The Bible is concerned about the way you think. Turn to Romans chapter 12. This is a passage that is very familiar. You probably know it by memory, but I want you to look at it again. Romans chapter 12 verse 1 says, I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Now, put those two things together for a second. Don't be conformed to the way the world thinks, but change your mind, renew your mind, because that's the way you are transformed. The Bible, I say, is concerned about the way you think. Now, Based on that, the Bible tells people like me to preach the word. It is an inspired word from God, and so I am told in 2 Timothy chapter four to preach it, to teach it, to convince people of it, to exhort them to do it. That is my job. Now those of you who've heard me over the years know that I've done that several different ways. One of the ways I do that is take books of the Bible and teach them. It seems to me that that's the way the book is written and that's the way we ought to understand it. The other thing I've done on occasion is take topics from the Bible and organize them and teach truth from the Bible that's topical, perfectly legitimate. But there's a third thing I've done. I haven't done it a lot, but I've done it over the years. And that is I've taken a current event and spoken directly about it to use it to teach scripture. I remember the first time I ever did this is when I was in seminary. When I was in seminary, I pastored a small rural church. And while I was there, John Kennedy was assassinated. That happened, I was about two or three miles from where that happened. and I was scheduled to preach the next Sunday. I'm not sure what possessed me to do it, but I'd already prepared a sermon for that Sunday, but I shelved it, and I spoke on the assassination of President Kennedy, because that's what was on everybody's mind, and I used it as an opportunity to teach spiritual truth. Well, that was only the beginning. As you know, after I left seminary, I became an itinerant speaker, and I spoke in churches all over America, actually. And in those meetings, I would often take a current topic and speak on it. For example, in 1971, when Jesus Christ Superstar was the rave, I preached a message entitled, What Does Jesus Christ Think of Jesus Christ Superstar? When the movie The Exodus was so popular, I preached a sermon entitled The Exodus. And then when parts of Los Angeles were set on fire because four policemen beat up Rodney King, in 1992, I preached a sermon entitled Reflections on a Burning City. Even since I became pastor of this church, I have taken current topics and spoken on them to teach biblical truth because my job is to change your mind about the way you think so you will be transformed. Some of you might remember a couple of these. Like in 1999, I spoke on Y2K. Remember that nothing burger? Then when Katrina hit New Orleans and virtually tried to wipe it out, I spoke on what Katrina teaches us. By the way, that message is available on our app. I think it's probably on our website. And I changed the title and to something about natural disasters. We need to know what the scripture teaches about natural disasters. So I changed the title. In 2005, that was in 2005, in 2016, I spoke on the topic of should you take your Bible into the voting booth? Remember that? I told you how to vote on such topics as capital punishment. Now, what I want to do now is take a current topic and talk about it. Guess what the topic is. Boy, wouldn't that be fun to have some people tell us what they think the topic is. The topic is wokeism. Would you like to know what the Bible says about wokeism? Say, I didn't even know the word was in the Bible. Oh, it's not. But what it teaches touches on the scripture and now you're on my turf and I am to teach you what it says. Now in the past, when I've spoken on current topics, I have usually just done one message and moved on. This one is so big and so pervasive, I'm gonna do a short series. So I'm gonna speak, on this message three Sundays in a row. There are three sermons in this series. And it is important that if you're interested in this subject, you listen to all three for a couple of reasons. One is that I'm not going to cover everything, even in all three, but you've got to hear all three to get some kind of a comprehensive view of the subject. But more importantly, it's the last of the three messages that I think is the most important, because I think it really gets at what's going on in America right now. Now, in case you missed it, that was a commercial. Saved the best for last, right. All right. So let's talk about wokeism. What I'm going to do is start by explaining what it is. Then I'm going to examine it from scripture. And finally, I think there are some things we need to know about what we need to do concerning it. So I'm gonna talk about the explanation, the examination of it in scripture and an exhortation to us. So let's start with an explanation of what is Wokeism. Well, let me give you a little background. In 1962, the New York Times Magazine Glossary said, it is a phrase and word that you might hear today in Harlem. And it defined woke as a current political conscious state. In 1972, A character in a play was known to say, quote, I've been asleep all my life and now Mr. Garvey done woke me up. I'm gonna stay woke. I'm gonna help him wake up other black folk. Then in 2008, there was a song that sort of made it popular and it became widely used among black Americans. That's sort of the background. By 2017, the word woke made it to the dictionary. The Oxford English Dictionary added the word woke and it said it meant, quote, originally well-informed, up to date, now chiefly alert to racial or social discriminations and injustice. That definition is really important. Another dictionary, Collins, says, wokeism is a behavior and attitude of people who are sensitive to social and political injustice. Our third dictionary, an urban dictionary, says it is being aware, knowing what's going on in the