Cancel Culture: A Christian Take
Cancel culture isn’t new. People in authority often “cancel” anyone who dared to speak against them. But it’s starting to seep deeper into society. Sherry shares more in this post.
The famous general and eventual emperor of France, Napoleon Bonaparte, gradually surrounded himself with ‘yes men’, people who only spoke to him positively, only reinforced his image of himself as being invincible, who agreed with him and supported his every decision. This led to him invading Russia in 1812, and his defeat there led to his exile from his own country only two years later.
There are numerous examples of leaders, some of them good leaders, who surrounded themselves with only loyalists, which led to disastrous results for both themselves and the country they were leading.
I used to be part of a denominational forum board, back before social media sites like Facebook. These forum boards were our social media sites. Biblical viewpoints of nearly every topic conceivable were argued on that site, round and round.
I finally grew tired of the vain repetitions and stopped visiting it, but my time there expanded my ability to make a cohesive, reasonable, Bible-based argument. It forced me to rethink why I believe what I believe and to search out what God says, to not rely on what I think but on what the Word of God actually says.
I promise that these two points are related to each other.
Cancel Culture vs. Constructive Critisism
You see, today’s society is telling us to cut people off at an alarmingly increasing rate. They encourage others to fully embrace cancel culture in their everyday life.
- They’re negative? Cut them out of your life.
- They don’t support you and your decisions? Cut them off.
- They disagree with your political stance? Go no-contact.
- They challenge your way of thinking?
- They do things you don’t like?
- They act in ways you wouldn’t act?
Cut them off, leave them behind, shun anyone who doesn’t bring you abundant joy and happiness.
Don’t get me wrong – some relationships are so damaging that you are better off not speaking to them anymore, cutting them out of your life for good. But let’s face it, today’s version of cancel culture—going no-contact or low-contact—has gone far beyond getting away from those who are abusive and damaging.
Related Post: Setting Boundaries
You are impacted by everyone you know.
Everyone has a lesson to teach you, even those who are negative.
If you cut out every person who has ever done anything wrong towards you, you diminish yourself.
Hear me out.
You know those rulers who only have “yes men” around them? Their leadership suffers because they have no one contradicting them.
The Benefit of an Antagonist
That “frenemy” who seems to argue with you over every little thing? Maybe they’re in your life to make you think through all your decisions. You may never agree with any of their arguments, but you had to think through their points in order to conclude you actually were right after all. Didn’t you? And aren’t you more confident in your stance now because of it?
That person who hasn’t always been able to meet your emotional needs? Maybe they’re not capable of being that person. Perhaps they’re in your life to teach you to be compassionate toward those who can’t return what you give.
Do you have family members who don’t understand you or think differently than you do? Maybe you need to see their perspective so you’re not only looking at life from your own point of view.
The ones who argue with you make you stronger. The pull and push exercises your muscles, helps you grow in ways you can’t imagine if the struggle weren’t there.
There will always be pressures on you. It’s part of life. Cutting out anyone who puts some pressure on you will only make you a weaker person.
Jesus Led by Example
Let’s look at Jesus and His disciples. He had fishermen, tax collectors, zealots, men who had followed John the Baptist called alongside men who had lived life on the open sea in fishing vessels. Tax collectors were usually highly educated and wealthy, while fishermen were much lower on the social scale. Zealots may have well been rigid to get along with just because of how extreme their views would have been.
Those twelve men were not people who would have naturally become friends. Left to themselves, they likely would not have even met each other, much less formed the band of brothers they eventually grew into. Even during their time with Jesus, they fought and bickered, yet God did not lead any of them to cut any of the others out of their life.
Growth happens through pressure, which can be painful sometimes. Let’s not limit our means of growth by eliminating everyone who challenges us in some way.
What About You?
Are there people in your life who are a challenge? Are you a challenge in someone else’s life? How can you cope with the people who challenge you without cutting them out of your life?
Related Reading
At the Feet of Jesus
One of my favorite people in all of Scripture is Mary of Bethany. She had a heart for Jesus like none other. We first meet her in Luke 10, sitting at the feet of Jesus. Later, in John 12, Mary returns to the feet of Jesus, dousing them with expensive perfume and wiping them clean with her hair.
While Mary is my favorite person in the Bible, I started to wonder about others who spent time at the feet of Jesus. My name is Heather Hart, and I would love to invite you to sit at the feet of Jesus with me in my newest devotional book, At the Feet of Jesus.
