If we are really honest, we know that we find ourselves living in a very deeply divided time. In our individual and national lives, there is a heightened awareness of injustice and the trauma it causes. However, the solutions often presented to us today seem to lead to an ever-increasing rage, division, and despair.
To navigate our cultural moment, we must ask: what exactly is grievance culture? I define it by looking at the sociological shift towards identity politics and intersectionality. Today, we are seeing a catastrophic confusion about identity, where “meaning and purpose in life are found in me and my sense of identity rooted in my suffering”.
In this worldview, a person constructs their identity through their experiences of oppression. It is the idea that “the layers of intersectional social injustice you have experienced are the grounds of what makes you you”. Consequently, if someone disagrees with you or offends you, it is perceived not just as an argument, but as an attack on your very existence—as if they have deleted or canceled you.
This framework has devastating consequences for our society. As I often warn when looking at this cultural moment, “this approach is leading to a massive increase in rage it’s leading to the collapse of the possibility of forgiveness because forgiveness is seen as a weakness”.
In this grievance culture, to forgive is seen as saying the injustice didn’t really matter. Public floggings have returned in the form of group shaming and boycotting, but forgiveness is gone—accountability is everything, yet redemption feels impossible. This culture ultimately leaves us floundering, releasing us into a state of perpetual victimhood rather than true liberty.
While we might wring our hands in despair at this cancel culture, we need to listen to what is bubbling under the surface. There is a stark, absolute refusal to roll over and just accept harm.
I often ask those pushing these ideas: if this material world of biology, physics, and chemistry is all there is, why should we experience such disgust and fury at the unjust exploitation of human beings?.
Our human rage actually tells us something profound. As the Old Testament poet says, “God has set eternity into the hearts of people”. I believe that “our human rage and Injustice points Beyond itself to the sacredness of life,” pointing to the reality that we are infinitely precious image bearers of the Divine.
Is there such a thing as forgiveness that does not minimize harm or dehumanize victims?. Yes. At the heart of the Christian faith is the death of the Son of God in history, which points to the extraordinary cost of forgiveness.
Christian forgiveness does not say the hurt didn’t matter or wasn’t wrong. It affirms that our suffering matters profoundly, but it liberates us from the burden of accomplishing vengeance—a feat that is beyond us. It frees us from living in bitterness and enables us to live in peace.
I truly believe that “the power to forgive may just be the greatest gift that the Christian story can offer our age”.
If you are looking to take these truths from your head to your heart—especially as we navigate the heavy realities of pain, trauma, and trying to live faithfully in a broken world—I want to invite you to explore my book, Forgiveness. Together, we look closely at one of the most challenging yet profoundly restorative commands of Jesus, discovering how it is possible to find healing and hope even when it feels impossible.
