Recognizing the challenges of living as citizens of God's Kingdom in a world that is becoming more antagonistic to His value systems, Pastor David Jeremiah urged Christians to adopt four "uncancellable concepts" namely wisdom, courage, forgiveness and love.
The pastor of Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, California, pointed that out during his Sunday sermon as a reminder to Christians about what Christ expects of his followers in an era of cancel culture.
The Christian Headlines quoted him as saying, "this is the shared experience of every generation of Christians since the first generation."
Reading from Matthew 24:11, which says, "many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another," Jeremiah asserts that the description in that passage reflects the attitude of "cancel culture."
Equating it as a "culture of disdain," Jeremiah explained that Jesus himself spoke about how readily people were offended in the days before the tribulations.
"None of us wants to be offensive. But doesn't it seem like people everywhere are too easily offended? How long before someone sees us reading a Bible on the airplane and feels uncomfortable?" he pointed out. "When will someone take offense when we wear a t-shirt with the slogan John 3:16 on it? What about the cross around your neck that could get you in trouble?"
Additionally, Jeremiah noted that Jesus predicted that the civilization leading up to the end times will be characterized by individuals aggressively rooting out, exposing, and betraying all those around them. He added that, in any case, cancel culture is dependent on betrayal.
"We all have mistakes from our past we'd like to forget," he said. "All of us have made choices we regret and decisions we would correct or redo if we had the chance. But in a world fueled by cancel culture, those mistakes are not allowed to remain in the past."
This was a reference to those who purposefully dug out other people's pasts, including their friends', with the express purpose of publicly slandering them.
Another distinguishing characteristic of cancel culture, according to Jeremiah, is how it breeds "deception" and "disconnection." To illustrate this, he referenced a recent poll finding that almost half of Americans had formed no new connections in the preceding half-decade.
He predicted that the culture before the tribulation and the end of history would be marked by a lack of warmth in people's relationships with one another.
"Shame will drive people inward. Bullying will drive them downward. Hatred will drive them backward," he said.
From there, he encouraged those who were listening to join small groups with fellow believers and discover ways to serve one another.
Under the four un-cancellable concepts, Jeremiah described wisdom as "doing the right thing even when there is no precedent," courage as "taking a bold stand," forgiveness as the victim deciding to free both himself and the perpetrator from hatred, and love as always imitating Christ.
"So we've had 2,000 years to prepare for these days. One thing we know: The rewards of following Jesus Christ are always worth it."
