The Ultimate Cancel Culture
Dan Kunz
If you watch the news, listen to the radio, engage in social media, or read a newspaper, you’ve probably seen a lot of emotion in the last couple of years about what’s commonly know as “cancel culture”. Conservatives are upset about who’s being silenced or what’s being eliminated because of "political correctness”. Liberals are upset because some people have always been ignored or silenced and no one seems to care about them.
Over the past year, many statues and monuments have been torn down because some feel the people or movements they represent are not in line with today’s values or ideals. It seems no one is immune from this microscope of history. Teddy Roosevelt, George Washington, and even Abraham Lincoln are all victims of this purge from the town square, the city park, or the campus green. (Applying today’s standards to the past doesn’t seem fair to the people who lived back then!) Last week the estate of Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss) decided to no longer publish six of his books that contain racial stereotypes or, at least, racially sensitive pictures. Mr. Potato Head will no longer be “Mr.”. The Muppets were not cancelled but come with a warning label. A school district in Colorado reportedly bans teachers from displaying photos of their families because images of a mom and a dad with their children may cause harm to students who don’t have a traditional “nuclear” family! The idea of censoring someone or something that some may find offensive is nothing new. Schools and libraries have banned some books for a long time. It can be frustrating to us when some aspect of our culture, our beliefs, or their beliefs are cancelled.
As Christians, you and I are familiar with a form of cancel culture which is a matter of life and death – eternal life and death. God is the one who does the cancelling and we are the beneficiaries. Psalm 109:12 “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Isaiah 43:25 “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.” Romans 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
Because of his Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ, God cancels our sins. Our slate is wiped clean. Our records are purged. It is as if our mountains of sin have disappeared. They no longer exist. God doesn’t remember them. They have vanished like a wisp of smoke in the wind.
It has been said that those who don’t remember history will be forced to repeat it. This is the danger of cancelling our country’s history, both good and bad. We should remember our history and constantly strive to make our country better, more caring, and more faithful to God and our founding principles. The same can be said of our sins. We should remember them as a warning for future temptations. We should know ourselves and avoid what may be harmful to us. We should not let Satan dredge them up and use them as a wedge to separate us from our loving Heavenly Father. He has cast them into the depths of the sea, cancelling them for all time. That’s the type of cancel culture we can all celebrate!