Even though Charlie Kirk has left us, he is very much still alive. His message and his words live on. Truth is not less vital, and freedom is not less significant.
Oftentimes faith is more profound in the face of tragedy than in the parade of success. This is a time to understand our faith, its value, its importance, and its weight. It’s a time to hold our faith more closely and give it a place of greater significance in our lives. It’s also time to stop standing in the shadows, hoping somebody else will use their voice. It’s our turn, and it’s more important than ever for each of us to speak truth into our culture.
What happened yesterday is significant. We have the privilege of free speech—whether we agree with what someone says or not—and we’ve watched that be threatened and shut down.
When troubling things happen, people frequently ask me, “What can we do?” While it will take some time to fully understand the ramifications of Charlie’s death, there are some specific things we can begin to do right now.
- Pray for Charlie’s family—for his widow, Erika, their two children, and their extended family.
- Pray for Turning Point USA and its subsidiaries. They’ve held a place of significance, particularly in the life of young people in our nation. They need our prayers as they continue their important work without Charlie.
- Pray for our nation. Pray that freedom of speech will be valued and protected, not silenced. Pray that God will raise up more bold voices for His truth in our generation.
Then, I would strongly encourage you to allow yourself to grieve. There will be people saying, “Good will come from this.” I don’t doubt that God will work through this, but it doesn’t replace the loss and the grief you may feel today.
I often describe grief as a visitor—an appropriate visitor. All the different emotional responses to grief may visit you in the days ahead. First, there’s shock. Then, there’s denial. Usually somewhere right behind that, anger will roll in. After that, it’s very common to feel discouraged, depressed, oppressed, or like you want to quit.
It’s okay to acknowledge all of these visitors when they make an appearance. You just don’t want to welcome them into your heart and give them a permanent place in your life. Don’t stay in those seasons.
Ultimately, we’ll find ourselves in a place of acceptance. Accepting the reality of Charlie’s gift, what he shared with us, his obedience, and his absence.
Now, here’s the awkward truth: We have to continue forward. Moving forward is not inappropriate. It’s not disrespectful. It’s not denial. When we get up the next morning after a death, life continues, and so must we. That’s not forgetting or ignoring the loss and what’s happened. The reality is that the grass still has to be mowed, and the kids have to be fed and taken to school. The truth still has to be celebrated and shared broadly. All of those things are before us, and the routines of our lives will bring a strength to us that help us make it to the next step.
So, don’t rage against your routine in the days ahead. Go into your routine with a respect and reverence for what Charlie Kirk represented and for what he said. Keep pressing forward with what Charlie stood for. There’s a cost to following the Lord. We may be hated, and we may not be liked. We need to do it anyway! If you’ve been afraid to be Jesus’ friend in public, today would be a good day to start. If you’ve been afraid to be a friend of the truth in public, right now would be a good time to begin to speak it.
In a time of shock, the best thing we can do is center our hearts on the Lord, His faithfulness, the power of His Word, and His eternal purposes on the earth. We’re not the first generation to have to walk through seasons of evil, and we won’t be the last, unless the Lord returns.
So, read your Bible and spend time in God’s Word every day—it’s medicine! Pray. Make a habit of thanking God for the good things in your life. No matter what the tragedy is, the way through it is to thank God for the blessings that remain.
Be diligent to keep your focus on what God is doing and not on the expressions of evil in the world. Evil will not relent. Ultimately, the only thing evil will yield to is a power greater than itself, and that power is not us, it’s the One we worship. That’s why our connection to the Lord matters so much.
Simple things like this will help us push back against darkness and evil and be an advocate for the eternal truths that we represent as the Church.
The reality is that we’ve experienced a tragedy. Evil was given a place, front and center, but the purposes of God are not diminished. The messages that Charlie Kirk stood up for and reminded our college students of—they’re still true today, and it’s necessary for us to continue to repeat them. Truth didn’t begin with Charlie, and it won’t end with his stepping out of time.
Hatred for a biblical worldview and the fundamental principles of Scripture is not new. But we can see God’s powerful presence moving in the earth, and it’s greater than evil. I’m determined to keep my attention focused on God, what He’s doing, and be an advocate for Him. I intend to use my voice, my strength, my talents, and my resources to see that the goodness of God is heralded throughout the earth. I encourage you to honor Jesus—and Charlie’s life—by doing the same.
— Pastor Allen Jackson