The assassination of Charlie Kirk has shocked the moral conscience of our nation. Kirk was not someone I frequently listened to. My social media feeds were not filled with his viral clips. Yet, his death hit me—as it did many others—particularly hard.
How should Christians think about the death of Charlie Kirk? While there are many lessons we could draw, I want to highlight five Christian truths that should shape our reflections.
1. His death reminds us that evil is real.
When we see such an atrocity, we are of course reminded of the shooter’s wickedness. But we are also confronted with the evil that seeps into public response.
A former college acquaintance of mine—now an outspoken apostate—mocked Kirk’s shooting before his death was even confirmed, posting sarcastically, “I just saw that video of Charlie Kirk getting shot and it looked pretty bad. I don’t know if he’s going to make it. But if he does die it’s going to be a tragedy because that dude had a good 50 years of bigotry in him. I mean, he was putting up Hall of Fame racism numbers.” This video included the hashtag – “ThoughtsandPrayers.” Political leaders too, such as Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker, rushed to score partisan points, attempting to link the event to the rhetoric of President Trump. Even The Washington Post, no friend historically of Charlie Kirk, condemned Pritzker. The fact that there are those who, silently celebrate, in some sense openly celebrate, or who use further inflammatory language all remind us that sin is in the world.
G.K. Chesterton once wrote that original sin is the only Christian doctrine that can be proved. By that he meant that when we look into the world itself, we see evidence of sin and evil all around us. Kirk’s death and some of the sinful responses to that death are further reminders of this truth.
2. His death reminds us of the reality of sorrow.
This reminder is related to the fact that there is evil in the world. As Christians, we should not feel guilty for being sad as I was yesterday. Paul reminds us that we do not grieve as the world grieves (1 Thessalonians 4:13), but he does not say that we do not grieve at all.
We sorrow not just for ourselves but for Kirk’s wife and children, for his extended family, for the students who witnessed this horror, and for a nation that has been wounded. Certainly Charlie’s wife and children face the greatest sorrow but all of us have experienced sorrow. Sorrow is a proper Christian response to evil.
3. His death reminds us that death is not the end.
Just days ago, Charlie himself posted on social media: “Jesus defeated death so that you can live.” This is the core reason why we as Christians do not sorrow as other sorrow. We have hope not just for this life, but for the life to come. For those of us who are in Christ Jesus, we believe that one day we will see Charlie again and that we will talk with him. But more than talk with Charlie, together with Charlie we will sit at the feet of our risen Savior. The hope that we share is grounded in Paul’s triumphant exclamation – “oh death where is your sting? Oh grave, where is your victory?” In Christ Jesus, we have victory over death.
4. His death reminds us to turn to God in prayer.
Certainly prayer is not the only place to go. As we are able, we do take actions. As Christians, we believe in prayer for three reasons. First, we believe in prayer because prayer does in fact effect change. God hears our prayers and answers them in his mysterious, infinite, and altogether good wisdom. Second, prayer changes us as we align our wills with God so that our hearts are settled but also our lives are transformed. Third, we pray in righteous hope that God will effect justice. Righteous punishment is due for injustice and we long for God to bring it. So, we pray for Charlie’s family, for our nation, and for justice to be done. And we pray despite the fact that some will mock and shame and jeer that we supposedly do nothing but pray. We don’t only pray, but we do pray so that God does something and so we will too. Prayer is not a weak response to tragedy. It one of the most honest, powerful, and Christian things we can do.
5. His death reminds us that we need King Jesus to come.
Kirk’s death reminds us that we need king Jesus to come. When our glorious King comes, we will not only enjoy his goodness but we will also enjoy his justice. He will surely restrain evil but also remove it. All tears will be dried, death will be defeated, a good kingdom will be forever established, and our souls will be satisfied in perfect redemption. With the Apostle John we cry: “Even so, come, Lord Jesus!”