Moving from Cancel Culture to Counsel Culture - Lauren Sparks
Much has been said of late about the “Cancel Culture” we find ourselves neck deep in. Social media often spearheads this bullying. In essence, someone makes a mistake or holds to a different belief than you, so they are dead to you. And while “canceling” is scary and mean-spirited on the world wide web, it is alive and well IRL too. And that makes me incredibly sad.
I believe the origin of cancel culture stems from the desire to protect our own image. If someone (friend, family member or celebrity we don’t even know) says something or acts in a way counter to what we believe, we create as much distance from them as we can. Often very loudly, lest someone mistakenly think we adhere to the same ideology.
The problem? As believers we put the “protection of our witness” above the Lord’s command to love. (My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. John 15:12 NIV) And speaking of our witness, John 17:23 says coming together in “complete unity” is how others will know about Jesus and His love for them. Does “complete unity” mean we agree on everything? Of course not. That will never happen. But it does mean that we show love and respect to each other in the midst of our differences.
As believers we cannot participate in this toxic canceling practice. When we cut someone off and out over a mistake made or a wrong choice, we negate the work of Jesus on the cross. He came to redeem. Cancel culture says, “You are bad. You will never change. You are not worthy.” If any of that is true, what did Jesus die for?”
Counsel culture says, all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23 NIV but that Out of his [God’s] fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. John 1:16 NIV Grace in place of grace! Do you know what that means? When we trust Jesus to save us from our sins, grace covers over all we’ve done in opposition to God. And from that point on, every time we sin, more grace just rains down on us. A continual waterfall of forgiveness that never stops pouring.
This is such fantastic news for all of us. Because we all have dark and wretched parts. Therefore we all have the potential to commit a “cancelable” offense. So what’s a Christian to do? We follow the example of Jesus. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32 NIV In other words love, love and love some more. In doing so you will point others to Jesus. And that’s the main thing.
And now for this week’s featured post from the link up:
Debbie W. Wilson was singing my tune next week with praying scripture over others. In this case specifically for children in Mothers of Prodigals: Draw hope from Samson. And I did! What an encouragement coming off of Mother’s Day week. Thanks, Debbie.
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