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. (source: https://www.dictionary.com/e/pop-culture/cancel-culture/)
It’s likely that the way you feel about “cancel culture” is going to depend on what side of the political aisle you fall on. In other news, the sun did, in fact, rise in the east this morning.
Generally speaking, those who are politically liberal are more likely to embrace cancel culture. Those who are more conservative are more likely to reject it.
Personally, I think there can be potential positives to “cancelling.” I think there are some things that our society should take a good, hard look at and ask whether we should really be supporting or memorializing certain ideas/ symbols/ people.
On the flip side, there are some tremendous negatives to cancel culture, not the least of which is to metaphorically bury people for decades-old statements or mistakes and the demand for perfection from others. It feels more than just a little graceless (not to mention unrealistic).
So, as in many things, the truth about the value of cancel culture lies somewhere in the middle. It can be helpful…if we’re “cancelling” the right things for the right reasons…but it can be extremely harmful if it’s taken in a direction that demands from others something that God doesn’t- namely, perfection.
My goal today, though, isn’t to talk about what we should or should not cancel. What I want to do is talk about why we’re so drawn to- or opposed to- cancel culture in the first place.
“Mom!!! They did something bad!!!”
Growing up with siblings, what I’ve come to realize is this: there is a deeply hidden motive inside all of us that gets a sick pleasure out of “ratting out” a brother or a sister for something they did. There’s something extremely perverse in all of us that just loves it when one of our siblings does something that we know they shouldn’t…because it gives us a chance to go to our mom, dad, or whoever happens to be in charge and loudly declare, as miniature social justice warriors, “Guess what John (or Jane) did???”
Either that, or we black-mailed our sibling for years under the threat of “Or I’ll tell on you!”
Now…what do you suppose our motive was for telling on a sibling?
Did we crave the execution of justice in the household? We’re were disturbed to our core that our sibling had dared to defy the commands of the mighty parents and such audacity horrified us to our core? Did we feel a great sense of emotional angst, believing that, if the proper punishment was not delivered immediately, it would forever disrupt the peace and sanctity of the home?
Nope. Generally speaking, our motives in reporting a siblings crimes against the household was pretty simple: To demonstrate to our parents that WE were more awesome than our sibling…and to convince ourselves that WE were more awesome than our siblings.
And it’s pretty easy to believe your own good press when you’re focused on the sins of somebody else.
“I’m not the problem.”
The truth is this: the reason we either love cancel culture or condemn cancel culture is actually quite simple.
If you love it, it’s probably not simply about social justice.
If you hate it, it’s probably not because it’s hypocritically intolerant (while preaching tolerance).
Whether you love it or hate it, the real reason behind your feelings on it can be summed up like this: It gives you a chance to pump up your own good press by focusing on the sins of somebody else.
And oh my, how we LOVE to do that. Very little has changed since the backyard days of our childhood. We’ve just grown up and modified our method of attack. Like children in adult bodies, we take to the streets or our screens, loudly announcing “They did that!! Look how awful they are! Look at how hypocritical they are!”…and all the while patting ourselves on the back and receiving compliments from others for how awesome and virtuous we are.
What generally goes unsaid is a deep belief we have about the problems we see in the world: “I’m not the problem- someone else is.”
After all, how could we be when everyone else is?
We’re missing our real problem
Let me be clear here: I’m not saying there are NOT things we should not vocally point out. Whether it is something or someone that should be held accountable for their misdeed or rightly pointing out the lack of grace and mercy in cancel culture itself, we should identify and point out those problems.
But generally speaking, that should not be the first thing we do. Primarily because we are ill-equipped to do it. Here’s why:
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”- Matthew 7:3-5 (NIV)
What Jesus tells us here is this: our primary problem is not what’s outside of us. It’s what’s already in us.
Our primary problem is not that our culture improperly memorializes certain things. Our problem is not the intolerance of cancel culture.
Our problem is the junk that exists inside of us. Our problem is our own sin. Our problem is that we, as individuals, wrongly memorialize things or people in our own lives- it’s called idolatry. Our problem is that we, as individuals, are graceless, merciless, and unforgiving.
We’re so quick to cancel people or things- or criticize those who advocate for doing so- all the while forgetting that the primary thing we should be doing is asking Jesus to show us our own problems.
And- as hard as it is to believe- Jesus described our own personal sins as planks. He described the sins of others as specks. Put another way: my personal sin is a much greater obstacle to my life than the sins of other people.
As it turns out, the problem really is…us.
And Jesus indicates that until we deal with our own problems, we will never be able to properly address the problems we see around us.
Flip the script
Here’s what I suggest: anytime you want to cancel something/ someone, or anytime you want to rant against cancel culture, flip the script around. Instead of being so quick to call out the sins of others, press pause and ask yourself this question:
Is the thing that offends me actually true about me?
Are you bothered by something and want to cancel it? Say, for instance, you want to remove Confederate memorials. Could it be that the reason removing things you believe symbolize hate resonates with you because, somewhere in you is personal bigotry against people who aren’t like you? Maybe you aren’t a racist…but perhaps there’s a simmering belief that you are a better person than those people who want to keep those memorials up. Could it be that the reason you can’t wait to get rid of a monument is because it helps you ignore your own self-righteousness and pride directed against people you believe aren’t as “educated”.
Are you bothered by the what you believe is a graceless cancel culture? Could it be that the reason it bothers you is because you are equally as graceless and merciless? Do you protest so loudly against the hypocrisy of cancel culture because it helps you ignore your own lack of grace towards others?
Someone once told me that the reason we see certain sins so easily is because they are so familiar: they are, in fact, the very sins we are embracing ourselves. It might take a different form- in fact, it probably will. But at its core, the attitude and mindset is the exact same.
That doesn’t make me helpful when I protest. It makes me hypocritical.
Which is perhaps the reason our protesting and objecting and cancelling don’t actually change anything…because we actually live in agreement with the very thing we speak out against.
Let’s not be so quick to condemn. Let’s no be so quick to cancel. Let’s not be so quick to call out.
Instead, let’s be quick to have the Holy Spirit examine our own hearts. Let’s be quick to ask God “What is going on in me that needs to be corrected?”
And as God corrects and changes us, then and only then will we have the ability and moral authority to lovingly call for change in our culture and in the lives of those around us