It has now been four weeks since the heinous and cowardly murder of Charlie Kirk, our courageous brother in Christ and an ambassador of Christ’s truth. Charlie was very clearly much more than this, but he was not less.
Is Charlie in heaven today? Listen to his mentor, Dr. Frank Turek’s answer here. No doubt, Charlie did, at times, call people names (see this video in which Dr. Thaddeus Williams thoroughly and irrefutably documents this). But, after all, he was an admitted sinner, saved by and trusting in God’s grace in Christ alone, and therefore, Charlie Kirk was a saint.
He was a saint, contrary to manmade traditions about sainthood or ignorant comments by those who do not know their Bibles well enough to understand that all those who are in Christ are saints set apart by God, holy and beloved (Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:1-3; 2 Cor. 1:1-2; Eph. 1:1-2; Phil. 1:1-2; Col. 1:2).
At the outset, let me say that if you are tempted to leave your church over what your pastor did or did not say from the pulpit or on social media regarding Charlie Kirk, I urge you to read Pastor Michael Clary’s excellent, wise, and balanced words on the topic. In short, he advises us to give grace and to be patient, realistic, and wise about this. Leaving a faithful church should not be a knee-jerk decision based on gut reactions and emotions, but one you must handle in a Christian manner, worthy of the gospel.
In a very real sense, Charlie was a Christian martyr. Rather than argue this point at length, I would urge you to read or watch these well-written pieces/videos:
Charlie Kirk: Christian Martyr by theology professor Dr. Mark DeVine
An American Stephen by Dr. Joe Rigney
Dr. Thaddeus Williams’ excellent takedown of those who claim Charlie Kirk called people names (he did, indeed, call some people names…watch and see).
What lessons can and must Christ’s church learn in light of Charlie Kirk’s murder? How can and must Christians lament and live during this time of national (and international) rage, fear, and sorrow? Below, I offer laments and lessons for those of us who belong to Christ’s church militant (i.e., those still living on earth and not with the Lord).
Some of these lessons and laments are punchy and pithy, but with all of it, I sincerely hope and pray they provoke you to more zealous daily and hourly living unto God’s glory.
Lessons and laments in light of brother in Christ Charlie Kirk’s brutal murder/martyrdom:
1. Lesson: Have you counted the cost of following Jesus? What do you want to be remembered for? Remember, life in our fallen world is short, eternity is long, and Christ is all to you or nothing. My brother sent the men of our church a very thoughtful few words with this title: “Brothers, are you ready to die?” Sobering but oh, so important (Ps. 90:12; Matt. 16:24-26).
Jesus alone makes all the difference between heaven and hell:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” (John 5:24)
Treasure Christ the crucified, risen Lord and Savior. It’s Him alone we sinners desperately need above all. So, find refuge and comfort in Him (John 11:25-26). Watch this excellent short video in which Dr. John MacArthur shares the glorious gospel of Christ on Charlie Kirk’s show.
2. Lament: Life’s brevity, grieve death’s evil, and even more so hate the root: sin. Grieve for Charlie’s wife, Erika, and pray for her and her children and all those who belong to and worked with him. Sin has no future. Sin does not build or produce good, but guilt. Sin distracts, divides, destroys, and denies Christians more opportunities to exalt Christ the Savior.
Build your short life on the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ—honoring Him as often as you can.
“Only one life, twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.” (C.T. Studd)
Charlie Kirk often unashamedly spoke of the promise and proof of the resurrection-praise God!
3. Lesson: You need a local, Christ-confessing covenant community of faith (a.k.a. a local church) more than you realize. Erika Kirk rightly said,
“Find a bible-believing local church and become a member.”
Praise God! Who are your most important community members and closest group of friends? Are they strong Christians whom you respect for their Christian faith, godly courage, and loving kindness? They ought to be.
In Proverbs 13:20, the Lord tells us,
“Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but a companion of fools will suffer harm.”
