The culture that social media has birthed is the idea of being “cancelled.” Cancelling in other words is being exposed for any wrongdoings someone may have committed and being punished for that by “canceling” one’s career, reputation, and future. With this idea, I want to look at it through a biblical lens and talk about this subject from a Christian standpoint.
In our modern day society, technology makes it so easy to bring something up that was liked, posted, taped, and commented years ago and it’ll be resurfaced and can bring social destruction into someone’s life. Influencers or those who have big platforms sometimes get cancelled because of a comment they have said before they were famous.
I have seen many people’s lives, futures, careers, all diminished because of something they have said or done and they were cancelled for it. Personally, it doesn’t feel right to me for someone to be completely cancelled when their future is taken away from them.
I am not saying that people should not be held accountable for their wrongdoings, but my beliefs as a Christian, is that everyone is made new through the washing of the blood of Jesus. Every sin that was committed in the past is forgiven through the blood of Jesus, when they repent. Wrongdoings today that would result in someone being cancelled are saying/doing something offensive usually in the realms of race, sexuality, gender, etc.
In regards to the reasons why people cancel, I am not discounting the fact people should not be held accountable for their words or actions. However, I believe as peers we should not only hold them accountable, but we should take a second before we are quick to “cancel” someone.
The first point I want to make is found in John 8, verses 1 – 11, taking this story as a reminder that we all sin and we all make mistakes. So in this story, the teachers of the law and the Pharisees question Jesus, bringing forth an adulterous woman. They asked Jesus “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery. In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?” (verses 4-5). Jesus responded to them with this profound comment I think we should all take into account, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (verse 7). With that response, those who were ready to stone her, couldn’t, because they all were of sin.
We, as humans, are full of sin. How is it that we are so quick to “cancel” or I would like to say “virtually stone” someone, when we all have done something that was not right? Not only that, but before we even think of cancelling someone, take a moment to think for yourself “have I ever done anything – anything, that can be deemed as publicly shameful?” This story is so important to grasp because it evidently shows us how to treat people who have done wrong; to not stone them to death, or publicly deteriorate them, but forgive, show compassion, and lead them towards a more righteous path.
Jesus in verse 9-11, we see that no one condemned her and Jesus reassures her that He doesn’t condemn her either and to leave her life of sin; meaning to leave her old adulterous life and live new under the grace of God.
I believe as Christians we are to not cast the first stone, but instead hold someone accountable for what they have said or done, and then continue to love on them. With every sin we commit we are called to repent and turn back to the cross. Instead of being quick to expose and screenshot, we should lead them to repent and live a new life of loving and forgiving others. A life centered around Christ.
Adding onto the previous point, we all sin because of the fallen world that we live in. In Mark 7: 21-23, “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” With this verse, we all have done something that falls short of the Glory of God, but our job as brothers and sisters in Christ is to lead those who fall short to repentance and to pray for them so God can give them life (1 John 5: 16-17). Not only that, but we need to check and look at ourselves before we comment on another person for their character and actions.
The last point I want to emphasize is to not judge others. Only God knows what is in our hearts and He is the only rightful judge. In Matthew 7, verses 1-6, Jesus is adamant about not judging. Judging others brings judgement on yourself. Verses 3-5 says, “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”
In the verses above, Jesus is clearly saying we all have our own problems and ‘specks’ in our lives that we should focus on, instead of pointing out the flaws and sins in other people. This passage is an awesome reminder to look at yourself first, before we cast any judgements on other people. We all struggle with the concept of judging others. It is built in our fleshly nature, but that is why all throughout the bible, it emphasizes to not judge. In a sense when we “cancel” someone, we are taking it upon ourselves to judge them according to what they did.
I remember seeing on twitter, a group of people cancelling this one girl for something she did that was noted as racist, and she was exposed for it. What she said was definitely not okay, but she got her scholarship revoked because of the amount of people that were giving her backlash and threatening the university that she was going to attend. Saying racial slurs is not okay, but it is not our job to punish or bring judgement on them. Matthew 12: 36-37, says “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” With that being said, let this scripture resonate within ourselves. If someone offends, are we going to counter with hate, or show them corrections rooted in love?
We are all imperfect people, who make mistakes all the time. Oftentimes we do not understand why people say or do the things they do, but our job is not to socially destroy them. We are not supposed to resolve situations with more hate on hate, but overcome it with love. In the Gospels, Jesus shows compassion to sinners, and shows them the Father’s love, and in doing so, it led them to repentance and turning away from their old ways.
To close off, as Christians we need to rise up and share the Gospel to help lead people to Christ, so we can live a righteous life in a toxic social media culture. A life where we can easily forgive and be quick to love. With the idea of cancelling people, be reminded of the scriptures in the Gospels, and how Jesus acted when someone was living a life of sin and doing a whole bunch of wrongdoings. He didn’t shame them, He instead corrected and showed them love and forgiveness. Let’s be reminded of the Apostle Paul who was once someone who persecuted Christians, but then turned into someone who was testifying for the Lord and became a strong advocate for the Christian faith.
Before cancelling someone, let’s remind ourselves of the power of God, who has the ability to turn lives around. Someone could have said something 10 years ago or even a day ago, but remember everyone is made new every day through Christ Jesus. Don’t discount someone’s ability to be changed through the blood of Jesus. Let God do the judging and allow yourself to be vessels for the Kingdom bringing light and encouragement.
Written by Keilani Mayo