Welcome To The Woke Church: Where Even Jesus Is Accused Of Racism
By PNW Staff August 11, 2026
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There are difficult passages in Scripture that deserve careful study, historical context and humility.
But there is a growing tendency in progressive Christianity to approach those passages with an entirely different assumption: if Jesus does not conform to modern ideological expectations, perhaps Jesus Himself was wrong.
That disturbing approach surfaced again this week at Grace Presbyterian Church in El Paso, Texas.
On August 9, Rev. Janie McElwee-Smith preached a sermon titled “Crumbs,” based on Jesus' encounter with the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15. Grace Presbyterian identifies McElwee-Smith as its pastor and publicly posted the service under that sermon title.
Her interpretation was stunning.
Jesus, she suggested, called the woman a dog as a racial insult. This was “not a good moment” for Him. His humanity was showing. He was apparently contradicting principles He had taught earlier.
And the Canaanite woman?
She became the courageous heroine who challenged Jesus while He was “having a bad day.”
Think about what that interpretation requires Christians to believe.
Jesus displayed racial prejudice.
A woman recognized His moral failure.
She challenged Him.
Jesus changed.
That is more than an unconventional interpretation of Scripture.
It fundamentally alters the character of Christ.
Did Jesus Really Have A Racist Moment?
Matthew 15 tells us that a Canaanite woman begged Jesus to heal her demon-possessed daughter.
Jesus initially explained that He had been “sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
When she continued pleading, He responded:
“It is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs.”
She answered:
“Yes it is, Lord. Even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their master's table.”
Jesus then responded:
“Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted.”
Her daughter was immediately healed.
The progressive interpretation takes the reference to “dogs,” imports modern racial categories into the passage, and concludes that Jesus revealed prejudice.
But the entire encounter points in another direction.
Jesus was explaining the order of His earthly ministry.
The Messiah came first to Israel.
That same pattern appears throughout the New Testament: Israel first, followed by the Gospel moving outward to Samaritans, Gentiles and eventually all nations.
That is not racial hatred.
It is redemptive sequence.
And this Canaanite woman becomes one of the clearest early signs that God's mercy would extend far beyond Israel.
She Wasn't Correcting Jesus
Modern interpreters also turn the woman into someone the passage never says she was.
She does not accuse Jesus of racism.
She does not rebuke Him for prejudice.
She does not demand that He examine His privilege.
She calls Him Lord.
She even addresses Him as Son of David, a profoundly significant Messianic title.
Then, rather than rejecting Jesus' illustration, she responds brilliantly within it:
“Even the dogs eat the crumbs.”
Jesus responds not with repentance, but praise:
“Woman, great is your faith.”
The woman did not expose Jesus' sin.
Jesus exposed her faith.
The encounter revealed persistence, humility and trust so remarkable that Christ publicly commended her.
This Is Not An Isolated Interpretation
Unfortunately, the El Paso sermon is not the first time progressive Christianity has presented Matthew 15 this way.
Progressive pastor Brandan Robertson attracted widespread attention several years ago after arguing that this same encounter demonstrated racial prejudice in Jesus.
Robertson said the woman's willingness to “speak truth to power” changed Jesus' mind. He went even further, declaring that Jesus “repents of his racism” before healing her daughter.
He described the account as evidence that Jesus, because He was human, possessed “prejudices and bias” that He was willing to confront.
Another progressive pastor writing about the passage in 2020 similarly declared Jesus “guilty of uttering a racial slur” and argued that the Canaanite woman effectively shamed Him into recognizing His racism.
So this is not simply one pastor in El Paso choosing unfortunate words.
It reflects a recognizable theological trajectory.
And that trajectory has enormous consequences.
A Jesus Who Needs Moral Correction
Historic Christianity teaches that Jesus was fully human.
It does not teach that Jesus was sinful.
Hebrews tells us Christ was tempted as we are, “yet without sin.”
Peter writes that “He committed no sin.”
Paul says Christ “knew no sin.”
If racism is sinful—and Christians should certainly consider it sinful—then accusing Christ of racism is accusing Christ of sin.
There is no theological loophole called “Jesus was having a bad day.”
Jesus became tired.
He became hungry.
He wept.
He experienced anguish.
His humanity was entirely real.
But His humanity was never morally corrupt.
That distinction is central to the Christian faith.
Because once Jesus becomes merely another flawed person whose prejudices needed correction, Christianity's entire understanding of Christ begins to collapse.
How can a morally compromised Savior become the spotless Lamb of God?
How can someone needing repentance Himself bear the sins of others?
When Culture Becomes Jesus' Judge
This is where the woke church eventually leads.
Scripture no longer judges the culture.
The culture judges Scripture.
Biblical teaching is placed before the tribunal of today's political and social assumptions—and apparently even Jesus Himself must answer to them.
If His words offend modern sensibilities, they are reconstructed.
If His actions appear insufficiently progressive, hidden prejudices are assigned to Him.
If necessary, Jesus becomes the student and modern ideology becomes His teacher.
That is not Christianity adapting its language to reach a changing culture.
It is Christianity changing its Christ to satisfy one.
Matthew 15 does not reveal a racist Jesus being corrected by a courageous woman.
It reveals a Gentile woman with extraordinary faith encountering the sinless Messiah.
She did not teach Jesus how to become more righteous.
She recognized who He already was.
And when pastors begin preaching that Jesus Christ Himself needed to overcome racism, prejudice or moral failure, the question Christians need to ask is no longer simply, “What interpretation of Matthew 15 is this?”
The more serious question is:
Which Jesus are they preaching?
