Tag: reconciliation

Hitler, Will Smith, and Cancel Culture

By Ife J. Ibitayo

I’ve always rooted against Germany’s soccer team. As a matter of course, I favor Latin American teams over European teams, and I admit to being a Brazilian bandwagoner. But for some reason, I despised Germany in particular.

On a completely unrelated note, I voraciously devoured Holocaust novels as a child. Night by Elie Wiesel, The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank, and many other lesser-known novels gripped my imagination as an elementary student. My brain just couldn’t piece together how so great a nation could commit so great an atrocity.

It wasn’t until I read a book called Bonhoeffer by Eric Metaxas that I finally connected the two: “At the beginning of the war, it was possible to separate the Nazis from the Germans and recognize that not all Germans were Nazis. As the clash between [Germany and Britain] wore on, and as more and more English fathers and sons and brothers died, distinguishing the difference became more difficult. Eventually the difference vanished altogether…As [Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s parents] took in the hard news that the good man who was their son was now dead, so too, many English took in the hard news that the dead man who was a German was good.”

The Truth Behind Cancel Culture

My subtle subconscious prejudice may sound rather incredible, especially as a young black man growing up in the racially charged streets of America. But I believe a wider social practice of this is rampant today. It is called “cancel culture.” Dictionary.com defines cancel culture as “publicly rejecting, boycotting, or ending support for particular people or groups because of their socially or morally unacceptable views or actions.”

Interestingly enough, after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars’ his biggest fear was “being cancelled.” Now cancel culture isn’t inherently evil. We’ve entered a day and age where individuals have been empowered to force powerful public figures and organizations to reckon with their actions. However, it is telling that cancel culture has no timeline associated with it. Once someone is cancelled, they will always be.

At the root of permanent cancel culture is a heart of unforgiveness. Cancel culture says, “No matter how deep your contrition, no matter how great your atonement, you are dead to me.” But Jesus Christ said, “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them” (Luke 17:3). Forgiveness is sensitive, it welcomes the penitent. But unforgiveness is ossified, it will always be too late, and it will never be enough.

Now a word must be said about consequences. True repentance demands restitution. For instance, after World War II, Germany paid reparations for nearly ten years, and it’s standard of living was set back by a decade as well.    

However, when Germany calls out Russia on its war crimes in Ukraine, the rest of us don’t roll our eyes. We listen intently because Germany has been forgiven and restored just as we hope Russia can one day be.

Conclusion

I needed a fresh reminder that Germany has given us some of the world’s greatest treasures: the Protestant Reformation, the printing press, and the BMW. Germany is more than Hitler; Russia is more than Putin; and Will Smith is more than a slap. If we accept this truth, we might be able to foster a culture of reconciliation rather than cancellation.   

“Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
(Ephesians 4:32)

The Preceding Promise (The Genesis Archives Pt. 4)

By Ife J. Ibitayo

For Part 1, “Let There Be Light”, click here. For Part 2, “Recycling and the Image of God”, click here. For Part 3, “Naked and Unashamed”, click here.

“‘And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head, and you will strike His heel’” (Genesis 3:15).

I hate making mistakes. You may want to roll your eyes sardonically and say, “Don’t we all?” But hear me out. There’s a difference between striving for perfection and needing it to feel at peace with oneself, others, and God Himself. I often struggle with the latter. A bad day on the job can haunt me for weeks, a bad conversation for months. I still vividly remember the mistakes of my youth, from careless comments to squandered gospel opportunities. I’ve piled them up over the decades, lugging them along in a spiritual trash bag as if they were my cross to carry. That is why this passage from the very beginning of the Bible resonates so deeply in my bones.

