The “Gospel of Woke”
Note: the content in this post is adapted from online research including AI.
I recently asked myself what the concept of the MAGA maligned term of “Woke” might look like in a Jesus or Gospel sense. So I asked my good friend Chat GPT that question.
A “Gospel of Woke” in the spirit of the Four Gospels of the Bible could be structured as a moral and spiritual narrative emphasizing justice, compassion, and societal transformation.
It would center on a central prophetic figure—perhaps a Christ-like teacher—who preaches radical love, inclusion, and liberation for the oppressed.
Below is a possible outline of what such a gospel might look like.
Title: The Gospel of Awakening (Evangelium Lucis – “The Gospel of Light”)
Chapter 1: The Calling of the Awakening
In the days when the people walked in darkness, divided by fear and greed, a voice arose in the wilderness. The Teacher, filled with the Spirit of Justice, called out:
“Awaken, O you who sleep! For the Spirit of Truth walks among you, and the last shall be first!”
And many who were weary and heavy-laden came to hear his words. They were the poor, the outcast, the laborers, the foreigners, and the brokenhearted. But the rulers and the proud mocked them, saying, “These are rabble-rousers and agitators, disturbers of peace.”
Yet the Teacher spoke to the people in parables, saying in this case a ‘Parable of the Blinded Ones’:
“There was a man walking in a great city at night. Though the streets were filled with those crying out for help, he did not see them, for his eyes were closed in comfort.
But a stranger came and touched his face, saying, ‘Brother, awaken! For those whom you do not see are your kin, and their suffering is your own.’
And the man’s eyes were opened, and he wept, for he saw the sorrow he had ignored.”
Then the Teacher said, “Let those who have ears, hear! Blessed are those who awaken to justice, for they shall walk in the light.”
Chapter 2: The Teachings of Compassion and Justice
The Teacher went into the cities, and great crowds followed him. He taught them, saying:
“Blessed are the poor, for the kingdom of equity shall be theirs.
Blessed are the outcast, for they shall find a home.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the restorers of the world.”
The people marveled at his words, for he spoke with authority, not as the rulers and priests who burdened them with heavy laws but did nothing to ease their suffering.
And a scholar came to test him, saying, “Teacher, who is my neighbor?” The teacher replied with the ‘Parable of the Two Roads’:
“A man walked upon two roads. One was wide and smooth, and many walked upon it, for it required no burden and led to great palaces and feasts. But this road was built upon the backs of the poor.
The other road was narrow and rough, and only a few walked upon it, for it was the road of justice, where the weary were carried, and the fallen were lifted up.
Truly, I tell you, the road to the kingdom is the road of the just, though it is hard to walk.”
Then the scholar, being ashamed, left in silence.
Chapter 3: The Miracles of Awakening
The Teacher performed many wonders among the people and told two other parables:
First, ‘The Healing of the Forgotten Woman’:
A woman who had been cast out by society came to him, saying, “Teacher, I am unworthy, for the world has named me unclean.”
The rulers and elders rebuked her, saying, “Depart, for you are cursed.”
But the Teacher knelt beside her, taking her hand, and said:
“No one is unclean in the eyes of love.”
And she was restored, walking freely among the people.
Next, ‘The Multiplication of the Worker’s Wages’:
There was a man who labored from sunrise to sunset but was paid only a coin, while the master of the land feasted in his house.
The man cried out to the Teacher, “How shall I live, when my labor is great, but my wage is little?”
The Teacher turned to the people and said, “See how the rich man stores up grain for himself while his brother goes hungry! This is not the will of justice.”
And he spoke a word, and suddenly, all those who labored had their wages multiplied, and none went hungry. The rich man saw this and was angry, but the Teacher said to him:
“What you hoarded was never yours, but stolen from the hands of the poor.”
Chapter 4: The Confrontation with the Powers
The rulers and high priests heard of the Teacher’s words and deeds, and they were afraid, for he spoke truth and awakened the people.
They conspired, saying, “If he continues, the people will rise, and our power will be shaken.”
And they sent spies to test him.
One of them said, “Teacher, is it right to resist the laws of the empire?”
The Teacher looked at him and said:
“What do the laws of men matter when they uphold injustice? The laws of love and mercy stand above them all.”
Then the rulers whispered among themselves, saying, “He is dangerous.”
