Tyler Shores counseling, gospel, Worry

Jesus & Cancel Culture

Few of us will ever have to bear the unique weight of failing so miserably that our failures are remembered and talked about beyond our lifetime. However, for many of us the thought of failing in such a way that our failure (or sin) would be remembered even a week from now is crippling. This pressure has only been multiplied many times over in light of the emergence of cancel culture. 

Jesus has much to teach us about how He deals with people who fail in big ways and likewise how we should counsel people who have blown it bigtime. 

Peter: “I don’t know Jesus. I don’t know Jesus. I don’t know Jesus.” 

If there was ever an individual in the Bible who gave cause to be publicly shunned and shelved (“canceled”) it would be Peter. 

Jesus had prophesied to Peter that he would deny Him three times (John 13:36-38), and Peter did exactly this. Following Jesus’ arrest Peter is asked about his affiliation with Jesus on three separate occasions. Each time Peter is given an opportunity to align himself with Jesus, he denies Jesus (18:15-27). It is impossible for us to know how Peter must have felt when that rooster crowed, confirming that he had done something he once thought impossible (John 13:37). 

This memorable moment in Peter’s life sets the stage for a one-on-one counseling session with Jesus that would shape the rest of Peter’s life and ministry. What Peter learns as Jesus ministers to him is that Jesus doesn’t participate in ostracizing him, or in what we have come to know as ‘cancel culture.’ Instead, Jesus offers a better way forward (John 21:15-19).  

Jesus: “Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me?” 

As John closes out his Gospel he records an usual conversation between Jesus and Peter. What makes this conversation unusual is that Jesus asks Peter the same question three times: “do you love me?” 

Many readers have taken note the fact that there are two different Greek words used here for love: agape (used by Jesus in v.15 & 16 but not v.17) and phileo (used by Peter in v.15, 16, 17). As a result, many make the point that Jesus is quizzing Peter on the degree of his love and that Jesus is attempting to get Peter to see he needs to have a more sincere and heartfelt love for His Savior (agape). The application then for us as modern readers is that we need to have that agape kind of love for Jesus. 

A Different Perspective

The trouble with this view is that Jesus actually uses the Greek word phileo the third time he asks Peter if he loves Him (v.17), whereas in the first two times he asks Peter if he loves Him He uses the Greek word agape. If Jesus were trying to pit agape love against phileo love, it wouldn’t make sense for him to switch which Greek word he is using on His third attempt to drive home His point to Peter. 

A better explanation of this exchange is that Jesus is consoling a broken and defeated sinner towards understanding his future is full of hope. The key to this explanation is not in nuancing the Greek words but in considering the number of times Jesus asks Peter the same question, “do you love me?” 

Jesus asks Peter this question three times because Peter denied Jesus three times. This correlation is significant. Peter is about to be reminded of something wonderful about Jesus. 

In denying Jesus three times he had committed an unimaginable sin with unimaginable consequences – his life was forever injured. However, Peter’s future wasn’t over. Jesus is not in the business of shunning sinners. Each time that Peter answers Jesus’ question and affirms his love for Jesus, Jesus simply instructs him to busy himself with making disciples (“feed my sheep”). What Peter learned in this conversation with Jesus is that Jesus wasn’t done with him.

In conclusion

Sin has consequences and sin has the ability to alter the trajectory of a person’s future. These consequences are felt relationally, socially, emotionally and even professionally. Regardless of the consequences a person’s sin sets in motion, Jesus isn’t done with them. Jesus wants every sinner to be busy feeding His sheep.

When you counsel a believer who is crushed by something they’ve done, whether it be a mistake or a sin, they need to know that although their future may have changed, Jesus is not done with them. Jesus’ call to feed His sheep and make disciples continues regardless of what they’ve done and there is joy to be found in this work. 