The Curse

The greater context of Genesis 3:15 is that Adam and Eve have just eaten the forbidden fruit, and God is meting out the first punishment listed in Holy Scripture. But God does not begin His punishment with Adam or Eve but the Serpent who tricked them. He curses the Serpent, “‘Cursed are you above all livestock and all wild animals! You will crawl on your belly, and you will eat dust all the days of your life” (Genesis 3:14). Then God tells them all the promise listed in Genesis 3:15: “‘And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head, and you will strike His heel.’” Then the curses on Adam and Eve in childbirth and work come in verses 16 to 19. But notice that the promise precedes the curse.

The Promise

This truth lies at the heart of the gospel. The gospel is not the story of how God makes decent people into perfect saints. It’s the story of how he transforms cadavers into new creations. The Apostle Paul says in his epistle to the Ephesians, “Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins…But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)” (Ephesians 2:1,4-5) God’s response to us does not proceed from our sins. He didn’t wait to see if we’d be perfect then send Jesus to make up the difference. Rather, “Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes” (Ephesians 1:4).

Conclusion

Before you cheated on that final exam, God chose you. Before you divorced your wife, God chose you. Before you tried to commit suicide, God chose you to be holy and blameless in His sight.

As I spoke on in “Naked and Unashamed”, sin demands judgment, yet God still desires a relationship with us. And you can’t have a relationship with a dead person. So God sent His Son to die in our place. And through His death, by crushing the Serpent’s head and absorbing his fatal bite, He’s enabled us imperfect beings to be in right relationship with a perfect God.

“Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now He has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in His sight, without blemish and free from accusation.”

(Colossians 1:21-22)

Outrage

By Ife J. Ibitayo

I first witnessed the murder of Ahmaud Arbery in a Twitter post with the hashtag #imatotalpieceofshi—. This encounter revealed something deeply troubling in the American psyche, but I shoved the notion away. Like Muhammad Ali circling Joe Frazier in the ring, I knew this issue would rock me to my core if I allowed it get too close. But it can wait no longer. This tragedy demands a response.

Background on Ahmaud Arbery

Ahmaud Arbery was pursued and gunned down by two armed white men while he was out jogging. That murder occurred back in February. His killers walked free until national outcry forced the local authorities to respond three months later.

Outrage Definition

Outrage is the matching of an intense feeling of violent anger with an uncontrollable need to express it. Many have exploded at the racist extremism of these two gunmen. But far fewer have voiced indignation over the indifferent community that allowed them to go unpunished for so long.

The Outrage of the Cross

Another man was treated with contempt belying His worth when He walked this earth: Jesus Christ. The Son of God was reviled like a criminal (Matthew 27:38-44), abused like an animal (Isaiah 53:3-5), and buried like a mere mortal (Isaiah 53:9). During this bleak moment, a couple of His closest friends betrayed Him (Matthew 26:48-50) and denied Him (Mark 14:70-72). But the rest simply looked on as the grossest injustice in history was committed before their very eyes (Luke 23:44-49). The story of Jesus Christ demonstrates that apathy is not the exception but the natural state of our hearts.

From Outrage to Healing

The gospel of Jesus Christ is not a hijacking of or a mere addendum to the issue of racial reconciliation. It sits at its very core. The only way an apathetic people can experience conviction and an outraged community attain forgiveness is through a transfusion of the healing blood of Jesus.

Ephesians 2:16 says, “Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of His death on the cross, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.” The author was referring to first century Jews and Greeks, but how much more in need of reconciliation are twenty-first century blacks and whites?

Conclusion

Jesus Christ Himself is our peace. He transforms foreigners into neighbors and our foes into friends. So close is the unity of the faith that Jesus calls us His brothers and sisters (Matthew 12:49)! But even as Christians, we still see color.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream of “little black children holding hands with little white children” was not only deeply poetic but also richly biblical. The book of Revelation speaks of a day when a great multitude from every nation, tribe, and tongue will praise God together (Revelation 7:9). Diversity will no longer be a moat of division but a fount of inspiration, manifesting the multifaceted creativity of our Maker. That dream is brought ever closer when we extend our arms to our enemies and love them as our family.

“‘You have heard that it was said, “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.'”

(Matthew 5:43-44 ESV)