Chapter 5: The Persecution of the Righteous
The rulers and the powerful turned the crowds against him, saying,
“This man seeks to destroy your traditions and your ways.”
And though he had healed their sick and fed their hungry, many in the crowd believed the rulers. They cast him out, and the elders decreed that none should speak his name.
Yet even as he was driven away, he turned to his followers and said:
“Fear not, for the truth cannot be buried. Though they cast me out, the fire of justice will burn in the hearts of the people forever.”
Chapter 6: The Rising of the Light
And so it was that the Teacher was gone from their midst. Yet, in time, his words took root in the hearts of the people. They fed the hungry, clothed the poor, and welcomed the stranger, saying:
“Whenever we do these things, we do them in his name.”
And the Spirit of Justice walked among them, and the people called it Awakening.
For the light had risen, and darkness could not overcome it.
Chapter 7 … based on the book ‘Dancing in the Darkness’ by Otis Moss III
1:1 And lo, when the people of the land stumbled in the shadow of division, when their hearts grew weary from the burdens of injustice, a voice rose in the night, calling forth those who would see, those who would hear, those who would wake.
1:2 For there were those who whispered, “Stay in the stillness, be not troubled by the cries of the suffering.” Yet the Spirit of Truth moved among the restless, stirring their feet to move, their voices to rise, their hands to build.
1:3 And it was spoken: “Do not fear the night, for even in darkness, there is movement. Dance, not in despair, but in defiance of all that would still your soul.”
1:4 And so the weary stood, the silenced sang, the bowed down lifted their heads. They gathered in streets and sanctuaries, in classrooms and courtyards, breaking bread with the stranger, linking arms with the forsaken, and lifting the fallen from the dust.
1:5 The elders among them spoke, saying, “We have seen this before. We have marched where chains once clattered; we have sung where silence once reigned. You are not alone, for the struggle is old, but so is the song.”
1:6 And the people danced—not for joy alone, but for justice; not for triumph alone, but for truth. They danced though their steps faltered, though their voices cracked, though their hands trembled with the weight of the work before them.
1:7 And in the dance, they found one another. Not in perfect harmony, but in shared purpose. Not in unbroken rhythm, but in the refusal to stand still.
1:8 And so it was, and so it shall be: that those who seek righteousness must move toward it, and those who carry the light must not hide it. The work is long, the road uncertain, but the song continues, and the dance will not cease.
Chapter 8 … The Chapter of the Dreamers (In the Spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr.)
1:1 And in the land of weary souls, where justice stood trembling and the promise of freedom was yet unfulfilled, there arose a dream—not born of slumber, but of waking, of seeing, of knowing.
1:2 And the dream was spoken: “There will come a day when the bowed down shall rise, when the broken shall be mended, and the captive shall be free. Not by the sword, nor by the shackle, but by love unyielding, by truth unafraid.”
1:3 And the people answered, saying, “The road is long, and the burden is great.” But the dreamer spoke again: “Though we are pressed on every side, though the storm rages and the night is deep, we shall not grow weary, for the arc bends still.”
1:4 And so they walked—not with haste, nor with hatred, but with steadfast hearts, singing the songs of the ancestors, carrying the light of those who came before.
1:5 They faced the stones of the oppressor, the scourge of the wicked, and the silence of the indifferent, yet still they pressed on, for the dream was greater than the fear.
1:6 And it was said: “Love is not weakness, and peace is not surrender. To stand without violence is not to bow, but to proclaim: We shall not be moved.”
1:7 And when they were struck, they did not return the blow, but neither did they step aside. When they were told to wait, they answered, “Justice delayed is justice denied.”
1:8 And though the dreamer was taken from them, the dream was not lost, for it had been planted in the hearts of many, and the fire could not be quenched.
1:9 And so it was spoken to all who would listen: “Go forth and walk in the dream, until the last chain is broken, the last wall is torn down, and the children of God stand together as one.”
Chapter 9 … The Chapter of the Luminous Way (In the Spirit of author Howard Thurman)
1:1 In the hush of the morning and the stillness of the soul, the voice of wisdom called out, saying, “Who are you, when the world is silent? Who are you, when no one watches?”
1:2 And many turned away, for they had built their strength on the roar of the crowd, on the struggle against the world, but they had not yet faced the struggle within.
