Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”
Matthew 18:21, NKJV
Our society commonly boycotts those who do or say something controversial. This type of shunning is embarrassingly rigid and unforgiving, not to mention unsustainable. Over time, the ratio of people who do something foolish relative to the entire human population approaches one out of every one. Whose voice will remain when everyone gets canceled? Jesus teaches a better, healthier, and more practical way to deal with offenses. It is called forgiveness. It’s not that we condone the wrongdoing. It’s that we tolerate the human condition for what it is. We are going to mess up. Our opinions will conflict and our actions will offend. Rather than canceling us, Jesus canceled our sin debt, forgiving us thoroughly and teaching us to do the same. Tones of moral superiority have no place in a world where everyone sins.