Credits

Photo by Philipp Pilz on Unsplash

Photo by David Maier on Unsplash

Kyle Gangel anxiety, prayer, Worry

Guarding Your Heart from Anxious Worry

What makes your heart anxious? What do you tend to fret about? Sometimes we worry about major issues like a loved one with cancer. Other times, our worries are smaller than a life-threatening illness. Worry can be replaying a conversation over and over again in your head to make sure you didn’t embarrass yourself. It can be the sinking feeling in your stomach as you consider an upcoming meeting. It might look like obsessing over what the boss is going to think when you are late to yet another appointment.

Opportunities abound for our hearts and minds to be consumed with anxious worry. However, God’s agenda for us is to experience the peace associated with prayer, not the turmoil that accompanies worry. In Philippians 4, Paul makes the connection between fervent prayer and a peaceful heart. He wrote, “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).

The Philippian Christians were confronted with many opportunities to worry. They faced threats and persecutions from their “opponents” (Philippians 1:29-30), and they were concerned about the welfare of Paul and Epaphroditus (Philippians 1:12; 2:26). Paul was imprisoned in Rome and Epaphroditus had fallen deathly ill. Instead of being pleased with their over-concern for his safety, Paul gives them the sweeping prohibition, “be anxious for nothing…”

The same verb translated “be anxious” in Philippians 4 is used positively earlier in the letter where Timothy is said to “show genuine concern” for the church in Philippi (Philippians 2:20). Apparently, the Philippian church had moved from genuine concern to a posture of worry or stress. Paul’s command for them is to cease what they have been continually doing. For Paul, there are areas in which we should express real concern for ourselves and others. However, there is no proper object of obsessive worry. Instead, we ought to bring all things before God in prayer.

How does prayer lead to a peaceful heart?

Hannah was worried. She wanted a child (1 Samuel 1:7-8). She was so overcome by her emotional state, she had stopped eating. Those around her only compounded her suffering. Her husband had taken another wife, presumably because Hannah couldn’t bear him children. On top of this was the relentless bullying and mockery coming from her husband’s other wife.

Hannah had much to worry about. However, she models Philippians 4:6-7 by running to the Lord in prayer. She speaks to the Lord out of her “great anxiety and vexation” (1 Samuel 1:16). She is convinced that God hears, God cares, and God acts. You can read here for a more detailed explanation of Hannah’s theological commitments that led her to pray. This article deals more with the peace Hannah experiences following her prayer.

After pouring out her soul to the Lord, Hannah experiences a peaceful heart. The Scriptures record that following her prayer she “went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad” (1 Samuel‬ ‭1:18‬). Hannah’s swift change is perplexing to us because nothing about her circumstances had changed (yet). When Hannah said “amen” she was still childless, still sharing her husband, still going to be mocked. Yet she had peace.

After bearing her heart to the God who knows all things, who cares for his people, and is powerful enough to act, she can rest. When we begin to believe God’s grace toward us, we can begin trusting him with the outcome of our circumstances or suffering. Peace is not the result of God giving us what we want in prayer, it is a gift he gives his people when they rely on his good plan. One commentator put it succinctly, “The condition for experiencing God’s peace is not that God grants all of our requests but that we have made known all our requests to God with thanksgiving. God’s peace is not the result of the power of our prayers or the effectiveness of our prayers… When we trust God in prayer, God gives to us his peace to guard our hearts and minds against anxious thoughts.”

In Closing

Bobby McFerrin released the hit “Don’t Worry, Be Happy” in the fall of 1988. Often wrongly credited to Bob Marley, who died in 1981, the song is catchy, fun, but overly simplistic in terms of its message. If only it were that easy. Just stop worrying, just be happy. Philippians 4 and Hannah’s example instruct us that peace is a gift from God that he gives his people when they run to the creator of the universe and pour out their hearts before him. This is not a simplistic, one-time occurrence, but a habit we form by continually taking everything to the Lord in prayer. Prayer is not some kind of a magic bullet, but it is one of the means God uses to move us from a posture of worry to one of peace.

G. Walter Hansen, The Pillar New Testament Commentary: The Letter to the Philippians (Eerdmans: Grand Rapids, 2009) 293.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version. (2016). (Philippians 4:6-7 and all other Scripture). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.