Some call it “Call Out Culture.” Some call it “Cancel Culture.” Whatever one may call it, our modern culture seems to enjoy digging up, listening to, and wallowing in, the dirt of people’s lives. Most of our modern news cycle is nothing more than that. Dirt, (or sometimes not really dirt), dug up, spun, reported, and analyzed for a public that loves to hear it.

A lot of today’s dirt has actually proven not to be dirt, but rather righteousness, or at least some “nothingburger,” spun and broadcasted in the most negative and sinister ways so as to look like dirt. Examine it under the microscope, however,…

Nevertheless, there will be real dirt too. But the advantage of being a Bible-believing Christian is that we already knew this. Or at least we should have.

If we believe at all in the Bible’s teaching of original sin, then why are we at all surprised to find out there is dirt? This may sound a little cynical, but I truly don’t think this is very far off the Bible’s teaching on the matter. The Bible teaches there is sin. There is dirt. A reminder that when we hear some? Well…DUH!

Maybe we’re too prone to idealize certain people, suggesting there couldn’t possibly be any dirt there. We talk a lot about “good people,” (a favorite compliment of our current president no less). Does the Bible say this? That there is a “good person” (in the conversational sense)? Well, humans are the crown of God’s creation and part of its goodness to be sure. BUT, humans are also sinful and fallen. How disappointing it is when someone we think is a “good person” shows us their sinful side. SCANDAL!

Christians should know better than to be so scandalized as we often are by sin. When we are, WE become the scandal, the stumbling block, to our own faith and the faith of others. When we get all offended by someone’s behavior, it’s the scandal of it that often causes us not to deal with our brother directly but start talking about it to others, getting others on our side, magnifying sin and trying to increase our innocence. Yes, We Christians do this and the world would be right not to be terribly convinced of Christianity for it.

In our world today, if you sinned 20 years ago, 20 days ago, 20 minutes ago, you can’t be who you are today, this hour, this minute. And if we Christians buy into that thinking, well, we may as well give up. The Lord may have removed sins as far as the east is from the west from us (Ps. 103:12), but we often think we don’t have to from the other person. The other person needs to suffer for what they have done.

But what if YOU are that other person? Then you would wonder why you aren’t forgiven. The dirt is yours. Christ cleans it up in the forgiveness of sins, but if the other person will not, we suffer for it anyway. Maybe it’s a matter of what goes around comes around.

If you will not forgive your brother, your heavenly Father won’t forgive you. (Matt. 6).

If we Christians practice what we preach, then we will forgive. If we practice what we preach, we will bring concerns about someone to that person and not broadcast it to everybody but. If we practice what we preach, we will seek to have peace with all our brothers and sisters. Why does the Church look so sickly these days? Here you have the answer. Too much dirt, not enough forgiveness.

Surprised by the dirt in your life and in others? Don’t be! Repent! Seek God’s grace for yourselves. Extend it for others. We have a better message. When we live it, we show the world a better Way.

Sincerely,

Prairiepastor