As a daily social media consumer, who, admittedly, spends way too much time on her phone, I recently came across the controversy surrounding Chandler Moore when South Africans were “canceling Maverick City” and their concert because of a supposed demonic performance with Will Smith. I rolled my eyes and didn’t pay too much attention to it at the time because to me it seemed like yet another snowflake response where one performance was blown out of proportion. Then I began to reflect on it over the weeks following and think, why are we as Christians, who are supposed to be so full of grace, actually so full of hate and ready to cancel someone the moment they do something we don’t understand or agree with?
Popular Christian icons being taken down - should we participate?
Over the years, contemporary Christian bands and mega churches like Maverick City, Bethel, Elevation church, Transformation church and so many more have had their fair share of controversies and come under public scrutiny. More and more, it seems like the bigger these celebrities rise to stardom, the more they have to be watchful of everything they say and do, and you’d think that as Christians we’d be the first ones to offer grace but instead, a lot of us are quick to judge and to cancel them. And it needs to stop.
Now I'm not here to say that none of these pastors/artists etc. deserved the controversy and the raised eyebrows, some of them actually did. They deserved to be called out for spreading false messages, doctrines and leading bad examples, but in my opinion not all of them deserved the harsh judgment they received, and they definitely shouldn’t have fallen so quickly as victims to the cancel culture that plays out every day, both online and offline.
Here’s what the Bible has to say, ““Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.” (Romans 4:7-8)
Although I can’t dive into each controversy surrounding said artists, let's explore what recently happened with the Chandler Moore/Will Smith drama. To give a little bit of context if you’re not aware of the controversy, here’s a clip of the BET performance by Will Smith featuring Chandler Moore:
Many were so quick to call this performance out for being ‘demonic’ just because of the rocks and fire and in fact while Maverick City was touring, many South Africans boycotted the band and didn't want them to perform in SA. People even went so far as to say that the performance was a sign that Will Smith was a part of the illuminati, and that meant that by Chandler Moore and Kirk Franklin taking part in the performance, that they were part of the illuminati too.. And just to say, this isn't the first time Maverick City has come under fire (no pun intended).
Now don’t get me wrong, I don't know Will Smith, and in fact I do not trust celebrities at all, but to say that a performance is demonic because the set looks like hell is a bit far-fetched. Perhaps it was a metaphorical depiction of Will feeling like he was in hell after all he had been through, and the whole song was about how “You can make it”. Do I think that it may have been a bit naive for the gospel singers to take part in a performance on a set that looked like hell? Yes. Do I also think that some celebrities use Christian worship as a guise to get more attention and PR? Yes (Hint: Kanye West..) but just like us, people such as Chandler Moore, Kirk Franklin and many others, are human.
Let’s take a look at this video from ‘By the Book ministries’ analyzing the performance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXpb64k3Rjk&t=452s
To quote this YouTube video made with over 200k views canceling the BET performance for being “satanic”, the guy says “Out of all the artists they could have chosen to feature, they chose Will Smith” going on to say that this is the same guy that got angry and punched out Chris Rock not too long ago. But hold on, didn’t Jesus himself eat with sinners and tax collectors? Are we really going to judge these Christian artists for associating with Will Smith, who is just another sinner like the rest of us? If anything, Kirk Franklin and Chandler Moore performing a Christian song with Will Smith is more a picture of the gospel than this video from ‘By the Book ministries’ where a person is clearly judging something and someone whom he knows nothing about. He’s quick to point out the “many problems with it” but fails to recognize the many amazing, life-changing songs that Chandler Moore has sung that has brought life to so many.
This isn’t the only time we’ve seen cancel culture play out in the media, and don’t get me wrong, I’d say again that there are many Christian icons who do deserve to be called out for their false doctrines, flashy worship performances, and questionable life choices, but please, before we cancel someone, let's acknowledge that they are, in fact, sinners in need of grace just like the rest of us. But for us to speculate and go on social media saying “This is why we think Chandler Moore could be a part of the illuminati” or “Stop listening to Maverick city” we’re just indulging in gossip, slander, and accusing people of being satanic which is a really serious claim, and in trying to call out “ungodly behavior” we ourselves are being ungodly by engaging in sin.
Let’s not be part of the problem by engaging in cancel culture. There is nothing godly about cancel culture because it’s the opposite of God’s grace, and if Jesus himself came to seek and save, lets have grace for those who are trying to use their fame to bring people to Christ, no matter how misguided their attempts can be at times.
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