Cancel the Cancel Culture
There’s this thing happening more and more in our society and the more it happens the more frustrated I become. Social media is now being used to find areas of disagreement and past mistakes so they can be used as a weapon to assault people’s character online. This phenomenon has been termed, Cancel Culture.
With many things, it’s important that we define them first. So, this is what I mean when I use the term Cancel Culture.
Cancel Culture = the popular practice of withdrawing support and viciously attacking people and companies after they have done or said something considered objectionable or offensive. Cancel culture is generally happening on social media in the form of group shaming. Many times Cancel Culture pushes to ban companies, fire employees, and seeks vengeance even after apologizes are given.
Here’s my issue with the cancel culture… it’s in complete opposition to Jesus and how He asks us to live.
Cancel Culture wants to cancel you by holding on to and exposing your past. Jesus wants to hold on to you while canceling your past and making you new.
Cancel Culture is the antithesis of the gospel. It takes our worst moment and makes it the sum total of our identity. Jesus takes our worst moment, covers it in His grace and calls us His own.
I’m a pastor and I believe we have all sinned and we all will sin. Think about that for a moment before you lose your mind online and attempt to destroy someone. You, yes you have also done things you regret. You’ve made mistakes. You’ve said things in a moment you didn’t mean. You’ve done things you wish you could take back.
If it’s true that we all fall short, we all sin, we all have regrets, what’s a God-honoring way to approach the faults and sins of others? Glad you asked! Let me give you a couple of thoughts to help you to Cancel the #CancelCulture
#1 Assume the best
Cancel Culture judges others by their worst actions and ourselves by our best intentions. It’s the epitome of hypocrisy. Holding others to a standard we dare not hold ourselves to. Not only is it hypocritical it’s just not helpful. I can’t tell you how many times over the years that a massive issue was nothing more than a misunderstanding or another person poorly communicating. If I assume the best, I assume that what you said, you must not have meant. I must have read too much into it or you currently don’t stand by what you did/said. I assume the best. Too often Cancel Culture doesn’t just assume the worst, they claim to know without a doubt that you meant the worst.
#2 Allow people to change
If there is nothing in my past that I regret, wish I would have done differently, or no longer believe, then I haven’t grown. Isn’t the goal in this life to continually become more like Jesus? And let’s be real, we all have a long way to go! If you and I go around digging up the sins of others that are 2, 6, or 18 years old, we are bound to find something. But does that prove our point and their wickedness? Would that prove they deserve to be canceled? Or would it simply prove they are humans on a journey of growth and change?
#3 Accountability without assassination
There’s nothing wrong with confronting someone’s sin and issues. But before I jump on the next Cancel Culture #hashtag, I need to ask myself a few questions. First, is my goal their repentance or is it vengeance? If they repent, do they also need to be scrubbed from the world and canceled? Is what has made me so angry simply a different way of viewing the world? Many who hold biblical views of marriage, abortion, sexuality, etc are in danger of the Cancel Culture mob by simply having a different view. Before you jump on the cancel bandwagon, be careful you’re not empowering what will eventually turn against you as well.
It’s time to #CANCEL the #CancelCulture
People are not their worst moment. People can change. And it’s not my job to make everyone repent. It’s my job to lovingly call you to a higher standard. It’s my job to, in humility try and restore you. It’s my job to pray for you, even if you’re my enemy. We can do better.