Church of the Woke?

During these days of COVID-19, when many churches remain closed by government mandates to keep the virus from spreading, a new religion has arisen in the country…and it’s all based on a myth.

Citizens Free Press posted a video where you can see worshipers of the “Church of the Woke” participating in an outdoor religious service in Portland, Oregon. This consists of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of souls, shining their lights and chanting, “Hands up, don’t shoot me.” And they certainly do not appear to be practicing social distancing.

In 2014, in Ferguson, Missouri, Michael Brown was killed by a police officer. The myth says that he was walking away from the police officer, and saying, “Hands up, don’t shoot” when the officer shot him in the back.

The Obama administration’s investigation, however, found instead that Brown had raced toward the police officer and reached into his car in an effort to grab his gun. The officer shot Brown to stop him.

On March 17, 2015, after the Department of Justice released its findings on the Michael Brown shooting, Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post posted this video commentary, saying that the “hands up, don’t shoot” line turns out to be a “false narrative.”

Capehart says the “hands up, don’t shoot” line — although in actuality, false —resonated because of the perceived reality of police brutality against unarmed Black men and boys.

Says Capehart: “It’s imperative we continue marching for, and giving voice to, those of us killed at the hands of police and others. But we must never allow ourselves to march under the banner of a false narrative on behalf of someone who would otherwise offend our sense of right and wrong.”

I see “Hands up, don’t shoot” on T-shirts or placards, and it’s all a myth.

And now we even have virtual worshipers from the Church of the Woke singing “hymns,” chanting, “Hands up, don’t shoot.” This reminds me of the line attributed to G.K. Chesterton: “When a man stops believing in God, he doesn't then believe in nothing, he believes anything.”

What a contrast are all myths, modern and ancient, when compared with the Gospel of Jesus Christ that is rooted in history. If Jesus had not bodily, literally, physically walked out of His tomb, then Christianity would indeed be a myth. But He not only arose from the dead, but He appeared repeatedly to His disciples, providing them with “many infallible proofs” that He was alive.

Mason Weaver is an author and motivational speaker and a dedicated Christian. Many years ago, he had been involved in the Black Panthers. He thought hating the white man was the way to go. He personally experienced a racist attack at the hands of a fellow Navy seaman that almost killed him.

After Weaver was attacked in the early 1970s, he said, “I got out of the Navy, and I went to Berkeley, where I ran across other Black men that hated America and they hated society, and they hated the principles of this country. And we began to hate together, because you are who you associate with. But I had this emptiness in me.”

As Mason began to be consumed by hate and the desire for revenge, childhood memories of his Christian upbringing began to nudge his conscience. He began to realize the significance of Jesus having risen from the dead, which transformed His disciples.

In a television interview for D. James Kennedy Ministries, Mason said, “I began to look for God again. And what I discovered was, in searching for God, it came down to those disciples. Those disciples saw something, something they witnessed that changed their very characteristics. It changed who they were. You had cowardly, self-centered men…and all of a sudden, some incident happened, and they became bold warriors, not afraid of death any longer. They saw something.  It was the resurrection.”

Weaver adds, “And I had to recognize as an angry Black militant, speaking Swahili, who hung out with Black Panthers, I had to recognize that God Almighty was born of woman just for me….He allowed His precious holy body to be nailed to the cross with me in mind, personally, my name….He came out of the grave for me, went to heaven for me, and will come back for me. And when I finally recognized that Jesus Christ did not compromise with me, on the cross, I took a deep long breath and said, ‘I can no longer compromise with Him in the world.’” 

Mason Weaver discovered the Church of Jesus is based on historical facts, as opposed to the false narratives that stoked his hatred. Coming face to face with the reality of Jesus who is Truth Incarnate is what we all need — including those of the Church of the Woke.