Is the Woke Church a Doctrinal Problem?

I have been thinking a lot about the direction of the church in our culture today. Not just politically, but spiritually. The rise of what is often called a “woke” version of Christianity did not come out of nowhere. It did not begin with politics. It began with doctrine.

That may sound uncomfortable to some, but history and Scripture both support it.
The church has always reflected what it believes about God, authority, truth, and obedience. When those beliefs shift, culture does not just knock on the door. It walks right in.

Throughout Scripture, drift never starts with behavior. It starts with belief. When Israel compromised God’s commands, they did not wake up one day worshiping false gods. They slowly reinterpreted obedience until it fit their desires. Paul warned Timothy that a time would come when people would not endure sound doctrine but would gather teachers who told them what they wanted to hear. That warning was not hypothetical. It was prophetic.

One of the clearest places we see this doctrinal erosion today is around leadership and authority in the church.

The Bible is clear that pastors and elders are called to be qualified men who shepherd the flock of God (1 Timothy 3, Titus). This is not rooted in cultural patriarchy or male superiority. It is rooted in creation order, covenant responsibility, and the picture of Christ as the Shepherd and Bridegroom of His church. Leadership in the church is not about power. It is about accountability before God.

When the church abandons male eldership, it is not simply changing structure. It is changing how authority is understood. Authority becomes something to be negotiated rather than submitted to. Scripture becomes something to be filtered through personal experience rather than obeyed as revealed truth.

This is where feminist ideology often enters the church quietly. Not every woman in leadership is driven by feminism, but feminist assumptions reshape how Scripture is interpreted. Hierarchy is viewed with suspicion. Authority is framed as oppression. Submission is treated as harm rather than design.

Once interpretation shifts from “What does God say?” to “Who might be hurt by this?” doctrine becomes fluid. And when doctrine becomes fluid, culture takes the lead.
The result is not strength. It is softness.

Weak churches avoid offense at all costs. They confuse compassion with silence and love with affirmation. They are afraid of being labeled, canceled, or rejected. Strong churches are not harsh or cruel, but they are courageous. They believe obedience matters more than acceptance.

This is why so many churches that abandoned biblical leadership also abandoned biblical sexuality, biblical sin, and biblical repentance. This pattern is not theoretical. It has repeated itself across denominations for decades. Once authority is redefined, truth soon follows.
The real issue is not feminism. The real issue is biblical authority.

Does God have the right to order His church according to His Word, even when it clashes with modern values? If the answer is yes, then faithfulness must take precedence over comfort. If the answer is no, then the church will always chase the approval of the age it lives in.
The woke church is not usually driven by malice. It is driven by fear. Fear of losing people. Fear of criticism. Fear of cultural rejection. But Scripture tells us that the fear of man brings a snare.

The church does not need better branding. It needs recovered conviction. It does not need softer doctrine. It needs clearer shepherds. Christ did not call His church to blend in. He called us to stand firm, speak truth, and shepherd faithfully.

Wokeness is not the disease. It is a symptom. The cure is not political resistance, but theological repentance. A return to Scripture as final authority. A return to shepherding that is courageous, sacrificial, and accountable to God.

That is how the church regains strength. Not by bowing to culture, but by standing on the Word.

If we lose that, we lose far more than relevance. We lose faithfulness.

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Jody