Is God 'woke'? The answer should matter to you.

Language changes constantly.  Every language does this, words are coined, borrowed, transformed, to fit the need of the moment.  Old words take on new meanings, sometimes at odds with how they were once used.  Some words fall into disuse and disappear from the cultural consciousness, other words rise into the zeitgeist for their own fifteen minutes of fame.

Woke is having a cultural moment.  During the 2022 and 2024 election cycles you will hear the term woke used a lot, a whole lot, by pundits and politicians, usually as an insult, a Scarlet 'A' akin to calling someone a Commie back before the Berlin Wall fell.  {Not that smearing one's opponent as a Communist or Socialist has fallen out of favor entirely}.  How the word 'woke' is being used now, especially as an insult, goes far beyond what the word meant just a few short years ago.

woke

/wōk/

Learn to pronounce

verb

1. past of wake¹.

adjective

INFORMAL•US

1. alert to injustice in society, especially racism.

   "we need to stay angry, and stay woke"

As Professor Andy Smith taught me back in the day when I was trying (and sort of succeeding) to learn Biblical Greek: "Word usage determines word meaning".  'Woke' doesn't technically mean anymore what the dictionary (in this case Oxford) says, at least not only that, because it isn't be used that way primarily anymore.  A 2nd definition now exists after the first, "an insult synonymous with calling someone a 'liberal'".

But what of the question in the post title?  Is God 'woke' by the dictionary definition?  Is God alert to injustice in society, especially racism?  Let us let the Word of God speak, and then we will ask the crucial question: Does God's attitude on these issues matter to us?

Leviticus 19:15 (NIV) “Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly."

Deuteronomy 10:18 (NIV) He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.

Deuteronomy 27:19 (NIV) “Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.”  Then all the people shall say, “Amen!”

Psalm 82:3 (NIV) Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed.

Psalm 140:12 (NIV) I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy.

Proverbs 21:3 (NIV) To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

Proverbs 24:24-25 (NIV)  Whoever says to the guilty, “You are innocent,” will be cursed by peoples and denounced by nations. 25 But it will go well with those who convict the guilty, and rich blessing will come on them.

Proverbs 29:7 (NIV) The righteous care about justice for the poor, but the wicked have no such concern.

Isaiah 1:17 (NIV) Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed.  Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow.

Jeremiah 22:3 (NIV) This is what the Lord says: Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed. Do no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow, and do not shed innocent blood in this place.

Amos 5:10-12 (NIV) There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court and detest the one who tells the truth. 11 You levy a straw tax on the poor and impose a tax on their grain.  Therefore, though you have built stone mansions, you will not live in them; though you have planted lush vineyards, you will not drink their wine. 12 For I know how many are your offenses and how great your sins.  There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.

Micah 6:8 (NIV) He has shown you, O mortal, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.

Luke 11:42 (NIV)  “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone.

James 1:27 (NIV) Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

James 2:14-17 (NIV) What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save them? 15 Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

There are more, a lot more, verses and passages of holy scripture that both declare God's concern for the poor, the fatherless, the widow, and the foreigner, AND reprimand God's people, in no uncertain terms, for failing to maintain justice.  Of the things that caused God to send Judah into exile (which included idolatry), how the poor and powerless were treated was a primary cause of God's anger.  In addition, Jesus himself famously (and controversially at least with the Pharisees and priestly class) sought out those in 1st century Judea who were forgotten, belittled, and oppressed: tax collectors, prostitutes, 'sinners', Samaritans, etc.  Few things angered Jesus' critics more than his willingness to point out to them that they were failing to 'do justice' because they had slammed the proverbial door in the face of those in need.

There is no way to read the Word of God, or study the history of Israel or the Church, without concluding that God is very much alert to injustice in society, that God cares a great deal about how society treats the 'least of these', and that God will absolutely judge, indeed he will pour out his wrath, upon those who oppress others and deny justice.  

If you think that racism is somehow an exception to this call for Justice, as if its pains and sorrow, injustices and griefs, are somehow lesser in God's sight, I pity you.  God is the Creator is all mankind, his Imago Dei is equally stamped upon every person, neither race nor nationality make any single person more or less the image of God than any other person.  Racism denies God's role as Creator, it spits in the face of God's common grace, of Jesus' commands to take the Gospel to all nations.  Racism is injustice in the eyes of God no less than sexism or classism, all of which immorally place human beings in categories of greater than, less than.

God is not less aware of injustice than we are, God is more aware, perfectly aware.  Afterall, God knows the thoughts and attitudes of our hearts, and is not fooled by our pretenses and the lies we tell ourselves.  As the Judge of the living and the dead, God will avenge those who have been the victims of injustice.  

