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Skip Heitzig: Quick question, a show of hands. Let’s take a quick poll. How many of you have heard of cancel culture? Raise your hand. Okay, how many of you have been canceled, social media because of something you said or posted?

Cancel culture is a culture that says, "Yes, you can say anything you want. You have First Amendment rights, you have the right of free speech. But if you exercise that right, we’ll make sure you get fired or at least slandered, or in the very least, marginalized. We will cancel you."

According to a Harris Poll, 64 percent who responded see a growing cancel culture as a threat to their freedom. 54 percent said they were concerned that if they expressed their opinions online, they would be banned or fired.

According to the Cambridge Dictionary, cancel culture is defined as—and I’m quoting—"a way of behaving in a society or group, especially on social media, in which it is common to completely reject or stop supporting someone because they have said or done something that offends you."

Cancel culture is essentially a culture of shame. It is brought to you by the internet, brought to you by social media, brought to you by all the technology that we enjoy. It has become a tool that is used by groups that find just about anything offensive.

And so if you do not toe the line, if you don’t say what they think you should say or represent the way they think you should represent it, then you are or you will be canceled. There are some notable examples of this. I’m sure that if you know about cancel culture, you know these examples.

A few years ago, J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, also a defender of common sense and reality, simply believes that there are two biological genders. She stated that and she tweeted about transgenderism, and she was absolutely and still to this day is blistered on social media.

Then another famous case is that of Joe Rogan, the most popular podcast in the world. He made comments about COVID-19 origins, he made comments about the vaccine, and he became the target of many people in the mainstream media. He became a target of the platform Spotify. Musicians like Neil Young and others decided to go off Spotify if they would carry him.

That’s the current culture. The current culture is if you say something out of step with that culture, you will get shamed. In recent years, Christians have discovered that sting of cancel culture. It’s because they’re counter-culture that they get canceled.

In January of 2021, Twitter, before it was purchased by Elon Musk, locked the account of a publication some of you may be familiar with called The Daily Citizen. It is the online magazine presence of Focus on the Family. Twitter locked their account because they violated the rules. They violated the rules because they posted something on their Twitter feed.

On Tuesday, President-elect Joe Biden announced that he had chosen Dr. Rachel Levine to serve as Assistant Secretary for Health at the Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Levine is a transgender woman, that is, a man who believes he is a woman. That was the post.

Twitter sent immediately an email pointing out that—and I’m quoting—"repeated violations"—stating truth—"repeated violations may lead to a permanent suspension of your account." End quote. So what that means is it’s perfectly acceptable to be pro-abortion, to be pro-homosexual, to be pro-transgender. But if you are a Bible-believing follower of Christ in the 21st century, look out. You could get canceled.

We have now become a society exactly like what Isaiah the prophet described in his day: a generation that calls evil good and good evil, who puts darkness for light and light for darkness, who puts bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Cancel culture.

What I’d like to do in looking at 1 Peter chapter 3 is give you a few ways to handle cancel culture. Let’s look at our text: 1 Peter chapter 3, we’re beginning in verse 13. Peter asks, "And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good?

But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. And do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled. But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. For it is better, if in the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil."

That’s the text. Let me give you a few principles now in handling cancel culture. Here’s the first: react calmly. React calmly. You will notice that in verse 13 and 14 he asks a question. He says—and it’s a rhetorical question, by the way—"And who is he who will harm you if you become followers of what is good?"

In other words, who’s going to bother you if you live a good life? The implied answer is well, no one should. No one typically would. Any good society would see the benefit of your trying to improve that society. They would applaud you for doing good.

But even if you do get hassled for doing good, verse 14: "Even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed." And then notice what he says at the end of verse 14. He says, "Do not be afraid of their threats, nor be troubled." In other words, stay calm. React calmly. Don’t be afraid, don’t be troubled. And he says you are blessed. You’re blessed.

Remember what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount? "Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven." And then he added this: "For so they persecuted the prophets who were before you."

In other words, cancel culture is nothing new. It has been around since truth has been around. Every society that got a good dose of truth has tried to cancel that truth. It’s been around a long time. Jesus mentioned the prophets. Let me just give you a few examples. There are literally hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of scriptural examples.

But in the Bible itself, you recall that there was a queen in the northern kingdom of Israel named Jezebel. Her solution to the mouthpieces of God was to massacre all the prophets of the Lord. That’s 1 Kings chapter 18, and she even tried to kill Elijah the prophet.

