Don’t Throw the Wise Baby Out with the Woke Bathwater
If you would have told me, say ten years ago, that hordes of pitchfork-wielding evangelical Christians would line up to attack a well-respected octogenarian retired pastor for, of all things, quoting a Bible verse online, I’m not sure I would’ve believed you.
A few weeks ago, during all the hubbub over ICE and immigration in Minneapolis, John Piper posted a Bible verse on Twitter. In the post, he quoted Leviticus 19:34 with a one-sentence commentary: “‘You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.’ Christians know the miserable bondage we were all in.”
The following post, from a well-known Christian worship leader, illustrates the radioactive criticism Piper received in response: “Never imagined a theologian I once looked up to would have become so unbelievably WOKE while weaponizing scripture to justify the illegal invasion of a sovereign nation.”
As you can plainly see, Piper never addressed immigration policy or attempted to justify illegal immigration. He probably intentionally timed his post to remind Christians that, whatever we believe about such hotly contested policies, we have an obligation to love the stranger among us because we were once in a similar position when God rescued us from our own miserable bondage. Piper’s post represented an attempt by a wise pastor to remind God’s people that every issue has significance beyond political debates. In other words, Piper wasn’t choosing sides in a contentious culture war; he was doing the work of a pastor.
Follow me in a simple thought experiment. Imagine that every person in the world views the world through a pair of tinted glasses. Some choose green, while others choose red or blue or yellow. Whichever color gets chosen, that’s the color that shades everything viewed in the world. Each person’s world is green, red, blue, or yellow, depending on the tint of their shades.
Christ calls his people to see the world through the lens of Christ. I think this is what Paul is getting at when he says, “I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2). In Christ, all reality looks different. Trials now prove redemptive. I can rejoice in suffering. The opinion of man is not ultimate because God has already spoken. I can forgive and love my enemy because I’ve been forgiven and loved as God’s former enemy. When I look out at the world, I take “every thought captive in obedience to Christ” (2 Cor 10:5).
I participate in politics, but I don’t get sucked up in the narratives the media is spinning. I see things from the vantage point of cross and resurrection. Christ has already won. My loyalty to the resurrected King means I can never pledge absolute loyalty to any other cause.
Unfortunately, it seems as if many professing Christians are doing the opposite. They’re not seeing American politics through the lens of Christ; instead, they’ve chosen a different set of shades. They’ve determined to take every thought captive in obedience to a culture war team. They can’t even read the Bible without a red or blue tint.
If your views on current events make sections of the Bible off-limits, you’re not following Jesus. You’re an idolator.
Proverbs roots wisdom in the fear of the LORD (1:7; 9:10). Fear of the LORD manifests itself socially in a life committed to “righteousness, justice, and equity” (1:3; 2:9). A wise life, in other words, is a life committed to a right relationship with God (fear of the LORD) and a right relationship with God’s world (righteousness, justice, and equity). Such a life, in Proverbs, disadvantages oneself to protect vulnerable populations like the poor (29:7), the widow (15:25), and the orphan (23:10-11). How important is such a life for God? “To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice” (21:3).
Conservatives rightly criticize progressives for pursing unjust causes in the name of “social justice.” Biblical social justice certainly doesn’t include radical DEI initiatives and championing LGBTQ perversity. However, in attempting to eliminate wokeness, conservatives too often run past biblical wisdom in the other direction. As we seek to see all reality through the lens of Christ, let’s make sure we don’t throw the wise baby out with the work bathwater.