Cancel culture is no respecter of persons….including yourself.
Tell me that suicide rates and cancel culture aren’t two sides of the same hand.
We cancel one person out, then another, then that group and that friend and that family member and before we know it, we are alone and cancel ourselves out.
No one will get it right 100% of the time….including you….or me.
Cancel culture can’t be compartmentalized. It oozes into everything you do. We quit that job, that marriage, that friendship, that family member, that class, that mission trip, that _____________. It’s endless in cancelling.
Cancel culture refers to the popular practice of withdrawing support for (canceling) public figures and companies after they have done or said something considered objectionable or offensive. Cancel culture is generally discussed as being performed on social media in the form of group shaming.
I really believe cancel culture is happening in the church on so many levels. One pastor says this or that so THEY OUT. Then another speaker. Another preacher. Before we know it we have me, my grandma and my great Aunt Loosie that I agree with on everything.
But then one day grandma says something wonky and she might get the boot too.
And I’m like “WHAT ARE WE DOING?”
The church is one body. And we are killing ourselves.
You know I will be the first person and at times, the only one around me standing for truth. One of my friends said to me recently “Teresa, we know where to go to find someone who will stand for truth.” Yes.
We can’t mess around and erase and change the Bible to make God in our own image.
We can’t rewrite the gospel to tickle our ears and be so prideful as to think we could define justice better than God does.
We can’t define sin as a “right” and parade ourselves in debauchery.
We must keep the main thing the main thing and not get it twisted.
AND
I don’t know many people that I can say I agree with completely.
I can listen to a pastor, a teacher, or a preacher and totally agree with them on one subject and disagree on another.
Do I cancel them out? I hope not! They probs don’t agree with me on everything either.
Most of my Christian life, I have been listening to people talk about Jesus and the Word. MOST times, I can find something that I’m like “hmmmmmm……where did you get that from?” when I listen to them. But most of what they say, I can chew on.
I def have people I choose to not sit under and learn from.
I’ve learned about all kinds of deception in the church in the last year.
He has made me a watchman and made my passion a plumb-line for truth.
The other night I was imagining the church in a boat, that is drifting and everyone is like “Teresa, who cares! We are in the ocean still.” And I’m pointing out “But we have drifted….our anchor is over there!” That’s what I mean by being a watchman with a plumb-line.
So yes to wisdom. Yes to the foundations not being altered.
We can’t have a fake unity and hold hands singing kumbaya on a false foundation we call Christianity.
But no to this mass cancel culture that is permeating the church. I am sure more than you, your grandma and Aunt Loosie are going to be in heaven….so how can the church be more unified, have more grace and truly love one another?
It can’t be that we stop speaking the truth boldly.
We can’t stop having face to face real talks.
It can’t be kumbaya and never talk about deeper issues of faith.
It can be listening to one another.
It can be spurring one another on.
It can be forgiving 70 x 7.
It can be turning the other cheek.
And maybe just maybe, we as the church can be unified on a TRUE SECURE foundation. Then we will live….when we have true community and speak the truth in love, be like Jesus and walk in grace and truth….then and only then could we see Kingdom culture.
Kingdom culture is the only way we will survive. The enemy wants us to divide and die. We will achieve his goal if we keep cancelling.
Jesus, help me stand for truth, unwavering, uncompromising and also have grace and love for everyone inside and outside the church. The road is narrow and few find it. But it would help, if I still engaged people I would rather cancel so they might hopefully follow Jesus too. And if they already are following Jesus and we disagree on cessationism and continuationism, or pre-trib and post trib, or predestination and free will….then so be it.
I won’t cancel you out. Jesus, help us not look like the world.
