Why Are We Canceling People for Thanking God?

Keith Lee is a well-known TikTok food critic. He's built a reputation going into restaurants, giving honest reviews, and often single-handedly turning a struggling small business into one that's packed out for months. He's got real influence, and he's used a lot of it well.

Last week, he was driving on the highway with his family when a car came at them going the wrong way. He swerved out of the way in time. The other driver, who was reportedly intoxicated and driving a stolen vehicle, continued on and hit the cars behind him. One person died. Two others were hospitalized.

Keith posted a video afterward, shaken, thanking God his family made it out. He also offered his condolences to the family that lost someone. And then the backlash started, people accusing him of being insensitive, self-centered, even implying that thanking God after a tragedy where someone else died was somehow inappropriate.

I don't get it. Why is he getting dragged for thanking God that he's alive?

Two Things Can Be True at Once

Being grateful your family survived and grieving that someone else's family didn't aren't contradictions. Keith didn't celebrate the crash. He didn't say the other family deserved what happened to them. He said God protected his family, and he said he was sorry for the family that lost someone. Those two things sit right next to each other, and they're both honest.

1 Thessalonians 5:18 — "Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

Giving thanks in the middle of something awful isn't the same as pretending the awful part didn't happen. It's holding both at the same time, which is a lot harder than picking one.

We Live in a Broken World

A drunk driver in a stolen car going the wrong way on a highway is not something God orchestrated to teach anyone a lesson. It's the result of sin and brokenness in a world that doesn't work the way it's supposed to. Bad things happen here. People die in car accidents that have nothing to do with their worth or their faith.

Job 1:21 — "The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD."

Job said that after losing almost everything, and it's one of the most honest lines in Scripture, because it holds grief and worship together without forcing either one to explain the other.

Thanking God Isn't a Statement About Anyone Else

When Keith thanked God for sparing his family, he wasn't making a claim about whether the family that lost someone was loved by God less. He was responding to what happened to him, the same way any of us would if we watched something like that happen a few feet away and walked away from it. That's not arrogance. That's just being honest about what you actually believe in the moment you almost lost everything.

Where This Leaves Me

I think we've gotten to a strange place online where expressing faith, especially gratitude toward God, gets treated as suspicious or offensive the second there's any tragedy nearby. But faith isn't supposed to disappear the moment things get complicated. If anything, that's exactly when it matters most. If you have time, keep Keith and the injured family in your prayers. 

Reflection Questions:

1. Have you ever felt like you had to hide your gratitude to God because of what someone else was going through at the same time?

2. How do you personally hold grief and gratitude together when they show up at the same time?

3. What would it look like for you to thank God honestly, even in a moment that also involves someone else's loss?

Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Royalty Free

Joe Navarro, known online as @joechristianguy, is a Christian content creator, entrepreneur, and cultural voice passionate about making faith approachable and impactful for the next generation. With over 4.5 million combined followers across TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, Joe delivers bold, Gospel-centered truth through a mix of daily encouragement, short-form teachings, comedic skits, and authentic life experiences. His unique blend of theology, humor, and clarity has created space for millions of young believers and skeptics alike to engage with Scripture and real conversations about following Jesus in a digital world. In 2023, he co-created the popular card game Discernment alongside Jacob and Julia Petersen, which is now available in major retailers like Amazon, Walmart, Museum of the Bible, and Mardel. He also holds a degree in Agricultural Economics with a minor in Sales from Texas A&M.