The assassination of Charlie Kirk has brought a wide variety of responses in the news and on social media recently. No doubt, many within our church have had strong feelings and emotions about this horrific event. This short message is meant to help guide us on how to think about these things Biblically. So, how should we respond to Charlie Kirk’s assassination?
Should we be surprised by these events? No. In fact, we should expect to see more evil as we come ever closer to the end times. We don’t say that to spark fear in anyone. In fact, we say that to bring you comfort. Everything is as it should be, and God is in control, despite the chaos we see around us.
Should we be fearful? No. 2 Timothy 1:7 teaches us that “God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” We know that God holds each of us in His hands, and whatever circumstances we face in life are ordained by Him and cannot overpower His good purposes.
Should we feel sorrow? Yes. We are not called to be stoics. In fact, Isaiah prophesied that Jesus would be “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” Jesus has experienced the deepest sorrow, and He can sympathize with us when we experience periods of sadness. Nonetheless, we should never feel despair because as Christians, we have an eternal hope.
Should we feel anger or hate? To a certain extent, yes. However, we must be careful what we direct those feelings toward. The Apostle Paul taught us to “Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.” (Romans 12:9). However, he also taught us to “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Ephesians 4:31-32). So, we should direct our hate towards sin, Satan, and evil itself, not toward any person or groups of people. At the same time, we must be mindful that the sin within ourselves can quickly turn our righteous anger into sinful, misguided hatred. A polarizing hate for others can lead to violence, and violence is never the solution to solving ideological differences. We must not view other people as the enemy, regardless of their worldview, political opinion, skin color, or anything else. Rather, we as Christians should view non-Christians as our mission field. As the Apostle Paul said in expressing his passion for those among the people of Israel who opposed him, “Brothers and sisters, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved.” (Romans 10:1).
How then should we respond? The elders believe that we should respond in three primary ways:
1) First, we should respond with a spirit of forgiveness and love towards those with whom we disagree. This should also be our response if we as Christians face increasing persecution in the future. Consider Romans 12:14-21:
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Here the Apostle Paul is teaching us an approach to our interaction with others which is completely antithetical to the world. This teaching is in line with the wisdom of Solomon we find in Proverbs 25:21-22, which states “If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink, for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you.” We should expect to face some sort of persecution for our faith. However, that should not stop us from being prepared to respond with love and respect, nor should it prevent us from being bold in our faith. Therefore, when we face opposition, we should be prepared, and we should not be afraid to stand up for our faith.
2) Our second response should be to pray for revival in our nation and across the globe. Prayer is the strongest weapon we have to combat the moral decay that is evident all around us. People in our country are lost and hurting, which reveals their need for the Lord. According to 1 Timothy 2:1-2, it must remain a priority for believers to pray for our leaders and for those in our nation who have turned farther and farther away from God. We should thank God whenever we see indications of a growing interest in the things of Christ, and we should pray that He would continue to move in the hearts of people to draw them near to Himself.
3) Third, we should be deliberate in sharing the gospel now! Due to these recent events, there seems to be a strong interest in the things of the Lord. Many people are having an existential crisis and are ripe to hear the gospel. The elders want to encourage each of you to not let this time pass without reaching out and sharing the gospel with those around you. Our society has a short attention span, and a few months from now, the news cycle will undoubtedly move on to other events. Strike while the iron is hot! Get out there and share your faith with those around you.
In closing, let us look at Jesus’ Parable of the Weeds from Matthew 13:24-30 which says:
He [Jesus] put another parable before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field, but while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat and went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared also. And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ So the servants said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he said, ‘No, lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, “Gather the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.”’”
Here we see Jesus compare the kingdom of heaven to good seed planted by a farmer which gets mixed together with bad seed, which we can compare to various types of evil in the world. Notice how the bad seed is deliberately sown by an enemy. That is exactly what we see in the world today, and that enemy is Satan. Satan, though mortally wounded, is active in the world today and has sown bad seed across the globe. However, Jesus teaches us in this parable not to focus on uprooting the weeds. Rather, we should pour ourselves into cultivating the good seed and allow God to sort out the wheat from the chaff at the harvest. If we focus on stamping out the weeds, we will inevitably damage some of the good seed, thereby weakening the kingdom of God inadvertently.
God’s kingdom is continuing to grow and advance across the globe, and there will come a day when that kingdom is ready for harvest. That reality should motivate us to share the gospel with urgency, because there is coming a day when God will judge the world. The wheat will be separated from the weeds, and Satan will once and for all be defeated.
As stated earlier, the pervasive decline in godly living throughout the world should not surprise us. We need to be reminded that God is never caught off guard and that He continually remains sovereign over all people and all events.
Charlie Kirk met a tragic and untimely death, but he was prepared to meet his Maker. God knew exactly when he was going to die and the circumstances surrounding the end of his life. Each one of us should also be prepared to face eternity at any moment. James 4:14 says, “Yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”
When Christ died on the cross on our behalf, He willingly took the penalty for our sins upon Himself. God’s love for us was clearly demonstrated through the sacrificial death of Jesus. Our most important prayer is that God would open the spiritual eyes of unbelievers across our nation and around the world--that they would repent and place their faith and trust in Christ as their Savior and Lord.
For His glory,
The Elders of FBC