Charlie Kirk was assassinated on Wednesday, 9/10/2025. I want to start by saying that I was not very familiar with him until after his death. Since then, I have read about him and watched some videos of him, in order to try to get a sense of who he was, and I think I have a pretty good handle on that. Charlie was blessed to have a platform that allowed him to speak into the lives of many people, especially young people, in person and through social media. Some have seemingly, at least indirectly, characterized him as a Christian leader or preacher or evangelist. I don’t think I agree with that characterization. To my knowledge, Charlie’s ultimate goal was not to preach the Word, to evangelize, or to make disciples. He was a conservative political activist. However, he was a political activist who very unashamedly proclaimed the influence that God had on his life and how the things contained within God’s Word shaped his values and beliefs and approach to life. This bold approach to his life did certainly advance the work of God’s Kingdom and probably helped to lead to his death. What lessons can we take from his life and his death? I have some thoughts concerning this that I would like to share.
You don’t have to look very far into who he was to realize that a lot of people did not like Charlie. Why was that? Was it because of his opinions and values or was it because of how he presented those opinions and values? Some of it may have been because of the presentation but I have come to believe that it was mostly because of the opinions and values themselves. The difference between these two things is important and so I would like to take a little time to talk about it.
As Christians, we should expect push back. We live in a world that is increasingly hostile to Christianity. This can be seen and felt in many ways. We see social media posts and news stories, which portray Christians as being judgmental and intolerant. The major news networks don’t give equal air time to the Christian prospective and the social media platforms sensor Christian content. Sometimes the hostility is more personal than that. A friend or co-worker may not want to hear what we have to say on certain topics, because they don’t want to hear the Christian prospective on those topics. Sometimes, they will even directly attack our prospective and our beliefs. All this is unpleasant and can even be discouraging.
We should not be surprised by this kind of reaction from the world. Read the words of Jesus concerning this, in John 15, verses 18 through 20.
“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.
If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.
Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.
In the United States, most of us will not have to pay for our Stand for Christ with our lives but, if we are really standing up for Him, we will meet some resistance. Jesus said “they will also persecute you”. He did not say “they may persecute you”. Given this, if we are not experiencing any push back from the world, at all, then I think we have to ask ourselves if we are doing enough to serve The Kingdom. Sometimes, maybe we don’t do enough, because we are afraid of the push back. That is very understandable, especially in the wake of something like Charlie’s death, but Jesus said that we should not be afraid.
This is what Jesus said, in Matthew 10, verses 24 through 31.
“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master.
It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household!
Therefore do not fear them. For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.
“Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.
And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will.
But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
We should not fear the reaction of the world. Jesus said “do not fear them”. That’s much easier said than done. Jesus knew that. Just as with everything He told us to do, we must seek His strength in order to do it. Even then, it won’t be easy but it will be possible. He said “Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light”. We should unashamedly proclaim what He says in His Word. He promises us that He will empower us to do that and that He will take care of us as we do it. We must not let fear drive us to inaction.
Having said all that, we should be respectful in our approach. I said that many people see Christians as being judgmental and intolerant. Some of that is just because they don’t like what we have to say but some of it is our own fault because of how we say it. We should not be confrontational. Look at what Paul said, in Galatians 6:1.
Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted.
We must keep this Scripture, and others like it, in mind. I have seen some Christians who just say whatever they want however they want and say “I just tell it like it is, I’m just real”. That’s just a way of glorifying the fact that they have no self control. If you are very harsh and give no thought to what you say and how you say it and you get push back for that, that is not Christian persecution. That is people not liking you because you are being a jerk and that will destroy your Christian witness. We are to correct but we are commanded to do so in a spirit of gentleness. As Adrian Rogers once said, “The Bible makes a wonderful sword but a terrible club”. He was basically trying to say that you cannot beat people over the head with their sin and get them to listen to you and he was right. The Word will offend but we must take care that it is not how we are presenting it that is offensive.
Charlie often got his thoughts out there through debating those with a different prospective. He said “prove me wrong”. Charlie seems to have done OK with this and, though debating is fine for politics, I’m not sure it’s the best approach when it comes to ministering for Christ. Those who would seek to emulate his approach must be very careful in how they go about this. Challenging someone to prove you wrong is based on the assumption that you are right. To be clear, God’s Word is truth. When we stand up for it, we are standing for truth. There is no question about that. However, if we are to perpetuate that truth in the minds of others and encourage them to act on it, we cannot act as though those who do not agree with that truth are stupid. From our side of the discussion, we cannot make the process an adversarial one. Though he could have sometimes done a little better about this, From what I can tell, Charlie mostly did a pretty good job of debating in a respectful way. However, many of us, from the outset, make these types of discussions adversarial and we aren’t going to win people to Christ that way.
2 Timothy 2
22 Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
23 But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife.
24 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient,
25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,
26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.
We must take note of what verse 24 says and not get it backward. It says that a servant of the Lord must not quarrel and be able to teach. Too often, we seemingly try to teach through quarreling. That won’t work. Verse 24 also says that we are to be gentle and verse 25 tells us that we must correct in humility, if we are going to let God work through us to lead people to repentance. We must remember that our ultimate goal is not to be right, satisfying as that may sometimes feel, but to lead others to repentance and to a relationship with Jesus. It is the goodness (kindness) of God that draws to repentance (Romans 2:4). If we are not letting His kindness shine through us, then we too need to repent.
Charlie was a man who unashamedly proclaimed the influence that God had on his life and how the things contained within God’s Word shaped his values and beliefs and approach to life. We should do the same. However, we must not idolize Charlie. It was not Charlie’s light he was spreading. It was God’s light. All of us who have a personal relationship with God’s Son, Jesus the Christ, can spread that same light.
Look at what Jesus said, in Acts 1:8.
But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
Jesus said “you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you”. This was just before Jesus ascension and He was speaking of the Holy Spirit coming on the day of Pentecost, which, at that time, was to happen in about 10 days. For us, we receive the Holy Spirit as soon as we are saved. Notice that Jesus said “you shall receive power”. He did not say “you may receive power”. He did not say “some of you will receive power”. He said that, when you receive the Spirit, you will also receive power. For those of us who are Christians, we have already received the Spirit and so we have already received power. We have received incredible power, the power to do truly amazing things in His service and for His glory.
You see, it is all of our jobs to minister. I’m not saying that everybody has to get up and preach a sermon or teach a Sunday school class. We are called and equipped to serve God in all kinds of different ways. Every Christian has certain gifts. Maybe your gift doesn’t involve speaking or teaching. Maybe it involves working behind the scenes, in the kitchen or in the nursery or on a committee. Maybe your gift involves doing things that are not within the walls of the church. Maybe it involves encouraging others, at school or at work, and simply letting them see His love and light shining through you. Maybe it’s a combination of some of these things or something else entirely. Regardless of exactly what it is in your case, God has given you gifts that he wants you to use and that He will empower you to use for Him and His glory.
Events like Charlie’s death make the world seem like a pretty dark place, and it is, but our hope did not die with Charlie. The One Who Charlie served, and who many of us serve, died over two thousand years ago but He did not stay dead. He arose, victorious over sin and death, victorious over the darkness.
In John 8:12, Jesus said:
“I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”
We know the end of the story. The light overcomes the darkness. Jesus is the light. Do you know Him? If not, please check out “The Most Important Thing” section of the Scott Duck Ministries website.