Then a few chapters later, 1 Kings chapter 22, there’s a prophet named Micaiah. Micaiah was a prophet who got slapped in the face and put in prison and rejected because he spoke truth to power. He spoke to King Ahab.

Another example in the Old Testament is Jeremiah. Jeremiah was threatened, he was beaten, they put him in stocks, and they threw him in a cistern full of mud and he began to sink in the mire. That’s Jeremiah chapter 20.

By the time we get to the New Testament and the Lord Jesus Christ comes on the scene, we realize that Jesus himself was canceled by the religious leaders of his day. They tried to throw him off a cliff in Nazareth. That would be canceling. John chapter 10, when Jesus said, "I and my Father are one," the religious leaders picked up stones to throw at him.

In John chapter 11, he did the notable miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead. It says, "And so they plotted to put him to death from that day on." Then eventually, ultimately, they succeeded in canceling his life. I would say crucifixion is the ultimate canceling. They put him on a cross after beating him and they crucified him. And Jesus predicted that if you’re going to follow him, be prepared to be canceled.

Guest (Female): You’re listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Every day, the generosity of friends like you helps make clear, practical Bible teaching available to families who are searching for hope, healing, and God’s truth. And this month, we want to thank you with a powerful resource focused on restoring God’s design for family.

When you give, you’ll receive Reconnecting with Family, Pastor Skip’s new book, drawn from more than 30 years of biblical teaching and pastoral wisdom. It speaks honestly to the real challenges families face: financial stress, emotional distance, discouragement, and temptation while pointing you back to God’s timeless plan for healthy, God-honoring relationships.

We’ll send Reconnecting with Family as our thanks when you give $50 or more to support the ministry of Connect with Skip Heitzig. Call 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskip.com/offer. Now, let’s return to today’s teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig.

Skip Heitzig: He said this: "You will be handed over to the courts. You’ll be beaten in the synagogues. You will be accused before governors and kings of being my followers. And this will be your opportunity to tell them about me."

So he predicted that they would be hassled, hounded, canceled, marginalized, and of course, they were. John the Baptist was permanently canceled by Herodias, who had him beheaded because he dared speak the truth of her immoral actions with Herod.

And then just think for a moment about the early church. The early church was birthed into a cancel culture. They were mocked at Pentecost. They were shut down for preaching the gospel publicly in Jerusalem in Acts chapter 4 and Acts chapter 5. They even passed a law that said you cannot speak anymore in this name. They tried to cancel them.

Paul the Apostle, before he was Paul the Apostle, what was his name? Saul of Tarsus. Saul of Tarsus—talk about he was the canceler in chief. He was part of the cancel culture. He hunted down believers and had them arrested, not only down south but he moved all the way up to Damascus to take that campaign, that cancel culture campaign, all the way up to the borders.

Well, we know what happened. He got saved on the way to Damascus and he joined the very movement he tried to cancel. And so they tried to cancel him over and over again. Now let me just say something here. If you’re going to get canceled, make sure you’re getting canceled for the right thing, for the right reason.

Jesus said, "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake," not for weirdness’ sake, not for being obnoxious sake, not for any other reason than you are just doing good, as it says. And if you’re doing good, be calm. Don’t be troubled.

In fact, there is not a Christian doctrine I can think of that would not be seen as objectionable, insensitive, and cancelable. Let’s just begin with the claims of Christ: "I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except by me."

That is an exclusive statement. And when somebody hears that, they immediately think, "How dare you say that? Because that immediately excludes Hindus and Buddhists and Muslims." Yes, it does.

So react calmly. This is to be expected. Even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, don’t be troubled, don’t be afraid. So that’s number one: react calmly.

Second: resist firmly. What I mean by resist firmly is resist the temptation that you will have when you are canceled to cancel those who cancel you. "I’m going to cancel them then." Resist the temptation to reject them.

Now I’m going to take you back—I know we’re looking at these verses—but you’ve got to get a little context here. If you go back to verse 8: "Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another; love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous, not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling"—I would even say canceling for canceling.

"But on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. For he who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are open to their prayers, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."

You’re going to face a temptation when you are marginalized or when you are demonized or you are written about or slandered or canceled. The temptation is to lash out at them. They lashed out at you, you’re going to lash back at them. Social media is notorious for this. That’s what children do.