Do you have godly Christian people around you who exalt Christ and await/long for His return, spurring you on towards love and good deeds? (Heb. 10:19-25) Or do you have fools around you who wink at sin, encourage immorality, and do not care at all about Christ?
Here is a question: do you surround yourself with people (in your local church and friends beyond) who were deeply saddened by Charlie Kirk’s murder and were praying about it with a desire for the gospel to go forth, or with those who are justifying, smiling, or staying silent about his murder and questioning his salvation (but then trying to draw a moral equivalence between some other tragedy and Kirk’s murder even as he was sharing the truth through respectful civil dialogue)?
Are you surrounded by people upset about a loser comedian like leftist Jimmy Kimmel getting suspended (which is his employer’s right, by the way) and think free speech is under assault by the right (ridiculous, when you think of how Charlie was shot for speaking freely).
Your primary community and closest friends matter immensely. So, as Pastor Colin Smothers and Pastor David Shrock ably articulated in depth, and I summarize:
“Be Men with Chests (C.S. Lewis), pray and read the Bible, go to church, become a faithful church member, bring your Christian community into the world, and build outposts in the wilderness.”
Find a faithful, local church. Walk with God-fearing friends, closest of all.
4. Lament: The presence of sin tolerated and praised in our society (including the remaining corruption in your own heart and in the hearts of your fellow image-bearing neighbors). It is fitting and honoring to God for us to grieve the depraved, deceitful, demonically-influenced ideologies that poisoned Charlie Kirk’s murderer.
Cry out to God to utterly shame those who peddle and subtly promote sexual immorality and idolatrous identity-shaping sins that destroy souls and minds. God hates these sins and will punish them as only He can. Vengeance is His and He will repay (Rom. 12:19). Collectivism, whether Marxist communism, leftist socialism, or liberal fascism, is a toxic hive mind built on idolatrous sins.
5. Lesson: Listen and learn, especially from honorable brothers and sisters in Christ who were actually friends with and worked closely with Charlie Kirk. Listen to what his wife, Erika, said about him. Another wonderful example comes from Turning Point Education’s`, who recently wrote The Turning Point of a Generation: Remembering Charlie Kirk (I also commend to you this excellent conversation with the stellar Christ Over All team).
Of course, the entire memorial service is worth watching, where praise God, much truth went out! Consider the wonderfully thoughtful words of tribute from Antonia Okafor Cover. Watch many faithful go on Kirk’s podcast (like Pastor Costi Hinn, who gave millions the clear, glorious gospel message of hope) and rejoice! Praise God for the honorable, wise, measured words of Dr. Hutz Hertzberg here:
6. Lament: That civil discourse and robust dialogue in the United States have taken a blow. Rational discussion and debate about ideas and truth are clearly not things many in this nation want or are capable of handling or training the next generation for in college. God tells in His Word that whoever states his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him (Prov. 18:17). Charlie believed this and practiced it.
Charlie Kirk said,
“Whenever people stop talking, violence starts.”
Indeed, how horrific that so many on the left clearly seem not to believe this. And as Jamie Bambrick rightly put it, if you call yourself a Christian leftist, you need to leave the Left and do so as soon as possible. You need to humble yourself and repent. And on the way out, you need to share the gospel of Jesus and view other leftists as a mission field you will pray for, who need Christ but are presently greatly deceived.
It is very foolish for anyone who claims the name of Christ to identify as a leftist or adopt or coddle prideful positions that celebrate evil and wink at murder and so clearly contradict God’s Word (or undermine and mock the truth consistent with it). Leftists need to be challenged with the truth and called to debate and dialogue.
Take heart: the leftist worldview is built on a foundation of sand and will melt away under scrutiny. Leftists cannot debate their dearest positions because they are indefensible (not run-of-the-mill, well-intended, uninformed liberals or people who are confused by calls for justice, mind you—but sold-out, hardcore leftists given over to idolatrous causes that promote immorality and injustice). Many of them are on college and university campuses, what social scientists have for decades called “the breeding ground of religious apostasy.”
