Cancel Culture & Forgiveness-A look at King David
Today, we’re going to take a look at King David. Most of us know the basics: he was a King of Israel, he was selected by God, he was the one who committed adultery with Bathsheba (this is usually the big one that everybody knows). Some of us probably know that he was the father of Solomon, who is known as the most wise man to ever live. Some of us might know that he was hunted and persecuted by Saul, the first king of Israel. Hopefully, most of us know that David is the one who is referred to as the one after God’s own heart.
We live in a world that asks, almost demands, perfection from us. I would take it a step further and point out that perfection is almost required for the Christian. How many times have we seen someone stumble in their faith and the world points fingers, making claims that they couldn’t be following God? We live in a cancel culture that will call for your cancellation the moment you stumble, the moment you say something you regret, or even something that a majority do not agree with. It might have died down from the extremes it was at a few years ago but we still see evidence of this cancel culture today. It doesn’t take that long of a look to find it.
How does this connect to David? Well, if cancel culture was a thing during biblical times, David would be a king that would be cancelled. If public opinion mattered in picking a king, I am not sure if any of the Kings of Israel would have been king. In fact, if we were going off popularity and who was the most liked, Absalom would have succeeded King David. That is, if King David even made it to the throne. Most of us forget that David was the smallest and least impressive of his brothers.
When we look at King David and his life, we actually see the harms of cancel culture. Cancel culture will define you based on an action you did once and that will be the end of the story. Your worth as a person and what you can or cannot aspire to will be determined on whether or not you made a mistake in your life. Sometimes, it doesn’t even have to be fully true, it just has to have the right appearance and you’ll be cancelled. Cancel culture doesn’t allow for repentance, forgiveness, and the chance to grow and change.
The bible isn’t a book that hides the ugly parts of people’s lives. In fact, the bible straight out tells the faults of the people. In some cases, even puts an emphasis on it. Even the people you would want to see in a good light, like King David.
Let’s start with the good. King David was a Shepard boy when Samuel waltzed up to his dad’s place looking for the next king of Israel. As Samuel looked through all the sons, waiting for God to speak about the one he had chosen, David was almost forgotten about. Samuel had to ask if Jesse had all his sons there and that is when we learn of David and he had to be sent for. Turns out, David was the one God had chosen. (1 Samuel 16) God looks at the heart, God reminds Samuel.
Then, David was called to the castle to play for Saul since Saul was plagued with demons after God’s spirit left him. Saul was constantly trying to kill David. David fled and was on the run. David had the opportunity to kill Saul a couple of times and was even encouraged to kill Saul by his friends but David remained firm that he wouldn’t lay a hand against the Lord’s anointed.
When the time was right, David became King of Israel and things were good. David was winning wars and Israel was thriving. God was with David and with Israel. But then, David decided to stay home instead of going out with the soldiers when he was supposed to. That’s when we have the whole Bathsheba situation. David commits many sins when he choose to stay home—adultery, murder are just the big ones.
When David is faced with his sin, called out by Nathan the prophet, he doesn’t double down and argue that he was right or that he was just doing what made him happy at the time. David recognized that he sinned. Then, David repented.
This whole story is the big sin, the big thing most of us know about David. However, even after this, even after God blesses David and Bathsheba with Solomon, who does go on to become the next king, David still messes up. He neglects his kingly duties. He allows old age to make him lazy. He allows another of his sons to do terrible things and when those things come to light, he doesn’t intervene. He doesn’t lead his house or family well from what I can gather.
Earlier this year I spoke at a middle school chapel about King David. I titled the message, David: The King of Big Mistakes. It was appropriately named because David made a lot of mistakes! There were plenty of reasons to cancel David, write his name out of the story, get rid of him entirely. Yet, he remained. His story is still one that is talked about. David is referred to as a man after God’s own heart.
Even with the kings that come after David and Solomon, when Israel is divided into two and we have the Northern Kingdom and the Southern Kingdom, David is still the standard that God holds the other kings to. In fact, God is even merciful to future kings, including Solomon, because of David and the promises He made to David.
King David shows us that God doesn’t cancel people. God is merciful and forgiving. God doesn’t break promises but when he relents or hedges or changes them, it is always on the side of mercy. That’s the example we should be setting in this culture. Cancel culture is man’s way of telling God that he cannot be trusted with judgement. Cancel culture tells God that we can do it better. Cancel culture is taking judgement into our own hands. The problem with this is that we cannot see hearts. We cannot see what really lies on the inside. We can only see what is shown to us. Humans will fail, it is what happens when you are not perfect. This world is filled with imperfect people. It is also filled with people who need forgiveness and who need Jesus. Cancel culture, while it tries to hold people accountable, doesn’t allow for forgiveness, repentance, or even change.
If Jesus isn’t being picky about who gets forgiveness, neither should we. We can have boundaries, hold others accountable, but we cannot disregard the area for forgiveness. Forgiveness is where growth and change can happen.
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash