Easter Message: He Was Canceled So You Wouldn’t Be

By Drake Hunter | Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice

An Easter Reflection on Cancel Culture, the Cross, and the Power of Restoration

There was a time when canceling someone involved wood, nails, and a watching crowd. Before social media, headlines, and hashtags, there was the cross. And before the cross, there was something else—the pillory—a public spectacle of shame. A person was locked in place, exposed to ridicule. The crowd didn’t gather to restore; they gathered to condemn—throwing rotten food, shouting loudly, delivering public judgment. The message echoed through the square: You are no longer one of us.

We like to think cancel culture is new. It’s not! It’s ancient. Only now, instead of wooden frames in a town square, we use platforms, posts, and public opinion. The tools have changed—but the instinct remains: Find the flaw. Make it public. End the person. We call it accountability. But if we’re honest, it often goes further. Not “that was wrong,” but “you are done!” No path back. No room for growth. No redemption. Just exclusion. And if we’re willing to look a little closer, we’ll see it’s not just happening “out there.” It’s happening in us. A quick judgment. A dismissive thought. A quiet conclusion: I’m done with them.

We have become a culture that knows how to criticize (pillory) but not how to rebuild. We’ve seen this happen in our own communities, even among those who claim to stand for truth and freedom. I think of my dear friend Heidi Ganahl during the 2022 gubernatorial race. What became clear wasn’t just opposition from the “other side,” but how quickly division and dismissal appeared within her own ranks. That’s not a party issue. That’s a people issue.

Cancel culture isn’t exclusive to the left or the right. It’s part of human nature. And it’s ineffective. Shame doesn’t change people; it makes them more defensive. Instead of encouraging growth, it pushes them further away. It might win a moment, but it loses the person.

Here, Easter forces us to face something we’d rather avoid: Jesus Christ was the most publicly “canceled” person in human history. He was falsely accused. Publicly shamed. Mocked. Rejected by the crowd. And not just by one side. Religious leaders rejected Him. Political leaders handed Him over. The crowd—ordinary people—chose Barabbas instead. The same voices that cried “Hosanna!” days earlier now shouted: “Crucify Him!” Cancel culture… in its purest form. And here’s the part that should pierce us: We would have been in that crowd.

Thanks be to God that Easter doesn’t end with the crowd. It ends with a cross—and an empty tomb. And in that moment, something radical happens: God cancels sin… without canceling people. As it is written in the Bible: “Having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness… He has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.” (Colossians 2:13–14). God doesn’t cancel you. He cancels what stands against you. The cross absorbs condemnation instead of amplifying it.

Therefore, today, we face a choice. We can keep perfecting the art of calling people out—or we can embrace the discipline of calling people in. Calling them into truth. Calling them into responsibility. Calling them into transformation. Because shame doesn’t change people. But grace—paired with truth—does.

This Easter, will you ask yourself a question, which is when someone fails… When someone falls short… When someone says or does the wrong thing… Will you join the crowd? Or will you follow Christ? Because the crowd pillories, but Christ restores.

Please understand, Jesus Christ was canceled in your place so you wouldn’t have to be. Maybe it’s time we stop canceling others—and start calling them in.

So this Easter, as we remember the cross and celebrate the empty tomb, may we also remember this: You are not canceled. You are called. Called to live, to grow, to be restored—and to extend that same grace to others.

Happy Easter. The tomb is empty… and so is the record against you.

Drake

With appreciation to John Ortberg for the inspiration behind this reflection, drawn from his “Become New” podcast episode, “Why Cancelling People Doesn’t Work.”

Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in commentary pieces are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the management of the Rocky Mountain Voice, but even so, we support the constitutional right of the author to express those opinions.