Tulsa-based Pastor Michael Todd is breaking down cancel culture, explaining it’s “hard for you if you’ve never received a good gift to give a good gift.”
The Transformation Church preacher decried cancel culture and opened up about the Gospel during a recent interview on “The Breakfast Club” radio show, hosted by Lenard McKelvey, known better as “Charlamagne tha god.”
McKelvey asked Todd why it’s no longer societally acceptable for people to make mistakes.
“You can never give grace that you haven’t experienced,” the pastor said. “And that’s why I really go back to my faith. In this moment right here, it’s because I’ve experienced the grace of God over my life.”
“I am broken, my thoughts are jacked up,” Todd continued. “My heart, if you get on the inside of that thing, has stuff in there that is not good. But through what I believe that Christ did for me, that whole thing is not my identity anymore. I can actually walk in forgiveness and love and all those things. And the only reason I can extend grace is because I’ve received grace.”
Todd, author of the new book “Relationship Goals,” said he’s learned a lot about this topic in his personal life. He has been open about the fact he cheated on his now-wife when they were dating, admitting he has worked over the years at regaining and maintaining her trust.
He said he is “crap” without the work God has done in his life.
“A lot of people have not received grace, and it’s not something you have to earn, and that’s the thing that I need everybody to understand,” explained Todd. “Religion tells you that you need to earn something. God is trying to get you to receive something.”
The preacher equated the gift of God’s grace, which comes through Jesus, to a gift box some people may refuse to accept. Choosing not to accept or open the gift “doesn’t mean that it wasn’t given, it just means that you don’t get to partake.”
“It is hard for you if you’ve never received a good gift to give a good gift,” he said.
Todd told McKelvey he believes that’s what’s playing out in culture right now. However, rather than jump to cancel someone for their past mistakes, Todd said we should pray for them.
“So many people have messed up and people cancel them,” he said. “So when somebody else messes up, they cancel them. It’s one of those things that’s like, this is not how we are supposed to live, this is not how it was intended. I need grace, so when I see people jacking up and messing up, I don’t talk about them; I pray for them.”
Todd’s comments come a couple months after a recent survey found a plurality of Americans — 46% — believe cancel culture has gone too far in our society.
Watch the rest of Todd’s interview on “The Breakfast Club” in the video above.