1:3 But to those who listened, it was revealed: “You must be whole in yourself, if you would make whole the world. You must be rooted in love, if you would sow justice.”
1:4 And so the people turned inward, seeking the divine spark, the quiet fire that cannot be extinguished by the winds of hatred, nor consumed by the flames of oppression.
1:5 And it was said: “If you walk with hate, you will become what you despise. If you walk in fear, you will remain in bondage. But if you walk in love, though the road be hard, you will never walk alone.”
1:6 And the people asked, “Shall we wait, then, until our spirits are whole before we act? Shall we be still while the world cries out?”
1:7 And the voice replied: “The work is not outside of you or within you alone—it is both. You must be the light, even as you walk through the darkness.”
1:8 And so the seekers rose, not with weapons, nor with empty hands, but with the power of love that neither yields nor wavers.
1:9 And it was known that justice is not born from hatred, nor peace from mere stillness, but from the deep well of the Spirit that calls all to wholeness.
Chapter 10 … The Chapter of the Witness (In the Spirit of author James Baldwin)
1:1 And the child looked upon the world and saw that it was broken, and the elders spoke in hushed tones, saying, “This is the way it has always been.”
1:2 But the child, full of questions, asked, “Why must it remain so?” And the elders turned away, for they feared what the question required of them.
1:3 And so the child grew into a seeker, and the seeker became a witness, walking through the streets of the mighty and the forgotten, standing in the halls of the learned and the lost, seeing not only what was shown, but what was hidden.
1:4 And the witness spoke, saying, “You who built this house, do you not see that its foundation is cracked? You who speak of freedom, do you not feel the weight of the chains?”
1:5 And those in power said, “We do not see it.” But the witness answered, “You do not see because you refuse to look. You do not hear because the cries of the suffering inconvenience your peace.”
1:6 And the people murmured among themselves, for some had known the truth all along, yet dared not speak it. Others, seeing their reflection in the words of the witness, turned away in anger.
1:7 And it was said: “You may deny the truth, but the truth will not deny you. It will rise in the cracks of your silence, in the streets you try to forget, in the voices of those you cast aside. It will find you, even in your hiding.”
1:8 And the witness wept, for he saw that the hardest battle was not with the oppressor, nor even with the indifferent, but with the fear in the hearts of the people who would rather live in a lie than face the cost of the truth.
1:9 And yet, even in sorrow, the witness did not despair, for he knew: The power is in the telling. The power is in the seeing. The power is in the knowing. And if even one dares to see, to know, to speak—then the silence is broken, and the truth, once spoken, cannot be unsaid.
Chapter 11 … The Chapter of the Fire and the Storm (In the Spirit of statesman Frederick Douglass)
1:1 And the people who were bound cried out, saying, “How long must we bear this yoke? How long must we wait for our freedom?”
1:2 And the rulers answered, “Be patient, for all things come in time.” But the people knew this to be a lie, for time had come and gone, and their chains remained.
1:3 And it was spoken: “No man gives freedom, for freedom is not his to give. It is not found in the hands of the powerful, nor in the permission of the oppressor, but in the will of those who will take it.”
1:4 And the people asked, “Must we then break the yoke ourselves?” And the answer came like thunder:
1:5 “Who else shall do it? Did the storm ask permission before it struck the shore? Did the fire apologize before it consumed the deadwood? Freedom is not granted, it is seized. Justice is not requested, it is demanded. You will not be given what is yours—you must take it.”
1:6 And so the people rose, no longer pleading, no longer begging, but standing as those who knew their worth.
1:7 And the rulers trembled, saying, “See how they no longer bow, see how they no longer beg. What shall we do?”
1:8 And the answer came: “You shall reckon with them, for the storm does not turn aside for the comfort of the shore, nor does the fire dim itself for the fear of the night.”
1:9 And the people, having risen, could not be forced to kneel again. And so it was known: He who has tasted his own power will never again mistake his chains for destiny.
Final Blessing
Let those who hear this gospel walk in love, do justice, and awaken those who still sleep.
“For the work is not yet finished, and the harvest is great.”
I hope you enjoyed this “gospel” which I believe holds much power similar to but a longer version of the Bible’s ‘Eight Beatitudes’.
Hopefully it provides some enlightenment on what “woke” and “awakening” truly mean vs. the derogatory and pejorative MAGA versions.
