Space for Grace In A Cancel Culture

We live in the age of the cancel culture, the movement where any one can make a mistake – or series of mistakes – and reach a point where we as consumers no longer desire to support them or acknowledge their existence. Anyone who reaches this point has been considered #cancelled

Cancel culture is usual reserved for celebrities but we can cancel other people in our lives too. In the wake of the 2016 election and after, Facebook is now littered with proud declarations of familial deletions. Digital social parricide is what’s all the rage these days.

So yes, we cancel people in our everyday lives, everyday. But generally the ones that make the headlines are aimed at the rich and famous. Cancel culture is truly equal opportunity as there is always someone willing to profess to the world how they will no longer support someone.

Recently a comedian named Jess Hilarious came under fire for a video she released. The video is now deleted but viewers describe the media with Ms. Hilarious making racial comments about 4 Sikh men, stating she felt “threatened”, then following it up later describing how the plane was mysteriously evacuated then re-boarded with the Sikh men no where in sight. Twitter immediately stretched their fingers and clocked in to their job: mass social destruction. Jess with the mess, as she’s called (irony will never go out of style), quickly became the talk of the social media world with articles being written left and right about her. After a few days she released an apology on Instagram stating that she was “ignorant” and needed time to grow.

Although this article isn’t about Jess Hilarious, she makes the perfect current example for a question we all have to ask ourselves: to cancel or not to cancel. When is it the right time cancel someone? Is there a time? How many times can a person do something cancel worthy before they are actually canceled? And is there grace for offenders in a cancel-happy world?

One of the things I’ve noticed about cancel culture is that it is always external, never internal. We are so very quick to point out how all those around us and near us should be canceled but we rarely ever publicly point the cancel finger back at us. Even though we might have a 2 x 4 sticking out of our own eye, that speck of wood in our brother’s eye is just too fun not to poke at.

Another aspect of cancel culture I’ve noticed is that it is heavily influenced by mob mentality and groupthink. I can attest to this personally. There have been times where I actually didn’t have a problem with a person, even if I disagreed extremely with something they did. But log on twitter or Facebook for more than a few minutes and I find myself questioning whether this person deserves my attention anymore. I mean, if this many people hate them, should I too?

And lastly, cancel culture is honestly lazy. It doesn’t actually care about facts, just as long as those facts go along with their current emotional state. Cancel culture seems allergic to nuance and complexity. It lives in a binary world of ones and zeros that only can see black and white, with grey nowhere in sight. Cancel culture doesn’t require much thought or processing, and that’s probably why its so popular.

As I ponder cancel culture, I also wonder about grace. Grace can be defined as unmerited, or unearned, favor. In Christianity, grace is the bedrock upon which one can even call themselves a Christian. Without grace, we don’t go to Heaven and we don’t enjoy the fulfillment of a relationship with our Creator. Although it is the foundation of being a Christian, everyone religious or not needs grace. The Bible describes an event called common grace, which is the reality that God gives good things even to those who don’t believe Him or don’t deserve them.

Grace is something we all need. None of us would survive the true punishment of our actions if they were always given to us every time we deserve them. Think about if you were arrested every time you went over the speed limit. Or if you got cirrhosis the first time you got too drunk. Or if you caught an STI every time you decided to have sex. The reality is that we live in a world that hates giving out grace while desperately asking for it for themselves. And this is the hypocrisy of cancel culture.

Those who thrive in cancel culture are those who are too insecure to admit that they need the same grace that they refuse to extend. Cancel culture thrives in the hearts of those who refuse to see their own issues, who avoid and deflect their own flaws, and who relish in the opportunity to take the spotlight off of themselves and on to a more deserving victim.

Let be clear. Grace does NOT avoid wrongdoing. Grace calls out what needs to be called out. Grace doesn’t give favor without acknowledging that punishment is what is deserved. Grace does not negate justice. In the story of Jesus, God the Father gives both justice and grace through Jesus. Justice for our sins is death, which Jesus took. And grace in spite of our sin is salvation from spiritual death, which Jesus provides.

There is room for grace in this cancel-heavy culture. If we are only known as a people who jump at the opportunity to cancel people as soon as they do something we don’t like, we will never like anyone or anything. People were not created to fulfill your desires; nor were they created for you bank your hopes on. Your heroes will let you down. Your favorite person will disappoint you. And if you response to this is always cancellation, you will never truly be able to enjoy anyone or anything. Your hero needs grace. Your favorite celebrity needs grace.

You need grace. And I hope when that day comes, you get grace instead of a cancellation.