Praying for Charlie Kirk
As you likely know by now, outspoken Christian and political activist Charlie Kirk was killed at a rally in Utah this afternoon. He was 31, and leaves behind a wife and two precious kids.
I’ve watched Charlie Kirk rise in popularity over the years, and I’ve appreciated his bold stand in speaking out against a culture that no one else is speaking against. He goes on college campuses and reaches young people with mostly political and social talking points, but he also ministers in churches and has shared clear Gospel presentations regularly.
While we may not align with him in all areas, and while his fiery personality has sometimes tipped over into profanities or unjustified anger, his life was overwhelmingly used for great things.
I predict two things:
- He will become a kind of martyr. Through his death, I am praying that God will make the message of the Gospel shine through! I pray that, like Saul consenting to the death of Stephen, one day, lost souls will be converted to Christ as a result of Kirk’s death.
- Leftists will paint him as bad to downplay the impact of his death. Sadly, we are already seeing this, and the leftist media will do everything they can to diminish the Gospel. The devil does not want this to return to God’s glory. He’ll change the story. He’ll water down the truth. He’ll distract and defame and lie and confuse—anything to destroy the message of Jesus Christ.
Death is horrible on many levels. Charlie Kirk was a young man with a young wife and kids, and I grieve deeply for them the most. He was also a son, from a family who knew him as a baby and a child in kindergarten and a teenager. I grieve on the family level.
But he was also a popular social and political figure, even a hero to some. On that level, many are grieving. They might not have known him personally, but a hero is gone, and he was unique in our generation—I’ve never seen anyone debate quite like him.
So our heart goes out to the family, but also, we keep an eye on this world to try to discern the lies of the devil that will inevitably come through this tragedy. Stay alert and aware. Pray for God to use this for His glory. Pray for the comfort of God’s peace for that family.
And what’s it mean for you?
It doesn’t mean we run and hide from scary things. Perhaps now more than ever before is a time to trust the Lord in the face of great evil. Didn’t we just talk about that on Sunday night? Hebrews 11 type of faith in the face of Christian martyrdom may not be as far off as we might like to think! I pray we are ready for when that day comes.
–Pastor Ryan