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Moving from Cancel Culture to Counsel Culture

May 14, 2021 by Lauren 28 Comments

Much has been said of late about the “Cancel Culture” we find ourselves neck deep in.  Social media often spearheads this bullying.  In essence, someone makes a mistake or holds to a different belief than you, so they are dead to you.  And while “canceling” is scary and mean-spirited on the world wide web, it is alive and well IRL too.  And that makes me incredibly sad.

 

I believe the origin of cancel culture stems from the desire to protect our own image.  If someone (friend, family member or celebrity we don’t even know) says something or acts in a way counter to what we believe, we create as much distance from them as we can.  Often very loudly, lest someone mistakenly think we adhere to the same ideology.

 

The problem?  As believers we put the “protection of our witness” above the Lord’s command to love. (My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. John 15:12 NIV)  And speaking of our witness, John 17:23 says coming together in “complete unity” is how others will know about Jesus and His love for them.  Does “complete unity” mean we agree on everything?  Of course not.  That will never happen.  But it does mean that we show love and respect to each other in the midst of our differences.

 

As believers we cannot participate in this toxic canceling practice.  When we cut someone off and out over a mistake made or a wrong choice, we negate the work of Jesus on the cross.  He came to redeem.  Cancel culture says, “You are bad.  You will never change.  You are not worthy.”  If any of that is true, what did Jesus die for?”

 

Counsel culture says,  all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 3:23 NIV  but that Out of his [God’s] fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. John 1:16 NIV  Grace in place of grace!  Do you know what that means?  When we trust Jesus to save us from our sins, grace covers over all we’ve done in opposition to God.  And from that point on, every time we sin, more grace just rains down on us.  A continual waterfall of forgiveness that never stops pouring.

 

This is such fantastic news for all of us.  Because we all have dark and wretched parts.  Therefore we all have the potential to commit a “cancelable” offense.  So what’s a Christian to do?  We follow the example of Jesus.  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Ephesians 4:32 NIV  In other words love, love and love some more.  In doing so you will point others to Jesus.  And that’s the main thing.

 

And now for this week’s featured post from the link up:

 

Debbie W. Wilson was singing my tune next week with praying scripture over others.  In this case specifically for children in Mothers of Prodigals:  Draw hope from Samson.  And I did!  What an encouragement coming off of Mother’s Day week.  Thanks, Debbie.

 

Grace and Truth_Rules

1. Share 1 or 2 of your most recent CHRISTIAN LIVING posts. (No DIY, crafts, recipes, or inappropriate articles.) All links are randomly sorted.

2. Comment on 1 or 2 other links. Grace & Truth linkup encourages community.

3. Every host features one entry from the previous week. To be featured, include this button or link back here on your post (mandatory to be featured, but not to participate)Grace and Truth_Meet Hosts

 

We encourage you to follow our hosts on their blogs or social media.

MAREE DEE – Embracing the Unexpected
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HEATHER HART & VALERIE RIESE – Candidly Christian
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LAUREN SPARKS
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LISA BURGESS – Lisa notes
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Now Let’s Link Up!

 

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Dear Teenage Daughter, You Aren’t Entitled and Grace & Truth Link Up

February 21, 2020 by Lauren 34 Comments

Photo by Sharon McCutcheon on Unsplash

Dear Teenage Daughter,

You aren’t entitled to obey only when you feel like it.

You aren’t entitled to make all your own decisions.

You aren’t entitled to an allowance without contributing to the chores in our household.

You aren’t entitled to stay out as late as you want.

You aren’t entitled to all the fineries and material goods that your friends can afford.

You aren’t entitled to free speech at the expense of others’ feelings.

You aren’t entitled to a 24 hour parent ATM.

You aren’t entitled to treat your parent like an on-call uber, cook or maid.

You aren’t entitled to take your anger and frustration out on those who love you.

And you aren’t entitled to the freedoms of adulthood with none of the responsibility.

 

But Dear Teenage Daughter,

I am not entitled to reciprocate when you lash out.

I am not entitled to a stress and drama-free home.

I am not entitled to build a protective bubble to keep you from hurting or stumbling.

I am not entitled to singular control over my time and resources.

I am not entitled to a clutterless existence.

I am not entitled to make all your decisions for you.

I am not entitled to discipline out of pride or anger.

I am not entitled to lay on a guilt trip when you’d rather not be with me.

I am not entitled to behavior from you that makes me “look good”.

And I am not entitled to keep you a little girl forever.

 

But just maybe, there is enough grace to cover us both.  I love you.

 

For of His fullness [a]we have all received, and [b]grace upon grace.  John 1:16

 

Now for this week’s featured post!

People are Hard to Hate Up Close by Laurie Hess of Meditations in Motion.

Laurie has said here what I have struggled to say before, with a great personal story touch and even a social media call to action!  Let’s get personal, drop the generalities and love each other better.  Click here to read the post.

 

Now for this week’s link-up! Let’s bless and encourage one another in our walk with the Lord.

Grace & Truth : A Weekly Christian Link UpGrace & Truth exists to point people to Jesus! We hope this link-up will be a source of encouragement every week. If you’re a blogger, we hope you’ll use this space as a way to meet new friends within the Christian blogging community. If you’re a reader, we hope that you’ll encounter new bloggers that love Jesus as much as you do! Most of all, we hope you’ll meet Jesus here.

Join us each Friday for the Grace and Truth Link-Up!

To receive a weekly reminder of when the link-up goes live subscribe to laurensparks.net in the right hand column of this page.

 

 

Maree Dee

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Lauren Sparks

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Heather Hart & Valerie Riese

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Lisa Burgess

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1.)  Following your hosts via their blog and social media channels is not mandatory, but appreciated!

To receive a weekly reminder of when the link-up goes live subscribe to laurensparks.net in the right hand column of this page.

2.) Leave 1-2 of your most recent CHRISTIAN LIVING posts. Please do not link DIY, Crafts, Recipes, etc. We will delete these links. We also reserve the right to remove articles that don’t align with the theme or are deemed by the hostesses to be inappropriate.

3.) Visit 1-2 other links and leave a meaningful comment! We want to encourage community among us, so please don’t link and run!

4.) We sort all links randomly – feel free to link as early or as late as you’d like. The playing field is even!

Featured Post Requirements

5.) Grab a button or link back to encourage new linkers. It is not mandatory, but it is required to be featured.

6.) Each host will choose one link to emphasize and promote via their social media channels next week.


Grab a Badge and Link Back to this Post.

 

And now, let’s link up!

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About Me

I love Jesus, my husband and caffeine. The order of these can change depending on how tired I am. When my two daughters, stepson, and 4 grandchildren get to be too much, I practice yoga. God graciously allows me to share our adventures, victories and flub-ups from my laptop. May He be glorified here.
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