That Time Jesus Got Canceled

As he rode triumphantly into Jerusalem, his popularity was sky-high. He had the people’s hearts, hopes, and attention. They hung on his every word and waited eagerly for his next viral hit.

How would he top raising Lazarus from the dead?!

Jesus was the OG influencer, two thousand years before Youtube and TikTok.

No one was ever bigger, or ever would be until the Beatles came on the scene almost two thousand years later.*

(*According to an unsubstantiated claim by John Lennon that was probably misinterpreted.)

If this had played out today, it would be as if he just performed the Super Bowl halftime show, was invited to the White House, and got to host Saturday Night Live. He probably could have signed a lucrative sandal deal and launched a new fragrance. (Say it in a low whisper: “Messiah. By Calvin Klein.”)

That was Palm Sunday.

Then he got canceled.

Less than a week later he was dead; crucified by weak, jealous, self-centered authorities and an easily manipulated mob.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

These days the headlines regularly herald a once-popular celebrity who has been publicly canceled by weak, jealous, self-centered authorities and an easily manipulated mob.

We are served up a steady stream of examples proving that fame is not the panacea it promises to be. Time after time, we see broken hearts and lives ruined by the siren song of popularity.

And yet it doesn’t appear to be an effective deterrent. Our world, infiltrated and ruled by the devil, continues to tempt us to seek money, fame, and power as our primary aims. More than half of Gen Z (57% to be exact) want to be influencers. Kids these days, am I right?

But before we roll our eyes at those “naive, dumb kids,” nearly half (41%) of adults overall would choose that career as well.

Well, I say great!

Because the truth is that Jesus wants us to become influencers, too. 

“Go, therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to follow all that I commanded you.”

–Matthew 28:19-20

“Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”

–Matthew 5:16

For the sake of argument, let’s say you get there, becoming a full-fledged influencer with millions of followers. Here’s the important question: What are you influencing them to do?

And what happens when you want them to do something that’s good for them but not particularly popular? Will you hold your ground? Or will you choose to act in a way that your audience finds more…palatable? 

And if the latter, another question surfaces: who’s really influencing whom?

Now, let’s take this out of the realm of theoretical. 

Do you preach the sermon that might cause you to lose parishioners?

Do you write the memo that may invite a backlash?

Are you willing to be ostracized by standing up for someone being bullied?

Do you try to earn favor with someone by gossiping about someone else?

Do you risk losing a friend by sharing your faith with them or by turning down an invitation to engage in behavior you know is sinful?

If you go along with the crowd, only acting and speaking in ways that are popular, you’re not really an influencer. 

You’re being influenced.

The verb “influence” means “to affect or change how someone or something develops, behaves, or thinks.” Today’s influencer du jour may be able to get millions of people to watch a movie, buy a ticket, or change their hairstyle. But that kind of influence is fleeting.

Jesus wants us to be influencers, but he didn’t say anything about follower counts or popularity. He knew it was dangerous to put faith in fickle crowds.

“Many began to believe in his name when they saw the signs he was doing. But Jesus would not trust himself to them because he knew them all, and did not need anyone to testify about human nature. He himself understood it well.”

–John 2:23-25

The only influence that really matters is the kind that changes lives by changing hearts.

The only foolproof way to change a heart is not through likes but with love. 

And that love is most effective when it’s slow, rooted in real, one-on-one relationships, and concerned not with the will of the crowd but anchored in the will of God.

That’s the kind of influencer we are called to be, regardless of how many Facebook friends we have. 

That’s the kind of influencer Jesus was.

It got him canceled. 

It got him crucified.

But in the end, it changed the world forever.