The Woke-Right crowd commits idolatry as they do the bidding of those aligned with the Left. Unlike the vague slanderous charge of political idolatry to those on their right, those in the Biblicist category can clearly define the idolatrous participation of those to their Left. The secular ideology of Social Justice can and has been clearly defined by Christian leaders fulfilling their responsibility of, “rebuking those who contradict sound doctrine” (Titus 1:9). Only one group is truly following the Lord on these important matters, while the other two are doing the Evil One’s bidding, all while slandering those obeying the Lord Jesus Christ.
There seem to be essentially three categories of Christians in the American Evangelical church at the moment. This can be nuanced a bit, but generally speaking, Christians, and especially Christian leaders, fit into one of these categories.
The first is on the left fringes of evangelicalism. This is a category full of political activists for leftist causes while still professing to hold to the central tenets of the Christian faith. Second, there’s a group that I am going to call “Biblicists” (I do not mean this in the more recent, pejorative sense, but in a more classical, Protestant understanding). I’ll define this group as those who believe the Bible is not only inerrant but also sufficient for all of life. This includes church life, family life, and the public square. This group is fully opposed to Woke ideology because they understand that it’s a divisive, Satanic system, confusing the Gospel wherever it goes. They don’t see Woke ideology as having insights any more than Christians don’t see false religions like Mormonism and Islam as having insights.
Finally, there’s a group that some have identified as the “Woke-right. These are not social activists but are willing to give credence to those to their left because they believe there are valuable insights there, and because they place an immeasurably high value on “unity.”
I want to address the third group, the “Woke Right,” and specifically the vague charge they make to those on their right.
Who Are the “Woke Right?”
The Woke-Right believe that they are the “biblical ones,” and those to their right are practicing extra-biblical, pharisaical idolatry in their passion over politically conservative perspectives and issues. Those to their right often insist that public theology is black and white. In other words, to vote for a Democratic candidate is not a biblical option because the Democratic platform is diametrically opposed to biblical ethics in every way. But though one platform is not an option (while the other platform, while imperfect, can still be an option) the Woke-Right is most concerned with those who would dare to take a stronger stance on the matter.
I’ve personally heard many pastors in this category say, “I have concerns about the extremes of Social Justice, but I’m more concerned about political idolatry among the people too far to the right.” So, they take a middle-of-the-road position. The leadership in this category has little to no concern with those to their left. I say little to no concern because when they have addressed the issue of race, people on the left fringes are platformed, like Jarvis Williams, not someone strongly on the right, like Voddie Baucham. What they say concerning those on their right is that they are carriers of the great threat of “Christian Nationalism”, but when you ask them to define what they mean by Christian Nationalism they are typically unable to do so. The best they can do is call it, “political idolatry..
In other words, those on the right care too much about forcing their conservative political views on to others, while rejecting what they see as legitimate concerns by those to their left.