Grace Notes 2023-08-30

Words aren’t the only thing being hijacked by the woke ideology that is currently dominating our culture. What passes for justice, virtue, and morality have all also been commandeered and drastically redefined. Justice is defined as equal outcomes. Virtue is defined as being able to successfully point out the sources of evil in others and assigning blame. And morality is pretty much decided by individual conscience so long as consent is involved. None of this a Christian understanding.

I think it is helpful to understand the woke, progressive ideology as a kind of religion, an object of worship. Worship is the act of ascribing worth. It seems that all people have a need to admire and adore something. That something helps give meaning and purpose to our lives.

Christians recognize that the Creator alone deserves our adoration. Accordingly, lesser things that receive equal or greater admiration than our Triune God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, necessarily become our idols or false gods.

In very limited space, I would describe woke progressivism as idolizing enlightened man’s effort to affect a utopia on earth where neatly and efficiently managed, everything is assured to have equal outcomes. Blame for the lack of this justice is assigned to the unenlightened who refuse to get with the program. Rightly pointing out who those people are constitutes virtue. Any sense of guilt is conferred upon unenlightened enemies (scapegoating). In short order, those who get in the way of progress need to be canceled. Perfectibility (final progress) is dependent on the enlightened elite and their expertise in knowing what is best.

If we look at the woke ideology and recognize its religious dimensions, in comparison to Christianity we will know what a dead-end street it is. Lacking in its system is genuine love, humility, actual forgiveness, a true hope, a recognition of one’s gravely sinful condition (original sin), and the ascribing of worth to the Incarnate God and Savior who, as an innocent scapegoat, bears our sins away.

Since You Asked…

Why is incense used in some churches?

The use of incense is not unique to Christianity or Judaism and is used in many of the world’s religions to enhance special times and places by sight and smell. In Christian worship incense is effectively used at the beginning of the Service of the Word and in preparing for receiving Holy Communion. The burning of incense is associated with the prayers of worship rising before God (cf. Psa 141:2; Rev 8:4). Good worship should engage all the human senses. In this connection it should be pointed out that the olfactory sense is perhaps the most sensitive of the five senses; it continues to function even during sleep. (Indebted to Aidan Kavanah in his “Elements of Rite”.)