Examples of cancel culture are visible everywhere. But what do you do if accusations hit you, someone on your team, or the entire company? In Episode 24 of Faithful on the Clock, you’ll learn what the biggest logical problems with cancel culture are and get advice on how to behave in the face of allegations and bad press.

Timestamps:

[00:05] - Intro

[00:33] - Definition, importance, and difficulties surrounding cancel culture

[02:07] - Major issues with cancel culture include the belief that people cannot learn and that it demotivates people to do better–garbage in, garbage out.

[03:17] - Saul stands as an example that people can change and do better.

[03:57] - The typical catalyst for change in people is just someone treating them differently for the first time. Disciplinary policies can be clear about escalation but still have an undercurrent of forgiveness.

[05:45] - When someone accuses you, tell the truth, because truth is valuable to God. Most apologies fall flat because even when people tell the truth, they don’t show how they are going to behave differently or how their thinking has evolved. If someone brings an accusation, exercise good due process and seek truth without office politics.

[07:49] - Summary of key points; God never will cancel you if you have faith, so don’t worry.

[08:43] - Prayer

[09:38] - Outro/what’s coming up next

Key takeaways:

• Cancel culture refers to the idea that people turn their back on you when you make a mistake. You can see it as a modern extension of the practice of banishment from a community.
• Cancel culture is problematic logically in that it assumes you cannot learn and can create a negative self-fulfilling prophecy.
• Saul stands as an example that people can change their way of thinking and behaving.
• People often just need a catalyst to change and do right. So as a leader, when you hear an accusation about someone, treating people with the faith that they can do better can make a big difference. Disciplinary procedures should reflect kindness in this way even as they are clear about how things will escalate.
• Just as you forgive people who need to change, forgive the people who make accusations against you.
• Through any allegation, be truthful and do due diligence. Transparency and new behavior both prove your commitment and progress.
• Keep in mind that, as important as your business or brand might seem, it is an earthly thing. God will give you the appropriate reward even if what you work for here on Earth passes away.
• No matter how harsh cancel culture might get, God always will remain the God of Second Chances.

Relevant Links:

CTAs:

• Review your policies and procedures and make sure they leave room for people to learn and have both accountability and forgiveness through the learning process.
• Speak the truth and review all your data before making a judgment or decision.
• Forgive people who make accusations that aren’t warranted.

What’s coming up next:

In the time it takes to blink, cancel culture likely will have damaged another business. What can you do to make sure that accusations of wrongdoing don’t destroy YOUR brand and everything you’ve built? That’s up next week in Episode 25 of Faithful on the Clock.

Welcome, everybody, to the show! I’m your host, Wanda Thibodeaux, and this is Faithful on the Clock, the podcast where getting your work and faith aligned is the number one goal. Today we’re gonna apply scripture to the idea of cancel culture and how to deal with accusations against you, people on your team, or your entire business. Let’s head on out.

Ok, so cancel culture, I think we’re all familiar with the idea, but it’s really this idea that when you do something, people can just say, that’s it, you’re finished, we’re not gonna listen to you or work with you anymore. And I kind of equate it to, you know, way back in time, people would banish you, they’d make you leave the tribe or community or whatever. And cancel culture, maybe we don’t make you leave your house and all that, we don’t exile you, but it’s kind of this modern version of that, where everybody is collectively turning their back on you, whether that’s, you know, losing thousands of Twitter followers or boycotting events or other things. And it’s just so relevant for both leaders and brands because once an accusation is made, it’s really hard to recover from. And I think it’s especially bad right now because everybody has gotten into this kind of knee-jerk, black-and-white thinking mentality, where they very quickly make a judgment call and take sides with really hard lines. You know, there’s not really any gray area anymore, and that makes it really hard for people hearing about the problem who are just coming in from the sidelines, because there’s the expectation that you will take one side or the other, that you’ll just ignore the nuances to whatever the situation is. And that expectation means that leaders and brands have to respond incredibly fast before those lines solidify. And once those lines do solidify, you know, those biases tend to linger, and it’s super hard to shake off that bad reputation.

But I have some really big issues with cancel culture, just from the logical perspective. Cancel culture, it assumes that people cannot learn. We cancel you or your brand because the assumption is that you’re always going to think and behave in a way that we don’t like. And that is so backward to me, because we know people do learn from their mistakes. If that weren’t true, we wouldn’t have the education system, and we certainly wouldn’t have this whole buzz around growth and development and failing forward and all that. You know, every rehabilitation program that exists is built on the faith or belief that people can change and develop better habits or ways of being. And the other issue is that, you know, the saying is, garbage in, garbage out. And that means that, if you believe something of somebody, if you expect something of them, that’s what you’ll get. It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. So if you cancel someone and tell them they’re garbage, they have–there’s no reason at all for them to be motivated to behave well, because nobody is looking for them to do the right thing.