When children get yelled at, they yell back. When they have somebody lash out at them, they lash back. That’s the practice of childishness. So resist that. Resist firmly.

You know, some people—this is just a common psychological phenomenon—some people reject other people before they can be rejected. I had a friend who used to call this rejection junkies. They just, "I’ve been hurt enough by enough people that I’m going to reject people before they can ever reject me. I’m going to keep them at arm’s length."

And because of the mistrust of other people, they’re very suspicious and even paranoid. And this is called rejection avoidance. You want to reject those who might reject you or even before they can do it. So we cancel unkind co-workers or classmates. What I’m saying is you don’t have to do that.

You can make a choice to do what Jesus said: turn the other cheek, love your enemies. Jesus said, "If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even the sinners do the same. Bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you"—can we say and cancel you—"that you may be sons, children of your Father in heaven."

In other words, you show what family you’re a part of by responding in love. So resist firmly that temptation. Now I just want you to think for a moment about Jesus. Before Jesus came, you think he knew what he was getting into? You think he knew that he was going to go to a society, a culture that would cancel him effectively, that would hate him?

He was stepping right in the middle of cancel culture. And of course he knew that. A thousand years before he came, it was predicted in Isaiah the prophet: "He is despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows acquainted with grief." He knew that he would come to his own and his own would not receive him, they would reject him.

And knowing all that, he still came. And he didn’t cancel Judas even though he knew what Judas was going to do. He didn’t cancel Peter even though Peter denied him three times. In fact, he went to the cross and from the cross itself said, "Father, forgive them. They don’t know what they’re doing."

So react calmly, resist firmly. Third little thing you can do: reply clearly. Reply clearly. Verse 15: "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear."

Now I know this is a very famous apologetics text, but I want you to consider it in light of this context. Just because people disagree with you and get offended by the truth that you speak should not cause you to stop speaking the truth.

What it should do is make you get really good at explaining the truth articulately, clearly, intelligently, and reasonably. Because people are going to ask you, "Why do you believe that?" And you should have something ready to go. Prepared to speak clearly. Reply clearly.

Now when people ask you, as he indicates here, why you believe what you believe, they might be asking the question because they’re either considering listening more to you or they’re on the verge of canceling you. They’re considering should I listen or should I just get rid of this person? So you should have reasons ready to share.

Now notice what he says here. He says, "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts." That is, set Jesus apart in your hearts, set him apart as Lord of your life. And just think of Daniel in Babylon for a moment. It says, "Daniel purposed in his heart."

Before he ever went into the court of Nebuchadnezzar, something happened inside his head, his heart, his inner being, where he made a decision. He purposed in his heart not to defile himself with a portion of the king’s delicacies. So when it says sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, the idea is know who you are in Christ.

Be firmly aware that you belong to him, you’re his child, you’re his representative in this world. It always has to start inwardly in the heart before you ever take it outwardly to the world. So that’s the idea of sanctifying the Lord in your heart. Know that Jesus didn’t cancel you. You belong to him. You’re going into this as a child of God, as a representative of the kingdom.

And then also in verse 15, "Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense." Now just a couple notes about that word. Defense is the word apologia or apologion in this context. And we get the word apologetics from that.

The idea of apologetics or an apologetic defense is not that you are saying I’m sorry for what I believe. It’s not an apology. It’s a defense, as it’s translated here. It’s a word that means a formal defense in a judicial courtroom. That’s the idea. You’re going to state your case.

We are always—do you know this?—we’re always in a courtroom. We’re always in a courtroom. The world is a living courtroom. And people are deciding, they’re always deciding, "Am I going to reject Christ? Am I going to receive Christ?" They’re thinking about those options, especially when they hear the gospel and perhaps when they’re around you.

So it’s really not about you or canceling you. They’re really deciding if they should cancel God or not. So you want to go in sanctified in heart, ready to make an apologia, a defense, a formal defense.

Guest (Female): Thanks for joining us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we go, remember your generosity helps share God’s word with families around the world, offering truth, hope, and encouragement where it’s needed most. And this month, we’d love to thank you for your gift of $50 or more by sending you Reconnecting with Family.

Pastor Skip’s new book focused on restoring God’s design for family and relationships. It’s filled with biblical insight and practical encouragement to help families grow stronger, even in challenging seasons. Give today at connectwithskip.com/offer or call 800-922-1888. See you next time on Connect with Skip Heitzig.