Charlie Kirk threatened the high sacred temples of leftism—colleges and universities (what Dennis Prager once called leftwing seminaries). Consider one of the interviews Charlie did in the last few months of his life about many leftists:
Charlie Kirk:
“Why are they so threatened by me coming [to University campuses] for three hours? Because they know that I, in three hours, can undo the damage of four years of garbage with one sentence, one question, one truth claim. And that’s why they have to try so hard to not let me speak.”
Indeed. No wonder so few colleges and universities honored Charlie Kirk (even the Christian ones—note that, parents). One school, the New College of Florida, announced an admirable plan to erect a statue in honor of Kirk, but this is not the norm, even for Christian universities.
So much of higher education’s “work” is to make leftists. Charlie undermined that (praise God!) with debate and called their bluff. Most leftists prefer monologue to dialogical challenge based on convictions, facts, truth, and logic.
7. Lesson: You have real human enemies who hate Christ and hate you, but you mustn’t let their evil break you or drive you to fear. Rather, let it push you to evangelize, love, and live with an even greater kingdom-minded faithfulness under Christ. Staring at evil can consume and it can crush. You have real enemies, beloved brother and sister Christian. Flesh and blood may not be where the ultimate struggle lies (Eph. 6:12), but the Bible makes it plain we have enemies in the devil, our sinful flesh, and even people in the fallen world.
Please do not be naïve: if you are a true Christian, you have real enemies who hate you, and if you are living to honor Christ and stand with and under His truth, many people would celebrate your murder too. This does not mean we repay evil for evil—we do not, but we overcome evil with good. (Rom 12:21)
It is costly to follow the crucified, risen, ascended, living Lord Jesus Christ according to the Word of God. Discipleship in a fallen world is demanding. Jesus made that plain, saying even households will be divided and some from your own household would be an enemy who hates Christ (Matt 10:24-39).
Understand and learn: we Christians face real human enemies of the cross of Christ who hate their Creator, love their sin, and want to harm and persecute us. We must realize they exist (Matt 5:10-12; Matt 5:43-48; Rom 12:20).
Obviously, in his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus is not calling for us to pray for demons, but real human people who are known enemies (Jesus never says they are not enemies). Don’t stare at your enemies or the enemy’s “power” too long. They do not have the last word, and they will all be humbled before too long. Enemies of Christ’s church are impotent next to almighty God.
Never forget: these people—men and women, boys and girls are part of the mission field God has given us to proclaim Christ to.
Remember, the Apostle Paul was an enemy of Christ’s church, and God saved Paul and used him mightily. Don’t lose hope. Pray for the enemies who deceived Kirk’s murderer and pray for their conviction and conversion, and for their harmful, destructive ideas to fail. Wisely proclaim the truth now more than ever, but don’t be a lone ranger (see point 3 above).
Recall in Lord of the Rings and famous exchange between Theoden, who was fearful, and Aragorn, who spurred him on to face his fears.
Theoden: So much death. What can men do against such reckless hate?
Aragorn: Ride out with me. Ride out and meet them.
Theoden: For death and glory
Aragorn: For Rohan. For your people.
It is not at all inappropriate to add:
“For Christ our King. For His Kingdom and glory and truth. For His Church. For our neighbors. For our enemies. For our nation.”
Face the reckless hate with a resolve to honor Christ the Lord as holy now more than ever in your hearts (1 Pet 3:15-17).
8. Lament: That we lost a brother in Christ who evangelized faithfully and built something incredible. Perhaps more than anyone else in our day, Charlie Kirk was effective at challenging and engaging his political opponents. He built not just a unique movement but one that likely changed the course of American history (that God graciously used to spare us from godless leftism). Charlie was incredibly talented, wise, and winsome, and refused to take Jesus out of his work.
