TRANSCRIPT:
Sitting out on my back porch yesterday afternoon, I was trying to rationalize the fact that I hadn’t mowed our back lawn for weeks. I reasoned that here in North Texas, they say you shouldn’t mow in May so bee-friendly wildflowers can grow... and there will be more nectar for pollinators. Since it is already late June, and afternoon temperatures are over 100 degrees... I decided that giving them more time would be an excellent idea.
Wildflowers are a big deal here in Texas. Since former First Lady Ladybird Johnson (LBJ) initiated her wildflower seeding project decades ago, there has been a rain-fueled explosion of color along our state’s fields and highways every spring. Once most of the rain stops in late June, as it usually does, the flowers die off, completing the final stage of a natural cycle.
At the same time, another thought crossed my mind... that wokeness, like nature, also progresses in stages. Since then, I’ve identified four stages of wokeness that are corrupting our culture while destroying our children, families, and country.
Stage One: Debasement... in this stage, woke people reject the traditional values of faithful marriage, sexual purity, fatherhood, motherhood, patriotism, and productive work, preferring more “freeing” ideals. Unrestrained, they will become deluded in their thinking.
Stage Two: Delusion... Woke individuals at this stage call evil good and good evil. For many, homosexuality is desirable, and monogamous heterosexual relationships are disgusting to them. They consider drag queens to be family entertainment, parents who push back to be terrorists, and those who would enforce criminal laws to be white supremacists. They want to live by the rules they create, which directly opposes God’s Word.
Nearly 700 years before Christ was born, the prophet Isaiah wrote this...
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness. (Isaiah 5:20)
The Apostle Paul tells us in Romans Chapter 1 that when one removes God from their life and substitutes things of darkness, God will give them over to a depraved mind.
Stage Three: Depravity... open and continued rejection of things of God and the embrace and affirmation of sexual sin (Pride month), envy (socialism), unforgiveness (cancel culture), and prejudice (Critical Race Theory). Those in this stage are quick to point out the injustice and evil in our society while perpetrating more of it themselves... conveniently turning a blind eye to and, in some cases enabling human trafficking, cartels, rape, and murder at our southern border... while actively promoting abortion, homosexuality, and transgenderism... all while disparaging those who object. They want no restraints on their behavior, hence woke support for policies that defund police, destroying the family and persecuting those who object to their lifestyle.
Finally, with complete rejection of God...
Stage Four wokeness is the embrace of the Demonic... They choose to serve the god of this age (Satan). They want to be godlike themselves, forcing their sick worldview on others, including abortion up to birth, euthanasia, great wealth at the expense of others, and murderous population control. Their focus centers only on their present life on Earth while in full rebellion against God.
It will not end well for them... Just as stage four cancer is a physical sickness that can lead to physical death, stage four wokeness is a spiritual sickness that will lead to spiritual death. Embracing evil, they glorify their shame...
For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again, even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame... (Philippians 3:18-19)
How do we respond? First, pray they repent before God punishes them in ways we can’t imagine. Then, remember our hope is in the Lord, and we are to let our light shine regardless of what is happening around us.
You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. (Matthew 5:14)
The Four Stages of Wokeness