So applying scripture to this, I’ll draw you to Acts 9: 1-32. Those verses tell of Saul, who was really a–he was really fervent about persecuting believers. But while he was traveling, he heard the voice of Jesus, and he ended up converting and becoming one of the key supporters of the church. And it’s an excellent example of how someone can just do a complete 180-degree turn from the way they used to be and be really genuine about it. People can change the way they think and what they do. They just need the right catalyst to get that change in motion.

Now, in Saul’s case, you know, the catalyst of course was Jesus. But in everyday business or at home, the catalyst is just having someone treat you differently for the first time. You know, it’s the leader who says, I heard these things, but I’m not gonna behave at you like everybody else is. I’m gonna show you we don’t have to do that. And you know, maybe the person still makes some mistakes after that. But you get them thinking. You plant the seed. And then you just don’t give up. You know, Matthew 18:21-22, Peter comes to Jesus and asks how many times we’re supposed to forgive. And Jesus says, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.” So when you think about your policies and procedures, your disciplinary structures, your policies should reflect that. You still have discipline, there aren’t any surprises about what the escalation process is, but there’s patience in it. There’s this underlying current of, you know, you’re human. You probably aren’t gonna automatically get this the first time, you gotta have some room to breathe. And I’m not saying there aren’t situations that are really serious. But you know, garbage in, garbage out, and you just try to actually expect good things of people so that that’s what they deliver to you. And by the same token, if people accuse you, if you’re the one in the hot seat, that 70 times 7 thing still applies. You have to just be like Christ on the cross, and if they’re in the wrong and you know it, then you just have to say, I’m gonna forgive them, because they honestly, they’re ignorant, they don’t know what they’re doing.

The other thing is, the truth counts. Psalm 33:4 says, “For the word of the Lord is right, And all His work is done in truth.” and Psalm 145:18 says, “The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, To all who call upon Him in truth.” So when someone accuses you, you know, even if it looks bad, whatever the truth is, just admit it. And I think the thing there is, you can’t just say, “Yeah, I did it, I was wrong.” Because people don’t just want you to say that. They want you to prove that you understand that you screwed up. And you prove that by behaving differently. By giving a very clear explanation of how you’re thinking differently and why. Most people or brands, I think that’s where they fail. They give the apology, but they don’t really make the case for how they’re different, and it just seems like it’s all just lip service we’ve heard a million times before, and so it falls really flat. So you have to point out everything you’re doing that’s in line with the new standard. You have to be really transparent and say, here’s how I plan to keep practicing this new standard in the future so you can trust me and hold me accountable along the way. And if someone brings an accusation to you, you know, you have an obligation to not just take that at face value. You have to actually investigate what’s going on or what happened and get your facts straight so you can make a fair decision about what to do. That can be really hard, I think, the higher up you go in the ladder. If someone has a lot of authority, a lot of sway, then it can be tempting to say, well, we’re not going to challenge them. But God always seeks truth, He always uses a fair scale. So as a follower, it’s your responsibility to do the same, give people due process and not let office politics get in the way.

So those are really the key things. You have to be forgiving and have faith, you have to seek and speak truth, and you have to always strive to be fair no matter who’s involved. And the thing I want you to remember about cancel culture is, if you’re a believer, there’s no way, God’s never gonna cancel you, OK? Even if you lose everything like Job, if you believe, God’s got your back. And even though you might struggle today, you know, teams, brands, your company, I know how important it can all seem, but it’s all just earthly stuff. And none of it is going to compare to what you’re gonna end up with in God’s kingdom. So, I know it’s hard, but just try not to worry about it. Just trust that God is going to give payment where it’s due, because He always does.

So let me wrap up and pray for you a little bit.

Father, everybody and their brother is ready to latch on to the tiniest mistakes we make and use those mistakes against us. But we know you are a God of second chances–you’ve given us the biggest second chance in history. So I pray that you’ll open people’s hearts to have more patience in the same way. More faith. Because garbage in, garbage out. We need to know that people believe in us so that we don’t lose hope. Show us all the truth no matter how many shades of gray that puts on the table, just let truth always be our message, and give people the wisdom to make good choices once they know what the truth really is. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

We have gotten to the end once again, everybody. Next week, I’m going to be talking about how to make your temporary or gig workers feel at home while they’re with your business. As you wait, if you’ve missed any episodes, head on over to faithfulontheclock.captivate.fm, you can catch up and subscribe to the show there, or you can always support the show by becoming a member at patreon.com/faithfulontheclock. Until next time, be blessed.