanted babies is now justifiable, reducing the survivors to little more than political pawns of the powerful. Collectivists correctly point out societies are evil in need of redemption. True, “creation waits in eager expectation for the revelation of the Sons of God” (Rom 8:19). The church better “get busy.” Whatever said, Social Gospels inevitably skip the first bullet point of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: God saves us from ourselves. Our first slavemaster is not the class but the sin within our hearts. Your worst Bourgeoisie stares you down in the bathroom mirror.

2. Social Morality – The second shift in “wokeness” is abandoning God’s absolute morality to flirt with social ethics. Collectivism requires adopting a class-based morality. Since God is now “dead” (according to Nietzsche), 19^th-Century atheists hoped for a new social morality based on the “common good.” Repentance is now to the class. If ever granted, forgiveness comes from the class.

Sadly, this attempt to establish a person’s identity through social morality failed miserably. The moral demise of the individual is evident in popular culture, music, movies, a quick glance into our soul, the inner city, broken homes, and widespread despair. The salesman is dying, and no one attended Eleanor Rigby’s funeral. The heart is irrelevant in social morality. Once morality was first a thing between a person and God. Now, morality is between a person and an ever-changing will of the class. The collective will of society now defines “good.” ‘Ah, and there is the rub.’

Allowing people to define “good” always ends badly. Recent history demonstrates any action can be deemed “good” by collective will. The Spirit forewarned of this long ago (Isa 5:20). C. S. Lewis warned too:

Of all tyrannies a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron’s cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience. (God in the Dock: The Humanitarian Theory of Punishment)

Formally named “Utilitarianism” in the 19^th-Century, this writer asserts “social morality” is not a legitimate system of morality at all. Rather, it is a tool of social tyranny in which each individual must submit their will to the whims of the class, no matter how objectively evil the class might be. No longer can one’s conscience be free in Christ, being forever found guilty by an increasingly angry class.

3. Denial of Essence – The third philosophical shift is abandoning the “essence” of things opting for “attributes.” Though sounding esoteric, this is a necessary step of Collective Idealism. We generally take the definition of things for granted. One might define an apple as a “sweet, round, red fruit.” The attributes of sweetness, roundness, and redness are clear enough. However, a definition for “apple” is not so easy. We all know the bitter-sour flavor of crab apples. Not all apples are round. And, some apples are green while others yellow.

Attributes alone are not enough to define anything. Whereas God’s divine attributes are necessary, comprising His essence, the attributes of created things are contingent. Collectivism’s denial of individuality is a denial of the “essence” for man and woman. Contingent attributes now define male and female. Being an image-bearer, a unique creation, or for the believer a “new creation,” becomes increasingly irrelevant. Collective Idealism replaces the reasonable souls of man and woman with whatever one perceives. Perception is reality –  Idealism’s looking glass.

A man can now perceive to be a woman or vice versa. Hairbows, lipstick, and shoes now make one female rather than “adorn” the essence of female declared by God (Gen 1:27). We are led to believe surgeries and hormones can change gender. Tomfoolery. Contingent attributes now define unborn babies as wanted, unwanted, fetal stages, and viability. And, logically, viability becomes a reasonable question for persons using iron lungs, requiring dialysis, transfusions, and awaiting organ transplants. Man has lost his essence.

The foundational principle for Collectivism, Social Morality, and Denial of Essence is Hegel’s principle of “dialectic.” The principle, ‘all things are in a constant state of change,’ was the underpinning of Modernism, Neo-orthodoxy, and today is still the foundation for all Social Gospels. Relativism goes by many names: Heraclitus called it “flux,” Hegel “dialectic,” Kierkegaard “paradox,” Nietzsche’s “madman” preached boldly, and today people are “Postmodern.” “A rose is a rose is a rose.” But, the consequences of this vain philosophy are painfully evident. Infected by such social thought, generations of souls are lost in pews of mainline denominations no longer preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Nietzsche called such churches “tombs.” One hundred years of Collectivism has divided the United States into warring tribes, leaving individuals in hopeless despair. One hundred years of sexual confusion has made homosexuality mainstream in popular culture, mandatory in education, and praised from many pulpits. And, this first full generation without human essence is resulting in men transforming into women and women into men. The genders “man” and “woman” are now ingenious creations in the image of the “old self” (Eph 4:22) rather than the image of God (Gen 1:27). Like Eleanor Rigby and all other lonely people: no one saved, no one redeemed, and no one reconciled to Jesus Christ (Ro 5:11; 11:15; 2 Cor 5:18-19). Nihilism rules the hearts of many rather than the peace of God (Col 3:15).

Though this writer has had to seek forgiveness many times for disdain of differing races, the poor, the homosexual, and the gender-confused, graciously, the Lord did not allow his ship to make it to Tarshish either. At snail’s pace, the Spirit is killing off his old nature allowing a new creation to live in Christ’s liberty. What freedom! Fellow brothers in Christ, do not let these vain philosophies infiltrate the PCA and mar her system of doctrine. There is nothing “woke” about philosophies that block sinners access to the freedom in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Collectivism, Social Morality, and Denial of Essence, only further make “captive” the souls of weary, lonely, and desperate people to social experiments full of “empty deception, after the vain traditions of men… instead of according to Christ” (Col 2:8).

Kevin Goodner, whose heart has been set free, is a member of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Montgomery, Ala.