Cancel Culture

Sermon

Thoughts on cancel culture:

1) This is not necessarily against Christians. Celebrities and prominent figures get canceled

a) Irony is this is happening a lot to comedians.

b) Some famous names that have been attacked

i) Joe Rogan

(1) Covid vaccines

ii) Jk Rowling (Harry Potter)

(a) Trans gender

(b) Trans seems to be a big topic with this. Doesn’t matter if someone is Christian or just fighting for biological truth.

(2) Ellen Degeneres

(a) Hostile working enviroment

2) The game is who can be the loudest. If you say something that goes against the loudest group, then you get canceled.

a) This gets pretty mucky when there is no actual standard for what needs to be canceled.

3) Typically the people that claim tolerance are the most avid cancel-ors.

4) Did the SBC start cancel culture?

a) It’s similar but have to ask is this about truth or feelings or power?

b) SBC boycotts have been about not financially supporting a business because of a biblical principle. Cancel culture is about destroying ideas that offend you. Not about truth but about feelings.

c) Boycotts can be a part of cancel culture but doing a boycott is not the same as canceling someone.

d) Withholding your business is not canceling.

e) Canceling involves very offensive weapons to totally anialate someone’s character and voice.

f) Cancel culture in and of itself is not totally bad. Accountability for what you say is a good thing. Unfortunately, because Gods word is not a part of the ideology, there is no standard for what is the right thing to say or not say. It’s all based on who’s the loudest and who’s feelings are hurt. The punishment is also not based on a standard so it mostly seems to be based on what the punisher deems sufficient. When sinful people get angry, their wrath is not godly and it gets pretty nasty. Basically mob mentality.

5) Bible-

a) Roman’s 1. When knowledge of God gets suppressed, people make junk up.

b) Genesis 1 and Romans 1

i) Most of this is power, but not everyone is about power. I think some of the mass power this has is that it plays on the imago dei in people. People don’t always have scripture to tell them whats wrong, but they know things aren’t right because of the imago dei in them.

6) According to faithfully different, me too movement brought accountability to physical acts of wrong but cancel culture wants to punish ideas. P221

7) Is freedom of speech biblical?

Im not so sure. The bible definitely seems to say that we should speak regardless of freedom or not.

Im not arguing against it though, i think its a backbone of our society.

But is it biblical?

a) I keep seeing in articles, no, but it does gives us freedom to speak and then face consequences.

a) Doesnt prove total freedom of speech, but definitely some freedom. This was a bold move that was a movement of God.

2 Samuel 12:5–14 ESV

5 Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, 6 and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.” 7 Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. 8 And I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. 9 Why have you despised the word of the Lord, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10 Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ 11 Thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. 12 For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.’ ” 13 David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die. 14 Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the Lord, the child who is born to you shall die.”

b) Radshack, Meshack, and abednego are examples of speaking regardless

c) Ephesians 4:15

Ephesians 4:15 ESV

15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ,

d) Paul in Acts 17:16-34

8) People always say, I hate to hurt their feelings but im going to say it. You need to know:

a) No, cancel culture does not want freedom of speech.

b) No, this is not just about hurting feelings

c) Cancel Culture is about taking away the voice of anyone except the one that has the most power. It hurts my feelings is just the disguise.

i) Read from page 220 in faithfully different

Take aways

1. We speak truth anyway

2. We don’t hate for being canceled.

Pages 228-234 in faithfully different

I think this means we need to decide how much to rely on social media. Media is really the only way that cancel cowards can stop anyone for now. It may come to violence one day but for now that won’t happen. So the question becomes how much of my time should I devote to pushing my message on social media. Personally I’ve come to the place where I put very little emphasis on it. It’s hard to accurately get your message out, easy to be misrepresented and even easier to be canceled.

Biblical response

1. Is this a true enemy or a future brother/sister in Christ

1. We do not war against flesh and blood

2. We go against the agenda not the person

2. Is this a time to turn the other cheek or grab a sword?

1. If you don’t have a sword buy one

2. Turn the cheek

3. Will this forward the kingdom of God or my pride?

Acts 17:16–34 ESV

16 Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. 17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. 18 Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, “What does this babbler wish to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20 For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.” 21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new. 22 So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. 23 For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24 The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, 25 nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27 that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, 28 for “ ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “ ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’ 29 Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. 30 The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31 because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” 32 Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.” 33 So Paul went out from their midst. 34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom also were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.