Charlie Kirk is dead. The influential conservative advocate was shot on a college campus in Utah, doing what he does—speaking to college students and inviting them to debate him.
For me, and for many others, this news hit hard—far harder than the attempt on President Trump in Butler, PA and any other recent act of political violence. It’s not just that Kirk was young, only 31, or a husband and father with two little ones. It’s the kind of figure he was, and what he represented.
Charlie Kirk was not some kind of polarizing firebrand. He was a 6’5” olive branch, inviting anyone and everyone who disagreed with him to engage in measured, friendly debate. He represented every reasonable conservative who stands firm on their beliefs but is willing to have good faith conversations. What is the right supposed to do now? Send another friendly debater out into the crosshairs?
That’s why this is so different:
They didn’t just kill Charlie Kirk and celebrate his death. They killed reasonableness. They killed the marketplace of ideas.
Charlie Kirk largely believed what I believe, and what most of my readers believe. And we all just learned what they want to see happen to people who believe like us. You can’t unring that bell. Anybody who thought our national divide merely needed more cordial debate just got a rude, heartbreaking awakening.
After extensive dialogue about the matter, here are a few points that need to be addressed:
We should be angry
We’ve lived fairly soft, coddled lives, sheltered from the face of true evils. This has allowed some to develop a theology that all anger is wrong. Some use the Sermon on the Mount as proof that, in times like these, all Christians can do is love our enemies (or refuse to consider anybody an enemy) and turn the other cheek.
Jesus was not contradicting the imprecatory Psalms, though. David could pray “God, shatter their teeth” and not violate a single word Jesus said. Jesus was talking about personal offenses against us, not the wickedness we see in the world.
Just read the end of Psalm 139 and you’ll see that it is good and proper to be angry in the face of evil, to hate those who do it, and to petition God for their destruction.
Lest one commit the heresy of Marcion and say “That’s the Old Testament, it’s different now,” take a tour through Revelation and get back to me.
We should desire justice
In Romans 12:19, God commands us not to avenge ourselves. In a situation like today’s, it is not right for us to take up vigilantism. But God is not against justice—He concludes the thought by assuring us that vengeance is in His hands.
And if you keep reading, He immediately explains one of the ways He takes vengeance. In 13:4, Paul calls governments God’s servant, or minister (literally deacon) for good. And what do they do? Carry the sword to bring vengeance on the wicked.
In times like these, we should pray for a Romans 13-observant government who will exact justice on all who commit or call for violence. It is not wrong for Christians to desire arrests and, when warranted, capital punishment. In fact, it is exactly what we should desire.
We should have the guts to call out evil by name
I am so tired of Bothsidesism.
It is the refuge of the spineless who know what just happened is wrong, but can’t bring themselves to say who did the wrong. We’re talking about a movement that cheered on camera at the news that Kirk had passed, and loudly objected to a request for prayer for Kirk in Congress. This is not normal.
Do not act like both sides are this heartless, or say both are equally violent, or equate some idiots taking an unauthorized Capitol tour a few years ago with the numerous leftist assassination attempts. Give me a break. Anyone—especially any preacher—who will say we have a violence problem but won’t say who’s behind it, is a coward who cannot be trusted to stand against evil.
Others have taken to saying “We don’t know the motive yet!” To that I say: 1) are you serious, and 2) With thousands of leftists rooting for this before it happened and gleefully cheering it on afterward, this is what their values produce. We don’t need a written manifesto to know why this came about.
To be a centrist about this is to see the left say “Shut up or we’ll shoot you,” then say the right has equal blame for refusing to shut up.
We should learn from Charlie’s example
Charlie Kirk had the boldness that we are starved for in many churches. He was kind, but He did not try to appease. He stood unflinchingly for life, marriage, the two sexes, the Bible, and plenty of other truths that many in the world do not want to hear. Simply because he said these things, his life was taken and many are dancing on his grave. But that doesn’t mean he was wrong.
We worry that taking strong stands will push people away. And sometimes it does. But the words that drive away the unconvicted are the same words that attract the truth seeker. The truth sets us free, Jesus told us (John 8:32). We need more Charlie Kirks, period.
A dark day
I don’t know what happens next, but it feels like a corner has been turned. It already was feeling that way as the internet reacted in horror to the Charlotte transit stabbing of Iryna Zaruska. Then, the Kirk assassination took it to a whole other level. Something has to change, and I’m praying it does.
I’m praying for a level head and a soft heart that also hate wickedness and can say “amen” to the hard things that need to be done. I’m praying for resolve in all of our halls of government to put down the fomenting rhetoric and ideology that is causing these situations. I’m praying our churches grasp just how desperate the situation is and stop plugging our ears and burying our heads in the sand. I’m praying Charlie Kirk’s life, work, and death are not in vain.
Coda
Lest you do not know Jesus Christ and have not bowed the knee to Him, now is the moment. He is the way, the truth, and the life, and He is the only way to make sense of all this evil and have hope through it. Message me or leave a comment if you want to know more. Do not let this time pass you by, as good and evil so clearly stare us all in the face and leave us to make our choice.
Notes
We’ll be doing a rare mid-week release of Think Deeper Podcast tonight to discuss the Kirk assassination. Go here for subscribe links to get it when it comes out.
You stated it perfectly. I think, for me, it was not even the usual cadre of evil online that reacted exactly how all of us knew they would react. No, for me it was when Representative Lauren Boebert called for a prayer for Charlie in the House and the other side literally shouted her down. These are not people with differing ideas on the same team. This is something different. We all know it.
I think most of us have continued hoping that we would somehow win the argument with debate and better ideas. But Charlie's assassination and that moment in the House should show us that we are not playing by the same rules. They are not interested in civil discourse.
Those who shouted down Rep Boebert were not the ignorant foot soldiers of social media. They are literally the leaders of the opposition. Their heartless opposition to praying for a someone who was just politically assassinated is the physical face of a spiritual evil most Christians do not want to admit exists. I feel we are, indeed, at a turning point.
Agreed, very well written. I've been learning more about who he was from the news since yesterday, his faith and humility are exemplary to us as fellow servants of God - And he gave the glory and credit to God for the results of his hard work too. Truly a tragic loss, thank you for your guidance and encouragement during this difficult time.