HOT TAKES: CANCEL CULTURE & GRACE

Q: Should the Church Ever Cancel Someone? Can Grace Ever Go Too Far?

Concerning This Week’s Events

We pray.
We learn.
We stand.

Today’s Hot Take: How do we respond to Cancel Culture? Is there ever a time to cancel someone? And can grace ever go too far?

“[Jesus] left Judea and departed again for Galilee. And he had to pass through Samaria. So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour.

A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, ‘Give me a drink.’ (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?’ (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, “Give me a drink,” you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’” (John 4:3–10, ESV)

“Jesus had to go through Samaria.” Why? Because Jesus came to cancel cancel culture.

Take #1 — The Church Is at Its Best When We Disciple; at Its Worst When We Devour

“How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (John 4:9).

Cancel culture thrives on sides. Jesus breaks through division.

Cancel culture = the online mob that denounces, distances, and destroys. It makes the crowd judge, jury, and executioner.

Jesus reveals truth and restores dignity.

We confront—we don’t cancel.
We lift up—we don’t tear down.

Take #2 — The Church Is at Its Best When We Call People Up, Not Just Call Them Out

Jesus said, “Go, call your husband” (John 4:16).

This was not an accusation, it was an invitation.

Grace doesn’t look away from sin. It looks through the mess to what God can make new.

Love vs. Tolerance

Tolerance condones. Love confronts.
Tolerance seeks affirmation. Love seeks transformation.
Tolerance protects self. Love sacrifices self.
Tolerance shifts with culture. Love stands eternal.

Love is the highest standard!

Take #3 — The Church Is at Its Best When We Seek Restoration, Not Retaliation

“They marveled that he was talking with a woman” (John 4:27).

Can grace go too far? No! Grace always goes further.

“Now if anyone has caused pain, he has caused it not to me, but in some measure—not to put it too severely—to all of you. For such a one, this punishment by the majority is enough, so you should rather turn to forgive and comfort him, or he may be overwhelmed by excessive sorrow. So I beg you to reaffirm your love for him.” (2 Corinthians 2:5–8, ESV)

Forgive = don’t overlook sin, release it.
Comfort = lift the burden.
Reaffirm = give accountability and love.

Cancel culture ends the story. Grace writes a new one.

What Happened to the Woman at the Well?

“So the woman left her water jar and went into town and said to the people, ‘Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?’ They went out of the town and were coming to him.” (John 4:28–30, ESV)

The Samaritan woman, once shamed and isolated, became the first evangelist in her town. Church tradition says she went on to lead her family to Christ, preach in Carthage, confront Nero, lead his daughter to faith, and ultimately give her life as a martyr.

The place of her shame became the platform of God’s glory.