Charlie Kirk was assassinated in a cowardly, wicked act. The evil man who killed him simply did not like what Kirk was saying, apparently didn’t like that Kirk had a following and was convincing many college students with his arguments.
Although I’d heard of Turning Point USA, I knew nothing about it until the day Kirk was killed. In fact, I don’t remember ever hearing of Kirk until the day of his terrible death. I have since learned that he was a committed believer in Christ, a powerful apologist for biblical morality, and an insightful cultural analyst. He had an appeal to college students who were looking for truth that they could anchor their lives to in the midst of a culture that’s drifting with the tide, like flotsam and jetsam.
The last several days have seen a massive outpouring of tribute to Kirk. It’s even coming from some quarters that are firmly anchored in the intellectual vacuousness of critical theory, such as the NFL. But, then again, that’s not necessarily a sign of hypocrisy—it could be the graciousness of honoring an opponent you disagree with simply because he was a good man and a worthy opponent. It is noteworthy that many on the Left who disagree with everything Kirk stood for, nonetheless, decried his assassination, to their credit. In the arena of truth, many on both the Right and the Left agree together that arguments are not won with violence.
In this emotionally charged atmosphere, there are probably several things we should keep in mind. First, we honor Charlie Kirk—but we do not venerate him. He would not want that. He was a sinner saved by grace with a very good intellect and the courage to step into the arena. We are thankful for him, and we’ll pray for his family.
Second, beware of excessive anger. The anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God. Our proper outrage at the assassination quickly morphs into sinful anger. Angry people are easily manipulated because they often do not think through an issue deeply enough. Beware of adopting a mob mentality. Many on the Left are being manipulated by their anger and hatred of Trump the man. The activists at the top of the heap use anger to get the average Joe on the street to oppose some of the administration’s policies they would otherwise support, simply because they are Trump’s policies.
Third, Righteous anger can rapidly turn into self-righteous anger. Bible-believing Christians need to cool off, lose the rhetoric, lose the anger. Self-righteous anger prevents us from seeing our own sins, and makes us harsh toward the sins of others. It also makes us arrogant and dismissive of the concerns of others. Of the many woke positions taken by the Left, a few of the concerns have some limited legitimacy; our anger can cause us to dismiss them without serious reflection.
Fourth, when what we say is driven by self-righteous anger, our communication ceases to be within biblical grounds and dishonors Christ. At that point, our language and tone ceases to be civil and can become inflammatory. Inflammatory language doesn’t persuade, it crushes. Charlie Kirk sought to persuade. Sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness. Let the sinful rhetoric be a feature of the other side—not our side.
Finally, angry people lose the ability to discriminate: rather than addressing a problem with a surgeon’s scalpel, they assault it with a blunt object, creating a lot of collateral damage in the process. The Christ-follower should not be that way.
Is this a national turning point toward even more violence and division? I don’t know. Could be. But what I do know is that I am called by Christ to love my neighbor as myself, even if he is unlovable and takes political and cultural positions that I don’t like. That’s a far more radical position than anything the Left has cooked up.