God knows the flaws (and strengths) of America, American culture, and the system of justice in America, with perfect depth and full clarity.

God is more 'woke' than anyone, he has been from the beginning.

God cares about injustice, therefore lack of care about injustice on our part is a sin, period.  On the flip side, putting effort and passion into overcoming injustice is an act of righteousness because it reflects the mind and will of God.  God honoring Christians can, and will, disagree about whether or not this particular example is injustice at work.  God honoring Christians can, and will, disagree about how to best remedy injustice in a free society.  But God honoring Christians cannot disagree about the importance of justice and the sinfulness of injustice, God has taken that option off the table.

Do you still think that 'alert to injustice in society, especially racism' is a fitting insult?

For further reading:

The Prophet Amos: What provokes God's wrath? - Injustice and False Worship

Taking the name of the LORD in vain: PragerU's "Social Justice Isn't Justice"

Systemic Racism: The casual racism of the phrase "Black on Black crime"

Josh McDowell's folly in addition to racism: Claiming that the Bible only talks about individuals

When the shameful past of Racism hits close to home

"What does the Bible say about systemic racism?" by WWUTT.com - an error filled and shameful tragedy that only makes things worse

Mitigating racism can't wait: Why Pastor Robert Jeffress is wrong

The danger of defining 'real' Americans vs. the necessity of categorizing 'real' Christians

That time UAW members worked with Quakers to build integrated housing

 I grew up in West Michigan with two uncles who were UAW members.  For many people, thinking about the UAW conjures up stories about Jimmy Hoffa, the good old days of Detroit's Big Three, or the involvement of the UAW with Democratic politics.  In 1955, something happened in Milpitas, California, that didn't have anything to do with what you think of when I say UAW, and it had an unlikely accomplice: the Quakers.

In 1955, a developer named David Bohannon built a white-only subdivision named Sunnyhills in Milpitas, other developers built similar whites-only housing projects.  Ford had announced that it was moving its assembly plant from Richmond (north of San Francisco) to Milpitas (north of San Jose).  It would not be difficult for the white middle class UAW workers to find new housing in the area, but almost impossible for the plant's Black workers.  

At this point, the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC, a Quaker group committed to racial integration) offered to helped Ford's housing committee find a developer willing to build integrated housing.  There was just one catch, everyone else was committed to stopping any such project.

The first hurdle was financing, no San Francisco Bay or San Jose area financial institution would lend them the money to build the houses, so the AFSC went to Metropolitan Life Insurance Company's vice-president, also a Quaker, who agreed to finance the project (this despite Met Life's own history of financing racially segregated projects).

Problem solved, now we can move ahead and build homes for workers with good paying jobs, right?  Nope.  The Santa Clara Board of Supervisors rezoned the chosen housing site from residential to industrial.  When they picked a new plot, the Mountain View officials made it clear that no permits would be issued.  A third attempt resulted in the local town increasing the minimum lot size to 8,000 square feet (from 6,000), ensuring that such homes would be unaffordable to middle class workers.  The builder recruited by the AFSC gave up and walked away from the project.

The new builder hired by the AFSC wanted to build two separate segregated projects, a white one in the suburbs and one for Blacks between the Ford plant and land zoned for heavy industry.  Here is where this ugly story finds a ray of hope.  The choice of moving ahead with these two projects was put to the UAW workers of the new Ford plant.  The majority of these workers were white, and had much less trouble finding housing than their co-workers.  "Although the membership was overwhelmingly white, the union adopted a policy that it would support only developers who would commit to integrated housing." (The Color of Law, p. 118, emphasis mine)

A third builder obtained a tract of land next to David Bohannon's whites-only Sunnyhills project.  The UAW was able to tell its Black members in Richmond that a new development, Agua Caliente, was being built.  "David Bohannon's company, however, remained fiercely opposed to an integrated project adjoining Sunnyhills, and after a San Francisco newspaper reveled the plan to establish 'the first subdivision in the Bay Area where Negro families will be sold homes without discrimination,' the company began to pressure the newly formed Milpitas City Council to prevent the construction of Agua Caliente by denying it access to sewer lines." (p. 119)  The City Council follow suit, raising the sewer connection fee by a factor of 10.  It was a clear plan to prevent minorities from living close to Sunnyhills.  When the builder persisted, despite this racist price increase, Bohannon's company filed a nuisance lawsuit to prevent the project from using a county owned drainage ditch between the properties.  The UAW, not known for rolling over, responded with their own offensive, boycotting the Sunnyhills project, and showing up at open houses to discourage other would-be buyers.

