One of my heroes growing up was John Lennon. My dad was obsessed with him, and I grew up singing Beatles songs.

The Beatles on Ed Sullivan

All I knew about the Beatles, and John specifically, was that they sang love songs, were obsessed with peace, and changed their look in drastic ways in just 7 years.

I heard stories about the Beatles being responsible for bringing down the Berlin wall, protesting war, and really promoting the very Christian ideals of peace, love, and understanding in their personal lives.

So, when I got into my late teens and early twenties I started reading biographies about John and listening to every interview with him I could find. And I was in for a shock.

This man that I had idolized as being a paragon for peace and love cheated on his first wife, beat his second wife, probably contributed to his best friend’s death, and was a horrible dead beat dad. John’s early life was full of abandonment, death, and trauma that help explain some of his behavior, but it certainly doesn’t excuse it.

I was forced to confront an ugly truth:

My hero, who had taught me so much about love and peace, spent most of his life being selfish and cruel.

That didn’t change the things he taught me. I still believed them and agreed with them. But I could no longer look to him as an example. The message of peace and love he was able to spread came at the expense of those who loved him most.

Should I still listen to the songs he wrote about love, peace, and beauty or should I cancel him from my life?

Cancel culture is nothing new, but it is reaching new heights these days. It’s become so prevalent that President Obama spoke out against it late last year.

I have complicated feelings about cancel culture. When I listen to people on the margins of society, I am convinced it’s an effective way to hold people with power accountable.

And I am very much in favor of that. It reminds me of Amos.

We should require powerful people to acknowledge the pain and hurt they’ve participated in. We should

But when I think about what it takes to come back from cancel culture, I like it a lot less. There does not seem to be any way to come back from being cancelled. It doesn’t seem like there’s an opportunity for people to repent and to be reconciled.

Justice, without the chance of redemption and reconciliation, is simply vengeance dressed up.

Rob Bell, John Piper, J.K Rowling

The wicked servant, justice received as justice given.

Electricity, slavery (chatel and modern), rape.