9. Lesson: Learn to be faithful and winsome like Charlie was faithful and winsome. Watch Charlie’s videos. They are overwhelmingly filled with faithfulness and show repeatedly a man who was measured, thoughtful, and respectful. In one of his last interviews, Charlie quoted from Romans 8:28. Charlie had his convictions, but spoke constantly with grace and truth. You will be incredibly blessed by watching him; it will help you know how to listen respectfully, and it will also help you to wisely ask questions and answer, and share your convictions.*
10. Lament: How few faithful men pastor in the evangelical church in the United States. Many have noted that the reason Charlie Kirk was so popular is that pastors have neglected their role. I think this is, sadly, quite correct. Pastors all across our nation have embraced a nice form of religion that has little to do with the Bible’s essential truth or historic Christianity. They have little to no zeal and have failed at repeated tests of our time.
Many of the pastors of the American evangelical church have refused to consistently call for repentance concerning major sins of our day and have embraced a comfortable quietism, allowing for many sins to go unchecked and spread like cancer, including the subtle sins of feminism, the barbaric sins of systemic preborn child murder, the perverse sins of pornography, fornication, LGBT, the popular sins of attending a depraved unnatural sodomite “wedding” or celebrating these sins in public, the self-righteous sins of BLM/critical theory, the unrepented sins during COVID and a time of insane anti-truth government overreach).
These men forsook their God-given role to be Titus 1:9 men, shepherding and protecting the flock. Rather than being those who hold fast to the trustworthy Word so they can give instruction in sound doctrine and also rebuke those who contradict it (Titus 1:9), they relied on Charlie Kirk and others to say what was often unpopular. This is grievous and must change. Many need to resign from the ministry. Many congregants may need to leave their local church (but again, this must not be done rashly or on a whim, but wisely and according to the Word).
The truth is, many evangelical churches that have a sign that reads “church” outside their building are far from a true church that honors Christ. These “churches” are little more than comfortable religious social clubs. Rather than equip the saints for the work of ministry, preparing their people to die exalting Christ and to storm the gates of hell with the law and gospel, these “churches” promote easy-believism.
Pandering to leftists and feminists, they undermine God’s gloriously good design and eternal truth, offering little more than feel-good, momentary self-help and cliché, clickbait, man-centered “knowledge.” There is no consistent call for sinners to remember the holy Creator God who will judge the living and the dead. There is no call to repent of their sin. Their equivocation abounds, saying there are threats on both the left and the right, and Christ is neither left nor right.
11. Lesson: Only call to your church’s pastorate God-fearing, biblically-qualified men who love the truth and will be brave and faithful with it. These men must be unashamed of the gospel but also unafraid to speak the truth in love. They must be examined and asked about a host of matters that right now affect your local community and our nation. They should be discerning men who understand the times and are not easily led astray by emotions and feelings.
They should be informed and hold to what honors God and is consistent with His Holy Word on social, political, cultural, and moral issues (and reject roundly those that do not honor God or agree with the Word).
Right now, we need more men of God who love their wives and raise their children God’s way. Men who are shepherding their local churches faithfully and are engaged in ways that actually love their neighbors, caring about their earthly AND eternal well-being. I love the way Samuel Sey put it:
Evangelical Christian cultural commentator and best-selling author Steve Deace recently issued an absolutely critical challenge to pastors that must be heard—watch it! Will your pastor be this and do this? Does he do this now, and if not, why not?
12. Lament: That so many leftists openly celebrated Charlie Kirk’s murder and so many self-professing evangelical Christians and institutions stayed silent on it. Justice is upside down in many ways. So many were so loud and proud about the “injustices” of George Floyd’s death (and other hoaxes), and so totally convinced of the nobility of BLM and justified rioting, they were convinced of the righteousness of Covid masks and vaxxes, and called for sympathy due to the complex nature of Pride/LGBTQ, etc., etc. Avoid. These are not good people.