Eventually, Bohannon sold his company to a new developer who also purchased Agua Caliente, and construction was able to be completed.  Problem over?  Not yet.  The FHA continued to refuse to insure mortgages to borrowers living in integrated neighborhoods (a racist federal policy), making the cost of mortgages to buyers in the development higher with an increased 5.5-9% interest rate.  This could be thought of as an 'integration fee', designed to discourage integrated housing projects.  The UAW offered to guarantee the loans with its pension fund, at which point the FHA backed down provided that the development be converted to a co-op so that Blacks owned a piece of the housing development not individual homes.

In the end, the efforts of the Quaker AFSC and the UAW resulted in a completed project, but the higher cost of delays, legal fees, and financing made the homes affordable only to Ford's highest paid workers.  The Ford plant closed in 1984, and today Milpitas has many Hispanic and Asian families, but only 2% of the population is Black.

"The Milpitas story illustrates the extraordinary creativity that government officials at all levels displayed when they were motivated to prevent the movement of African Americans into white neighborhoods...part of a national system by which state and local governments supplemented federal efforts to maintain the status of African Americans as a lower caste, with housing segregation preserving the badges and incidents of slavery." (p. 122)

While this story is disturbing for how deep and abiding it reveals racism to be in America's story, it also shows a second theme: the power of good men and women to fight injustice, even if they can't always achieve a clean win.  So, when you need an interesting historic anecdote, share the time that the UAW worked with Quakers to integrate a housing project in California.

* This post is adapted from The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein

The Prophet Amos: What provokes God's wrath? - Injustice and False Worship

Amos was an ordinary man, a farmer from Judah, chosen by God in the 8th century BC to go to Israel to warn the people of the impending wrath of God.  Israel was the name given to the 10 northern tribes that broke away from the Davidic dynasty following the death of Solomon (due to the arrogance of Solomon's son Rehoboam).  The Kingdom of Israel was destroyed by the Assyrian Empire in 722 BC, less than two generations after the warning given to it by Amos.

With the idea of Justice prominent in our conversations as Americans and as Christian Americans, it benefits us to consider what the Justice of God looks like.  What provoked the wrath of God against his Covenant people of Israel and Judah?  What offenses were the prophets commanded to condemn?

The text below is excerpted from the book of Amos, its nine chapters can be read in twenty or thirty minutes; please do so.  These texts appear in the order they are given, not arranged thematically.  My commentary will appear in bold after each text.

 Amos 2:4-5 (NIV)

4 This is what the Lord says:

“For three sins of Judah,

    even for four, I will not relent.

Because they have rejected the law of the Lord

    and have not kept his decrees,

because they have been led astray by false gods,

    the gods their ancestors followed,

5 I will send fire on Judah

    that will consume the fortresses of Jerusalem.”

Judah is not the focus of Amos' ministry, but his prophecy begins by announcing God's wrath against the surrounding peoples, primarily for their violence toward neighboring peoples, including the people of Judah to the south.  Judah's sin is more specific, involving idolatry and the worship of false gods.  Although Judah was a troubled society, their kingdom endured until 586 BC when Jerusalem was sacked by the Babylonian Nebuchadnezzar, they too committed the same type of sins that Israel will be charged with by Amos, and God sent them prophets as a warning in turn. 

Amos 2:6-8 (NIV)

6 This is what the Lord says:

“For three sins of Israel,

    even for four, I will not relent.

They sell the innocent for silver,

    and the needy for a pair of sandals.

7 They trample on the heads of the poor

    as on the dust of the ground

    and deny justice to the oppressed.

Father and son use the same girl

    and so profane my holy name.

8 They lie down beside every altar

    on garments taken in pledge.

In the house of their god

    they drink wine taken as fines.

Here begins the indictment: (1) selling the innocent for silver, (2) trampling the poor, and (3) denying justice to the oppressed.  The society of Israel systematically oppressed the poor, taking advantage of them both in business and in the courts of law.  These themes will be repeated throughout Amos' prophecy.  In addition, the people of Israel indulged in sexual immorality ('Father and son use the same girl') and mocked God by coming to his altar while retaining a garment taken in pledge (an act forbidden by the Law, Exodus 22:26-27).  Lastly, they were drinking wine in God's house that had been taken as fines (presumably unjust fines).  These last two point toward a pattern of false/insincere worship.  God will not be mocked.  Galatians 6:7 (NIV) Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.  To worship God while in the middle of conducting sinful behavior, will not be tolerated.

