Further on Charlie Kirk

I’m going back to the Charlie Kirk murder again in this week’s essay. His memorial service is today. Many different messages dovetail with this event. An assassination like this reminds us of the sin-cursed world in which we live and how bad our country is. This wasn’t all. Many, many celebrated his death. We could get angry and stay angry with this kind of reaction.

Anger is appropriate in the sense of righteous indignation, but not in something that continues long term and especially that carries into malice. The righteous indignation should and must bring concern with it, asking, What is the solution? We’ve go to come back even to part of the spirit of Charlie Kirk himself, who put himself into the fight in an intense way. He wasn’t necessarily where we are theologically, but in many ways he was, and my focus is this soldier metaphor that Paul uses.

Scripturally this is something we can and should expect. Jesus said, Marvel not that the world hates you. One of the reasons Kirk was hated was his effectiveness. He was persistent and kept trying and it was having a good, measurable effect. What will bring the change that the world needs is the means by which Jesus intended to do it, that is, the ministry of His church and using the preaching of the gospel. We can still get the saving message out there and contribute to the solution, but we’ve got to believe it and want it ourselves.

Nominal, Sunday morning only Christianity, if that even is Christianity, is not going to do it. I don’t like the idea that it’s better than nothing. That isn’t the work of God. We are living in a very serious time and we can’t stand by and do nothing. If we’re not ready, then we’ve got to get prepared to do our part. Our church will do the right thing and we will help you be a part of it, but you’ve got to want it. If you don’t want it, then consider whether you might be part of the problem, not the solution.