They are people who need the gospel of Jesus. They need to be humbled, and only God’s Spirit through the Word can do this. They are so deceived and depraved that they cannot see a brazen injustice and evil, and if they do, they justify it. Disgusting.
13. Lesson: Learn to be straightforward and bold, especially towards those who claim the name of Christ but are painfully inconsistent (and might be your enemy). When Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarustka was wickedly murdered on a Charlotte train by a man who had no business being there (let alone in public, as he needed serious help), Charlie Kirk called out Steven Furtick, the biggest “pastor” in Charlotte, who has tens of millions of followers. Furtick had posted about George Floyd, but not about this young lady’s murder.
Good for Charlie and shame on Furtick (who should have resigned long ago for many reasons). Christians must learn about the roots of this evil ideology that led to the murder of Charlie Kirk, an evangelical Christian, for speaking basic biblical truth on gender (see Alan Shlemon’s piece for more on this and also Bradley Green’s work).
Christians face enemies within and without (see point 7). We cannot be naïve towards either. We have real enemies, but it does not mean they are ultimate or where the heavyweight conflict mainly lies (see Eph. 6). But some hate Christ and God’s Word, and more than a few of them also claim to be Christians (insane and contradictory). Be bold and straightforward with them. They must be challenged and refuted, not coddled and played footsie with. They are harming our nation, the families in our nation, and the freedoms of our nation. Challenge people winsomely, with love and yet directly, as Charlie Kirk did. Start now.
14. Lament: Many will miss more important lessons to be learned. People will try and claim both sides of the political aisle have their violence issues and are imperfect, which promotes a false, unhelpful equivalency (and a rather self-righteous notion that they are above it all). Others will squabble over who actually knew the real Charlie Kirk and miss the far greater eternal lessons about numbering our days, future judgment before God, facing the reality of sin and death, and sharing the eternal truth and hope found in Jesus Christ, who is the only way to the Father (John 14:6).
Erika Kirk forgave her husband’s depraved murderer. Praise God! And praise God for swift justice, and let’s pray for a just punishment (the death penalty) that will strike fear in the heart of every murderer, driving them to Christ.
15. Lesson: God has already, is presently, and will continue to use this evil atrocity for His glory and the earthly and eternal good of many. Charlie’s favorite Bible verse was Romans 8:28. He said he lived by it. May we do so as well:
“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” (Rom 8:28).
Satan thought he was defeating Christ at the cross, much like the wicked White Witch thought she was defeating Aslan on the stone table. Yet more glory to God was produced in Christ’s death as sin’s penalty was paid and His blood purchased the pardon of untold sinners. Christ rose on the third day, ascended, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father, living forever to intercede for those who are His.
We have an advocate with the God of heaven and earth, and not just anyone, but the eternal Son of God, Jesus Christ the righteous. Your works could never measure up, but you are covered by Christ, He shed His blood for you, and He advocates for you and will never leave you nor forsake you if you trust in Him.
Praise God, so many people are hearing so much truth right now at the highest levels in the world. Recently, the Secretary of War (and another brother in Christ, Pete Hegseth) honored God by remembering Charlie Kirk publicly for the whole world to see, saying there is a God and we are not Him (as Charlie often said). And even more so, the White House itself put out a wonderful tribute video with clips where Charlie Kirk’s wife said,
“They killed Charlie because he preached a message of patriotism, faith, and God’s merciful love…,”
and at the end Charlie Kirk said in light of President Donald Trump’s victory:
“I am just humbled by God…I want you to remember that we did not earn this. This is God’s mercy on our country.”
Indeed. None of this would have happened if it were a liberal, leftist, Democrat-controlled White House. We all know this.
Praise God for Charlie’s witness for Jesus Christ, and may the very best of that witness go forth now. Lord willing, heaven will be more full than we can imagine because, in part, we have been emboldened by Charlie’s witness and legacy to speak the truth in love without shame. Praise God that so many people heard the glorious gospel of Christ at Charlie Kirk’s memorial service around the world.
Soli Deo Gloria.