Amos 2:11-12 (NIV)

11 “I also raised up prophets from among your children

    and Nazirites from among your youths.

Is this not true, people of Israel?”

declares the Lord.

12 “But you made the Nazirites drink wine

    and commanded the prophets not to prophesy.

God was not silent when these injustices and blasphemies occurred.  His response was to send prophets, but the people made a mockery of the Nazirites (who had taken vows not to drink alcohol) and told the prophets to be quiet.  This idea will be repeated in Amos, the powerful do not like to be reminded of their sins (anymore than the rest of us, but they have the power to silence their critics).

Amos 3:1-3 (NIV)

1 Hear this word, people of Israel, the word the Lord has spoken against you—against the whole family I brought up out of Egypt:

2 “You only have I chosen

    of all the families of the earth;

therefore I will punish you

    for all your sins.”

3 Do two walk together

    unless they have agreed to do so?

This is a key point that is often overlooked: God holds his own people MORE accountable than the rest of humanity.  When we talk about Justice, in society, we hope for equality and fairness, but when we consider God's Justice, we need to be very aware that God is both more stern and more gracious to his people.  He is willing to forgive our sins, if we repent, but highly intolerant of our immorality if we harden our hearts.  I know that many of my fellow Christians consider America to be the New Israel (Replacement theology), thinking of us in the same Covenant terms that were given by Moses to the people.  The theology of this position is flawed, and that can be demonstrated by examining Paul's letter to the Romans, but there's an important reason to be glad we aren't the New Israel: We wouldn't survive God's wrath.  Israel was held to a higher standard than their neighbors, no nation in our world today would survive such scrutiny. 

Amos 4:1 (NIV)

4 Hear this word, you cows of Bashan on Mount Samaria,

    you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy

    and say to your husbands, “Bring us some drinks!”

The upper class women of Israel were as involved in crushing the poor as their husbands, laughing at the situation in a way worthy of Marie Antoinette's "Let them eat cake!"

Amos 4:4-5 (NIV)

4 “Go to Bethel and sin;

    go to Gilgal and sin yet more.

Bring your sacrifices every morning,

    your tithes every three years.

5 Burn leavened bread as a thank offering

    and brag about your freewill offerings—

boast about them, you Israelites,

    for this is what you love to do,”

declares the Sovereign Lord.

This section shows God's sense of humor.  In this case, biting irony.  The people were still obeying the FORM of correct worship while their hearts were far from God.  They oppressed the poor and needy during the week and worshiped the LORD on the Sabbath.  Such worship is not only fruitless, it actually offends and angers God.  The prophet Isaiah makes this clear, "Your New Moon feasts and your appointed festivals I hate with all my being.  They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them." (Isaiah 1:14)  Once again, if America were the New Israel, it wouldn't matter how many people were in church on Sunday morning when God considered our nation's ample inequality, injustice, and immorality (sins that God's people sadly participate in all too readily).  As it is, we cannot hope to receive God's blessing as a nation if we don't address the issues of injustice in our society.

Amos 5:10-12 (NIV)

10 There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court

    and detest the one who tells the truth.

11 You levy a straw tax on the poor

    and impose a tax on their grain.

Therefore, though you have built stone mansions,

    you will not live in them;

though you have planted lush vineyards,

    you will not drink their wine.

12 For I know how many are your offenses

    and how great your sins.

There are those who oppress the innocent and take bribes

    and deprive the poor of justice in the courts.

The pronouncement against injustice continues: (1) injustice in the courts through false testimony, (2) heavy taxes upon the poor, (3) the taking of bribes to deprive the poor of justice.  Looking at a list like this, I'm struck by the animosity toward the idea of social justice in America.  Many Christians, and a not a few prominent Christian leaders, demonize the idea of seeking equality before the Law, calling it a political ploy or a Leftist plot {See: Taking the name of the LORD in vain: PragerU's "Social Justice Isn't Justice"}.  And yet, God cares about these issues enough to make them the FOCUS of the warning of his chosen prophet that judgment is at hand.  I'm not saying that those advocating for social justice are without error (in their tactics or judgments), but how can the very IDEA of seeking equality in the face of injustice be against the will of God?  The Scriptures say otherwise.

Amos 5:14-15 (NIV)

14 Seek good, not evil,

    that you may live.

Then the Lord God Almighty will be with you,

    just as you say he is.

15 Hate evil, love good;

    maintain justice in the courts.

Perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy

    on the remnant of Joseph.

