Cancel culture is a modern form of ostracism in which someone is thrust out of social or professional circles – whether it be online, on social media, or in person. Those who are subject to this ostracism are said to have been “cancelled”. Cancel culture doesn’t give a person the opportunity to make amends for their wrong doing.
Of all the strange and terrible stuff that has happened over the last year cancel culture may be the most demonic at its root. It absolutely demeans the value of human existence and eliminates the wonder of personal growth. Cancel culture says this is who you are, you can’t change, we’re done with you.
Look at Revelation 12:10:
10 Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.
The Bible teaches that Satan is the accuser of the brethren. He comes to find fault with us and get ourselves and others to accuse us for the mistakes we’ve made. Most of us see the work of the devil in overt sin such as murder, theft, adultery, racism, sexism and so on. It’s pretty obvious when a person commits one of these acts, Satan led them to to do it. What most of us don’t realize is when we come along and condemn/cancel a person for one of these acts we were just as led by the devil as the murderer and adulterer. Pretty ironic, right?
ULTIMATELY CANCEL CULTURE IS PARTNERSHIP WITH THE DEVIL! WHEN WE’RE DONE WITH SOMEONE BECAUSE THEY AREN’T PERFECT, WE’VE ESSENTIALLY ENTERED INTO AN ALLIANCE WITH SATAN!
Unfortunately many people have a wrong view of God and think he expects us all to be perfect. When we are not, they think He comes out with a big flyswatter and is ready to destroy us. This is the opposite of how God is. God loves us in the midst of our mess. He’s not intimidated by sin or failure. He loves reaching into broken situations and restoring people.
There are many examples throughout the Bible about how God reached in and restored people who royally messed up. These include Abraham, Moses, King David, Peter, Paul, and the woman caught in adultery to name a few. Why does God do this? He really loves people. He meets us at our point of need and sends His grace to transform us into the image of Christ.
John 20:21 says “As the Father has sent Me, I also send you.” As followers of Christ we are called to carry on the ministry of Jesus. We are called to help redeem and restore not cancel and destroy. I’ll admit this preaches easy, but is quite a bit harder to live. This is why we have to depend on the grace of God. We can’t love people like Jesus does in our flesh. It takes the power of the Holy Spirit flowing through us to do this.
The biggest key the Lord has ever taught me about forgiving others is to remember how much I’ve been forgiven of. Jesus talked about this in the parable of the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18. When we don’t forgive its a sign that we’ve forgotten how much we’ve been forgiven.
I pray the Lord reminds each of us of how much He has forgiven us. Metaphorically, Jesus has already forgive us of a trillion dollar debt. How easy should it be for us to forgive others of $5,000 debt by comparison? Jesus came to cancel Cancel Culture. He wiped out the law and the hopelessness that it created because it constantly found! Let’s learn to receive the ministry of reconciliation for ourselves and extend it toward others.
I hope this article has encouraged you and reminded you of the true nature of God. If you’d like to learn more about how Jesus deals with people in the midst of failure, check out this message I recently taught at Grace Life Church!