community related to racial and social injustice. Now that last statement I think is as concise and as accurate as any I have seen. So let me make this very simple and very clear. Wokeism is being awake. It's being alert. It's being aware of two basic issues. The first is racism, and the second is social injustice. Now, that's the way it started. I think we would have to add to that that it has become broader than that. It not only is becoming aware or awakened to social injustice, it has also become aware of things like sexism, identity politics, inequities in society. In short, it is an awakening of the issue of race, gender, and social injustice. So those who are woke are awake. They are sensitive. And if you don't agree with what they say, you need to be awake about, then you're asleep. And you need to be awakened, that you aren't woke yet. All right, we got it? I want you to remember two words. Can you imagine what the two words are? What is wokeism? Racism. and social injustice. Got it? All right. Then let's examine those two things biblically. The first is racism. Now, before I get into this, I want to say a personal word, and this is important because of what I'm going to say. I am against racism. Is that clear? But I want to tell you the story of how that happened. I grew up in the segregated South. I grew up. That shows my age, doesn't it? I grew up, as you know, in Florida, the panhandle of Florida. But it was segregated. We had two high schools, one black and one white. My favorite story is one my brother tells. He said, I remember the day, the first time I ever saw two restrooms and one was called white and the other was called colored. I didn't know what that meant. What color was that? It didn't make sense to him. Now, in my hometown, in a lot of southern towns, there was a street. On one side was the black community, on the other side was the white community. I grew up, on the first house on the white side of the community. You know what that meant? On the across the street was the black community. So I grew up as a young kid playing with non-white kids. So it never dawned on me there was an issue until later. When I got to high school, I went to that white high school. There were 2,700 kids. I think I was the only integrationist in the whole school. So all my life, this has been an issue for me. I felt strongly about it then. Couldn't understand why they wanted to segregate. What are you talking about? It didn't make any sense to me. And then I became a Christian. And that made it worse. So I want to make the point, and I want to make it very clearly, that I am opposed to racism. Matter of fact, in 1979, I became a pastor in California. It's not the only reason, but one of the reasons that I was attracted to that church is because it was integrated. I thought that was great. As a matter of fact, are you aware of how diverse this congregation is? We have everything. We're a small church, but we're really diverse. I've heard preachers talk about the fact that we need to do something about integrating the church. We don't talk about it, we just do it, and I love it. So I wanna make the point very, very clear. I personally am against racism, all right? So is the Bible. Turn to James chapter two, James chapter two. Preached a sermon on this once based on this passage and by the way that Sermon is on our app and it's on our church website It's based on this passage of scripture James chapter 2 verse 1 my brethren do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of glory with partiality Now let me explain that verse This is saying the faith of Jesus Christ. What is the faith of Jesus Christ? Well, this is not your personal faith, it's the doctrinal faith of Christianity. And among other things, it includes that Jesus Christ died for every human being. That gives every human being worth. It begins in Genesis with the fact that every human being is made in the image of God and Jesus Christ died for every human being and therefore you have value. Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight. Jesus loves all the children of the world. Jesus died for all the children of the world, all the children of the world. Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight. Jesus died for all the children in the world. But this verse says, Don't hold to that, and at the same time, practice partiality. The Greek word translated partiality means to receive by face. In other words, you're accepting somebody based on their outward appearance. Isn't that interesting? Now, in this passage, He illustrates that by talking about the nearsighted usher who had somebody come into the congregation who was obviously dressed like a wealthy person. And the usher gave that person, based on their outward appearance, the best seat in the house. And he told some fellow that came in that didn't have all those wealthy clothes on to sit under his footstool. So in this passage, it is clearly teaching you are not to judge people by their outward appearance. Technically, it is not talking about racism specifically, but the principle applies. You are not to judge people by their outward appearance. The person that I think captured the thought of this, and scripture for that matter, is Martin Luther King. You know the phrase, that he hopes there would come the day when people would be judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin. If there's anything that sums up this subject, that's it. The Bible puts the emphasis on character, not external appearance. So the Bible is opposed to racism. Have I made that clear? This is important because of what I'm about to say. I just said a minute ago, wokeism is about racism. Well, if you are opposed to racism, and if the Bible is opposed to racism, then we're all woke, right? Well, that's why you have to understand woke. It deals with racism, but you need to understand what it says about racism. Wokeism is based on the critical race theory. You've probably heard that term. It's abbreviated as the CRT. CRT contends