Jesus and Cancel Culture
Earlier this month, Gina Carano, who played Cara Dune on the Disney+ show The Mandalorian, was fired over a controversial tweet that compared the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany to the political division and hostility in American society today. Carano is the latest in a long string of recent cases of people being fired over comments made or actions taken in the past. The list of people who have been "canceled" is long and diverse. It includes producers, actors, YouTubers, professors, commentators, and even authors. Victims of cancel culture can be found on the right and the left, and even the biggest stars and most beloved names, such as Kevin Hart and JK Rowling, are not immune to its effects.
Some of the offenses for which people were canceled are totally justified, especially cases that involve criminal conduct such as sexual assault. But many of the cases are not so cut-and-dried. Many people have been canceled due to tweets or social media posts made years ago that might be characterized as insensitive, foolish, or offensive, but that do not rise to the standard of career-ending action.
“Cancel culture is... largely driven by fear and an overarching concern for the bottom line.”
Cancel culture is, in part, driven by legitimate goals of promoting justice and suppressing injustice, but it is also largely driven by fear and an overarching concern for the bottom line. Corporations like Disney do not want to lose money over avoidable controversies that may drive fans and customers away. And what constitutes a controversy is driven by social trends and the Zeitgeist of the moment.
The real danger of cancel culture is that as it grows and becomes normative, it will come after not only celebrities but regular people as well. Already, there have been cases of college students nearly losing their academic careers over showing support for certain political leaders, which may be offensive to some but is clearly a 1st Amendment-protected right.
The Message of Cancel Culture
At the heart of cancel culture is a clear message: watch what you do and say or you too may lose your career. But cancel culture conveys another message as well, one that cuts deeper than the practical level. It tells us that there is no grace or forgiveness for past transgressions. Once you are canceled, you are canceled for good. No canceled individual is given a time frame after which their sentence is completed. The message they are told is "we want you gone and forgotten."
“No canceled individual is given a time frame after which their sentence is completed. The message they are told is "we want you gone and forgotten."“
The only way people ever come back from being canceled is to wait until society has forgotten about their sin, or until someone else commits a greater offence that makes their sin seem small in comparison. But with the internet being what it is, it is getting harder and harder for canceled people to find their second chance. Digital memory makes redemption elusive.
How Jesus Responds to Sin
In a way, the message of cancel culture is the antithesis to the message of the gospel. Cancel culture is anti-grace and anti-forgiveness. The gospel of Jesus Christ is pro-grace and pro-forgiveness. Cancel culture wants to punish sinners and do away with them. Jesus wants to redeem sinners and restore them.
“Cancel culture wants to punish sinners and do away with them. Jesus wants to redeem sinners and restore them.”
In cancel culture, it does not matter how long ago a transgression was committed, nor how repentant the transgressor is. What matters is that the transgression was made, and that is enough to take you out. In kingdom culture, sins are acknowledged and taken seriously—seriously enough for the Son of God to die and shed His precious blood for them—but repentance is taken seriously as well. If someone genuinely repents because they feel godly sorrow over their sin (2 Cor. 7:10-11), it does not matter whether the sin was committed five years ago or five minutes ago; Jesus forgives the sin, the sin is truly gone, and the sinner is made clean and whole.
Conclusion
Cancel culture does not give second chances. In Christ, there are endless chances (Matt. 18:22) up until the moment of death (Heb. 9:27). The gospel of Christ is superior to cancel culture in every way because it deals with sin more effectively and it heals and restores individuals and society more deeply. Cancel culture leads to many downsides, but there is no downside to the gospel.
In the end, cancel culture aims to cancel the sinner. Jesus, on the other hand, cancels the sin and redeems the sinner. Cancel culture, if allowed to continue, will result in the cancellation of the entire world because everyone at some point has said or done something offensive (Rom. 3:23). The only path that leads to redemption and righteousness on an individual and societal scale is the path of Jesus.