Charlie Kirk, the Gospel, and Our Eternal Hope

Like so many, I feel a tremendous heaviness and grief in the wake of Charlie Kirk’s murder. I have felt deeply weighed down, as I never have before, by his death and by the sickness & infection of sin in this world.

On September 10th, Charlie Kirk was assassinated, and my life shifted. I think that our lives shifted. Yours, mine, the nation’s, but especially the lives of the universal church.

As a Christian, the very real battle between light and darkness, can fade into the background amidst the busy hum of marriage and raising children. We become so comfortable in this world and even the beautiful gifts that God has given us, we forget what it’s really all about. I realize now how I became comfortably insulated in the safety of my home, my routine, and my community.

But in the last few weeks we heard of the cold blooded murder of Iryna Zarutska while those around her looked on and the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Our world is sick with sin. Sick with hate, with murder, with perversion from God’s created order and beauty. We are reminded that darkness doesn’t sleep and neither should we.

In the depth of my sorrow, anger, and many fluctuating emotions over the last ten days, I am both convicted and comforted by two things:

Conviction of the command to be bold for the gospel and to be a light in the darkness of this world. Even though that might very well cost me the approval of friends and family and even cause persecution (John 15:20).

And comforted by the reality of heaven and our citizenship there. A very real Savior ultimately waits for us there and has prepared a place for us with Himself. Death is not the end for believers. On the other side of that veil, there is Jesus.

The morning following Charlie Kirk’s death I got up earlier than normal, craving time with Jesus and craving His truth and the comfort He is so faithful to provide in the face of our pain, sadness, and confusion.
My assigned reading that morning was Philippians 1-2 and John 14:1-2 and it was no coincidence. Here are some beautiful, emboldening, comforting truths for us to remember even in the face of death.

“And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.” (Philippians 1:14)

May tragedy, may loss, may pain, may injustice, beget BOLDNESS for Jesus’s name.

"…as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Phillippians 1:20-21)

May we lose the fear of what man can do to our bodies because our hope is in Jesus Christ.

“…standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.” Philippians 1:27-30

My we stay united with other believers so that the gospel can be advanced. May we be reminded that suffering for Jesus’s name is a divine gift because suffering is a shared and expected part of the Christian life.

“…children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I may be proud that I did not run in vain or labor in vain.” (Philippians 2:15-16)

May we strive to live blamelessly and share truth and hope in the midst of a generation that is quick to anger, quick to speak, quick to tear down, quick to hurt and wound others, not only by words, but with violence.

“Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?” John 14:1-2

And may we not be afraid or anxious, even about death, when it feels like the world around us is set upon hatred, violence, and murder in response to truth. May the remedy for our troubled heart be in Jesus and the hope we have in Him.

It is so tempting to shy away from the way this has made us feel so uncomfortable and convicted as we examine our lives. But let’s sit in this moment in time and not be lulled back into a spiritual sleep. Let’s feel pain, the grief, the discomfort and ask the Lord, “What are you doing in me? Why have you allowed me to feel this so deeply? What do you want me to do in response to this?”

“And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me!”” (Isaiah 6:8)

“Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.” (Colossians 1:28-29)