that racial bias is inherent in many parts of the legal and social institutions of Western society because they were primarily designed for and implemented by white people. In other words, as one fellow said, America was born with an incurable birth defect. In 2018, a book was published by Robin DiAngelo. In that book, her thesis was, and I'm quoting now, all white Americans are racist. All white Americans are racist. All white Americans are a product of white supremacy and are actively or unwittingly complicit in maintaining this power structure. If you say you are not a racist, that is only proof that you are a racist. If you believe that you are not a racist, same thing applies. Black people exist in America only to be opposed by white people. That is what wokeism teaches. Her worldview is that black Americans were made so that they were made allowed to arise only because some whites were pacifist. To say that all white Americans are racist is racism. Right? Now that's why I labored. I'm against racism. And I'm white. So to call me a racist, frankly, is insulting. Matter of fact, throughout my life, I've had some dear friends that weren't my color. I have them now in this church. So to call me a racist is simply not true, right? And that's the problem with wokeism. Only wokeism doesn't stop with calling white people racist. It calls everything produced by white people racist. For example, D'Angelo promotes the idea, taught by other racially sensitive groups and outlined in the African American History Museum website, that traits such as self-reliance, independence, hard work, rational thinking, planning for the future, Defraying the laying gratification being on time having a love for written tradition proper lucid language and Politeness all belong to white culture and are used to keep black Americans down In other words hard work rational thinking writing politeness, delayed gratification, are white values. Therefore, wokeism teaches that those values are not to be accepted or practiced. That's absurd. I mean, that is really ridiculous. You agree? Absolutely. All right. It gets worse. Now keep in mind, all white people are racist. This is wokeism. And everything white people have produced are racist. For example, math is racist. It's what they say. Newsweek magazine. reported, and I quote Newsweek magazine, Seattle public schools introduced CRT, critical race theory, lens into math classes through the district's ethnic studies department. In 2019, the department released guidelines for K through 12 math teachers to use in the classrooms as part of a pilot program at a handful of Seattle public schools. The framework claimed that, quote, mathematical knowledge has been appropriated by Western culture. and that, quote, math has been and continues to be used to oppress and marginalize people and communities of color, end of quote. Now, if you eliminate math, who does that hurt? I think they're getting it. Right. Who cares who invented it or promoted it or who taught it? You gotta use it. The article goes on to quote one teacher who enjoyed dismantling the quote toxic white culture of math class in 2021. The Oregon Department of Education promoted a toolkit for teachers called A Pathway to Equitable Math Instruction. The toolkit warned educators that, and I'm now quoting, white supremacy culture shows up in the classroom every time teachers treat mistakes as problems by equating them with wrongness. because it reinforces the idea of perfectionism, that students shouldn't make mistakes, and parentalism, teachers and other experts can and should correct mistakes, both among the ideas commonly ascribed to white supremacy culture. So a teacher can't say, that was a mistake. That's, White supremacy, that's white culture. That's wokeism. So, my conclusion so far is simply this. You ready? Wokeism is racism. And you need to know that. Racism is against the Bible. and wokeism is racism. Now they can talk about racism all they want to, but their view of racism has simply gone too far. I mean, to put it in real simple terms, I grew up in the South, the segregated South, before there was a civil rights movement. And let me tell you, I knew people back then that thought all black people were inferior and I reacted to it. And now there are people saying all white people are inferior and their culture is inferior. Math class? I don't have time to go into all the other stuff. English? Gets thrown in the pile too. This is racism, folks. It's divisive and it's dangerous. And who is it going to hurt? The minorities. All right. I want you to remember two words today. One is racism. What's the second one? Oh, you got it. I'm so pleased. Right. The next thing we have to talk about is social injustice or social justice. Let me give you some scripture. We don't have time to turn to these. Deuteronomy 32 verse 4 says, he is a rock. His work is perfect, for all his ways are just. God of truth and without injustice, righteous and upright is he. In Genesis 18, God said that Abraham, his children, and his household were to quote Keep the way of the Lord to do righteousness and justice. Moses said in Deuteronomy chapter 24, you, listen to this very carefully, you shall not pervert justice. Isn't that an interesting phrase? God is just, we are to be just, and we are not to pervert just. Now, what the scripture means by that, is spelled out in that verse. You shall not pervert justice, do the stranger or the fatherless, or take a widow's garment as a pledge. In other words, you need to do what's right. And that's what the Bible means by don't pervert justice. So it's doing what's right and fair for individuals. In the judicial system, it is doing what is right according to the law. Judicial justice seeks punishment for the guilty and for unlawful behavior. So far, so good. So what is social justice? Ah, we need to think about this now. The Bible talks about justice. God is just, we are to be just, we are not to pervert justice. But now we've got this new term, social justice. What