How can God's people avert the disaster heading their way?  Repent and administer true justice.  This is one piece that is often missing in the discussion of America's history of racism.  IF we truly have repented of the way in which our ancestors treated Blacks, Indians, and various other minorities, we would now be actively seeking to "maintain justice in the courts."  In other words, the sincerity of our repentance, as a people, is not judged by our claims of sincerity but by the results of our actions.  Actions speak louder than words.  The verdict on whether or not America retains systemic racism will show itself in the way in which our justice system treats ALL the people.  IF we have repented, we will live in a way that proves it.  {This is what true repentance always looks like in the Bible, without follow-up actions that prove it is genuine, the repentance is not considered legitimate.}

Amos 5:21-24 (NIV)

21 “I hate, I despise your religious festivals;

    your assemblies are a stench to me.

22 Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,

    I will not accept them.

Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,

    I will have no regard for them.

23 Away with the noise of your songs!

    I will not listen to the music of your harps.

24 But let justice roll on like a river,

    righteousness like a never-failing stream!

Harsh words from God (via Amos) about the value of the worship of the people.  God does NOT accept worship from a people mired in immorality.  Why?  Because God is holy, his people must seek righteousness, must "hate what is evil; cling to what is good." (Romans 12:9)  If they do not, no amount of worship, offerings, or singing will be accepted by God.  What is the antidote to false worship?  "let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!"  And yet, churches that involve themselves in helping the poor, in seeking racial harmony and reconciliation, often by working for a more just and fair legal system, are accused of abandoning the Gospel.  The Word of God warns us of the frailty of a path that focuses upon worship and ignores injustice, of one that claims to follow God on Sunday, but ignores the needs of the people in our community the other six days of the week.  The Gospel call for salvation by grace through faith must always remain central to our ministry, but that message is made COMPLETE (by actions that demonstrate the sincerity of our faith) when we work for righteousness in our community.

Amos 7:10-13 (NIV)

10 Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent a message to Jeroboam king of Israel: “Amos is raising a conspiracy against you in the very heart of Israel. The land cannot bear all his words. 11 For this is what Amos is saying:

“‘Jeroboam will die by the sword,

    and Israel will surely go into exile,

    away from their native land.’”

12 Then Amaziah said to Amos, “Get out, you seer! Go back to the land of Judah. Earn your bread there and do your prophesying there. 13 Don’t prophesy anymore at Bethel, because this is the king’s sanctuary and the temple of the kingdom.”

Was Amos welcomed with open arms?  Nope.  The leadership in Israel were not pleased with Amos' warning and told him to go home.  Why?  Because the sacred space at Bethel, and the authority of the king couldn't be bothered with hearing from God.  There is irony here, of course, that those in leadership should be most keen to hear from God, but are in fact the least.  Why?  Because their hearts are hard, and because they benefit from the oppression of the poor.  That dynamic is true in every society in human history, ours included.

Amos 8:4-6 (NIV)

4 Hear this, you who trample the needy

    and do away with the poor of the land,

5 saying,

“When will the New Moon be over

    that we may sell grain,

and the Sabbath be ended

    that we may market wheat?”—

skimping on the measure,

    boosting the price

    and cheating with dishonest scales,

6 buying the poor with silver

    and the needy for a pair of sandals,

    selling even the sweepings with the wheat.

Lastly, Amos broadens the indictment of oppression of the poor with examples: (1) the eagerness of the merchants to get back to business as soon as the Sabbath is over, (2) the dishonest business practices that cheat the customers.  I've also read that the term Economic Justice is an affront to Justice, an insult to God.  That doesn't seem to be the case here.  The prophet of God is concerned with something as commonplace as dishonest scales.  Should not the Church of Jesus Christ concern itself with the ways in which the poor in our nation are treated?  Should not issues of homelessness, housing, education, addiction, and the need for a living wage be our concern?  God-honoring Christians can disagree about HOW to address such issues, about which political or legal solutions are best, but we have been given no wiggle room as to the question of whether or not we should CARE about these things.

What does the book of Amos illustrate to us about God and Justice? (1) God cares about legal injustices, (2) God cares about economic injustices, (3) God holds the rich and powerful accountable for these injustices, (4) God will not accept worship from his people if they are involved in  perpetuating these injustices, and (5) the rich and powerful are unlikely to appreciate being called to task by a prophetic voice speaking the Words of God.  

Social Justice?  Racial Justice?  Legal Justice?  Economic Justice?  God cared about them then, and their lack provoked his wrath.  God does not change.  God cares about them now, their lack still provokes his wrath.  The prophet Amos was called to bring to the people's attention these failings, we honor God when we do likewise in our time and place.