Christianity and Wokeness by Owen Strachan – Review

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I had the privilege to be on the launch team for Owen Strachan’s Christianity and Wokeness: How the Social Justice Movement is Hijacking the Gospel ⎼ and the Way to Stop It. Below is my review.

I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; avoid them. 

– Romans 16:17

The Culture War

Division and disunity seem to be the soup du jour for everyday life these days. One cannot turn on the television, open the computer, or scroll through their phone without being bombarded with “culture war” news stories, both from the secular media as well as from within the Church. It is nearly impossible to make it through the day without getting involved in a Twitter fight over cultural issues, or at the very least, seeing a news story that makes your blood boil with righteous indignation. Our culture is deeply divided, and those divisions are making and have made their way into our schools, our churches, and our homes.

Many of the disagreements that we are having are over the issues of “race” and “social justice,” and if there is anything we can or should do about perceived injustices within our society. At the turn of the twentieth century, J. Gresham Machen wrote his treatise on the movement that was threatening the church in his day, Christianity and Liberalism.

Today the Church is facing a threat that stems from the very Progressive roots of that Liberalism from a hundred years ago in Postmodernism and Critical Theory; those that hold to these ideologies refer to themselves as “woke.” There have been a few men with the courage of conviction to step up and challenge these godless worldviews, and Owen Strachan is one of them.

His refutation of this spirit of the age comes to us in the form of his new book, Christianity and Wokeness. This is a solid, well-written refutation to the onslaught of woke literature and ideologies that have been propagated and inculcated into every area of our modern lives.  

Wokeness

While some are being shut down for posing any form of criticism against the “woke” movement or questioning the merits of the arguments being lobbied against our society, Strachan makes the bold assertion that, “Christians not only can speak to this ideology; Christians must speak to it.” (xxvii) In the forward to the book, Pastor John MacArthur writes of Critical Race Theory, one of the forms that Wokeness takes, “CRT is not merely a harmless theory, or even a valid analytical tool. It is in fact a dangerous worldview that is incompatible with Christianity at the most fundamental level.” (xxi)

Strachan traces some of the branches that this “woke” ideology stems from through Critical Theory to Karl Marx. Though these ideas seem to be somewhat different on their own, it becomes clear that one thing Critical Race Theory, Feminism, the LGBT agenda, Gender Theory, etc. all have in common is that they all stem from the same philosophies. They are all fruit of the same poisonous tree. These anti-God, anti-Biblical ideas can all be traced back to one source, as Strachan states, “that source does not sound like the voice of God, but like the slithery hiss of a serpent.” (22) He goes on to say that Wokeness is not just another Gospel but that it is against the true Gospel altogether. (51)

Do Not Be Taken Captive

We are told by the Apostle Paul several times in his epistles not to be taken captive by vain philosophies (Col. 2:8), but that we are to in fact take our own thoughts captive in obedience to Christ. He also admonishes us to tear down arguments and strongholds that come against the knowledge of God (2 Cor. 10:3-5). Throughout Christianity and Wokeness we are shown how to do just that when it comes to Critical Theory and Wokeism.

One such argument that Strachan makes is that once you have bought into this belief system, this ideology, that you have already been taken captive to this empty deceit. He chooses to redefine the verbiage of “racism” into a more Biblically accurate term that he calls “partialism” as there is actually only one race and that is the Human race. He also makes the case that partialism of any kind, for any reason, is actually denounced all throughout the Bible. (67)

We are not to show partiality to one over and against another. This goes for every person, every ethnicity, every sex, no matter their age or their background. To do so goes against God’s character and His commandment to love our neighbor, not to mention the great commission to go into all the world and make disciples of all nations (ethnicities). 

The Cult of Affirmation

One of the great things about this book is that it does not just focus on the Critical Race Theory aspect of the Woke movement, but it also addresses the Egalitarian Feminists as well the LGBT jihadists. As mentioned already, these are all branches of the same tree that have the same roots and likewise will produce the same poisonous fruit that is meant to disrupt and destroy God’s created order.

Whether it be the grievance culture that promotes resentment, anger, and hostility leading to disunity, or what I like to call the Cult of Affirmation which demands that others embrace and affirm “their truth,” the end results from these ideologies are the same; balkanization and disunity, and the exaltation of one’s self above all else. “There is no divine design in wokeness,” writes Strachan, “there is only one’s personal identity, following one’s own heart, and expecting others to affirm one’s chosen path.”

In other words, wokeness is not about unity or loving thy neighbor, it is about forcing one’s neighbor to love and affirm “my truth,” even if in doing so they must abandon all reason, logic, or even what their own faith teaches. (74)

The Case Against Wokeism

The last few chapters of the book are by far my favorite, and I would argue, make the best case against the whole system of the woke religion. Chapters 5 and 6 specifically walk the reader through the Scriptures showing how partiality is not a “white man” issue, or even rooted in historical slavery. Partiality is a sin issue. It is baked into the cake of our DNA as fallen human beings born into total depravity.

These two chapters in and of themselves are reason enough to purchase this book. I could easily use them as a guide for a sermon outline in preparation for a series on this topic to address these issues in my local church. I will not spoil it by sharing all the details here, you’ll have to read the book. Suffice it to say that we are all fallen sinful people, desperately wicked, and full of envy, hatred, and strife.

We cannot find the answers to solving these problems in any philosophy, any religion, or any worldview outside of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is by the shedding of His blood on the cross that we are made one people again in Christ and in Him alone.

Final Thoughts

Pick up a copy of Christianity and Wokeness by Owen Strachan; read it, prayerfully contemplate the arguments that are laid out within it; they are Biblical, they are relevant, and they are powerful. I believe that the case that is laid out in this book against the lies of Wokeism is powerful enough to truly bring unity within the body of Christ over these issues, and I believe that because they are laid upon the foundation of the whole counsel of the Word of God. As for those who refuse to listen to reason or sound teaching on this issue, as well as those that continue to promote and propagate this woke ideology under the guise of “Christian love”; avoid them.

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