is social justice? Well, I looked it up in Britannica. And I read the article and walked away thinking, what they say is, well, there's a number of different definitions of social justice. So I kept scratching. And I found an article on the internet, a website, that defines social justice as, quote, the theory that focuses on the concept of fairness in relations between individuals in society and equal access to wealth, opportunity, and social privilege. Oh, now justice is bleeding into something else. It is concerned with equal outcome. Now listen to me very carefully. I believe in equality. This country is built on equality. Read the Declaration of Independence. We're established on that. What wokeism talks about is equity. And that's different from equality. Now, what's the difference? In equality, there is equal opportunity. In equity, there is equal outcome. And that is radically different. so that social justice arose during the Industrial Revolution. It aimed to remedy the capitalistic exportation of human labor and create a more egalitarian society. Social justice addresses a variety of issues, but the primary problem originally, it's gone past this, but originally it was economic injustice. In 2006, the United Nations released a social justice, released, and this is the name of the article of the paper, Social Justice in an Open World, the Role of the United Nations. The first line of the introduction said, and I'm quoting, the rise of inequality in the distribution of income among people is well documented. So what are we dealing with? Inequity in income. That paper goes on to say, and again I quote, the persistent aggravation and very existence of extreme poverty constitutes an injustice. That document says, and again, I quote, social justice may be broadly understood as the fair and compassionate distribution of the fruits of economic growth, end of quote. In a sense, social injustice is working toward socialism. That's what it is. Now, The term I want you to remember is social justice. It started out primarily with economic justice. It has expanded. It now includes other things such as the environment. race, gender, and other manifestations of inequality. I said this is a three-part series. I'm going to address some of those in later messages. But I want to deal with just the economic issue for a minute. It has been said that, quote, social justice and environmental justice are intrinsically interconnected. One article insisted that social justice, including voting rights, climate justice, health care, refugee crisis, the racial injustice, income gap, gun violence, hunger, and food insecurity, and inequity are all parts of social justice. Now, there's no way I'm gonna be able to cover all of these topics. I just want you to understand it is a broad topic that virtually covers everything. Just like racism covers everything, everything's racist, social justice includes everything. Now, what does the scripture say about this? The object is we need to think biblically, right? Right. Well, let me make it clear. All human beings are equal before God. And all equal human beings should have equal rights before the law. Justice treats all groups alike, regardless of their race or social status. Social justice, however, favors one group over the other. Favoring one group over another is partiality, which is what the Bible condemns. Now let me explain the problem. Helping poor people increase their standard of living is a worthy goal. We have a benevolence fund. We believe in helping people, poor people. but making everyone economically equal is something else again. It's not going to happen. Jesus said, you have the poor with you always. Matthew 26, 11. Given all the theories of economic development so far and the nature of people, economic, Equity is not going to happen. In no nation on this planet are people equal economically. The most successful system to increase the standard of living so far developed is called? Capitalism. Took the word right out of my mouth. Capitalism. That's exactly right. The redistribution of wealth is plagued with problems. In short, social justice, that is, making everyone economically equal, has never worked. It does not work in Cuba, to just give you one illustration. And most that are aware of this say, and it will never work. A fellow named Frederick Von Heinrich, who won the Nobel Prize for Economics, said the quest for social justice is a mirage. In a column in the New York Times, David Brooks wrote that wokeism is impractical and an impossible cure. Speaking about social injustice and equality, Elizabeth Elliott, Lynch said the idea is pseudo-Christian and she added, we prosperate ourselves before these idols muttering the required mumbo-jumbo of the sociologist without ever suspecting that we have surrendered to secularism. Now let me get real specific, okay? A reparations committee in San Francisco this last week is proposing that qualified black residents receive $5 million in reparations to repair the racial wealth gap stemming from slavery. As you can imagine, everyone has something to say about this. But the qualifications include you must be 18 years or older. You must have proof that you've been, get this, identified as an African American for at least 10 years. That's cute. And that you've been a resident of San Francisco for at least 13 years. Now, somebody's figured out that if 10,000 residents qualified, it would cost the city $50 billion. That's billion with a B. Those opposed to the idea argue that the plan is too costly, unfair, and divisive. I heard a fella interviewed from San Francisco on this subject and he said, our hope is that we adopt this and it become a model for the rest of the country. Wonder where he plans to get the money. No wonder some have said woke is broke. Reparations is contrary to the scripture. See, I didn't even know the scripture talked about reparations. Where does the Bible say reparations are not scripture, huh? Read your Bible. Ezekiel 18, quote, yet you say, why should the son bear the guilt of the father? Because the son has done what is lawful and right. and has kept my statutes and observed them, he shall surely live. The soul that sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him." You understand what that's saying? You bear your own responsibility. I am not responsible for the sins of my parents. I am not responsible for the sins of my forefathers. The Bible clearly teaches that, Ezekiel chapter 18. Reparations is not a biblical idea. Did I make that clear? All right. I said we're going to do three things. I was going to tell you what wokeism is. It has to do with racism and social justice. Then I said we were going to examine it. My examination says it's not biblical. Their view of racism is not biblical. Their view of social justice is not biblical. So what do we do about all that? Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. And look at verse 33. Do not be deceived. Evil company corrupts good habits. Wow. You see what that verse is saying? It's written to Christians. Christians can be deceived. And if you hang around with the wrong people, it'll corrupt your behavior. That's what that verse is saying. By the way, evil company corrupts good manners is a quote from a pagan named Meander who lived in the third century before Christ. So the context of 1 Corinthians 15 is the resurrection. And some Christians were listening to people who were saying, there is no resurrection. And he's saying, then you can be deceived by those people. It can corrupt your spiritual life. So he goes on to say that rather than being deceived, please look at verse 34. Awake. to righteousness, and do not sin, for some have not the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame." Would you look at that? The Bible says you ought to be woke. That's what that verse says. To righteousness. Actually, in the Greek text, the word righteousness is an adverb. And the idea here is wake up righteously. And the Greek word wake up actually can mean to become sober. And maybe the idea in this verse is Paul is picturing the Corinthians as a Duncan stupor, having been intoxicated with the wine of error. And he's saying, sober up. You're in a drunken stupor. You're drunk, you're deceived. So you need to wake up. Now, I think we need to be woke about woke. I think we need to wake up about woke. That's what we need to do. So. The reason he gives for this is some have not the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame. The fact that there are some, probably meaning in the church at Corinth, are ignorant of God, you ought to be embarrassed. You ought to do something about that. So I speak it to your shame. Some didn't believe in the resurrection. and their lives were affected by it? And so that ought to bother you. You ought to wake up. All right, let me sum up what I'm trying to say today. What I'm saying is this. Believers should think biblically and not be deceived about such things as wokeism. and their view of racism and social injustice because thinking affects your behavior. I started with that in Romans chapter 12. Be transformed behavior by the renewing of your mind. And I'm concluding with that in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. Don't be deceived because bad company can affect your behavior. So it is important for our spiritual growth that we think biblically. That's the thesis of this message and the thesis of the next two. We need to think biblically. And I'm going to examine other issues and other passages that talk about that. So, Let me conclude by telling you three things. You ready for this? Number one, if nothing else, this message ought to teach you to think biblically about everything. Don't just ask, what would Jesus do? Remember that? That's not bad. It's just that I think you ought to be asking, how does that idea relate to what the Bible says? Think. Biblically. Second, if you haven't been already, you will be impacted by wokeism. I mean, it permeates our society. I quoted, they want to start this in K through 12. It goes all the way through graduate school. It's permeated the educational system. It's permeated corporate America. I won't be surprised if after this message somebody says to me, oh yeah, in my company we have sensitivity training. People are shaking their heads. You're going to be affected by this. This is taking over the country. And I'm telling you, it's not just not biblical, it's downright dangerous. It's going to hurt people. It's divisive. So you need to know about this stuff. And thirdly, believers are not to be conformed to this world, but they're to be transformed by the renewing of their mind. In other words, beyond that, you need to be a light in a dark world. Jesus said, don't put your light under a basket. Let your light shine. Thank you. Paul said, quote, for you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light, for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth. Finding out what is acceptable to the Lord and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. Ephesians chapter five. So let me give you three little words. Wake up. Don't slumber, sleep, or snooze. Wake up and look up. Number two, stand up. If somebody in this country doesn't stand up to this, what's going to become of this country? We stand for the flag. We bow for the cross. And number three, speak up. Let your vote be counted and your voice be heard, because some have not the knowledge of God. I speak this to our shame. So we need to leave this place. And I'm going to talk more later about how exactly to do this. But we need to wake up, stand up, and speak up. Let's pray. Father, thank you for revealing yourself to us, your righteousness, your justice. And thank you for giving us the opportunity and the power through the Holy Spirit to live a righteous life and to be godly. And Lord, thank you for helping us to understand through your word what the darkness is like and deliver us from it. Help us to be lights in this very dark world. In Jesus' name, amen.