How should Christians think about the Death of Charlie Kirk?

With tragic events like the assassination of Charlie Kirk, many are shaken, grappling with the profound implications of such violence in society and the question of why God would allow evil to continue. This assassination raises critical questions for Christians. How and why would God allow something like this to happen to one of His children? Why would God allow this man's death when he was having such an effect on religious freedom and culture? How does evil run so rampant in our society? We might even begin to question God: Is he powerful? Does he care?

This assassination not only affects the immediate circle of family and friends but also reverberates throughout faith communities, the nation, and even the world. Considering other assassination events throughout history, the majority of people do not get to know the victim in the same way we are privileged today. I'm thinking of Martin Luther King Jr. While his death was a travesty, he was merely a figure on a page about whom most people in the country knew very little. But the death of Charlie Kirk hits the world differently. His tours allowed a much broader audience to see him in person. The countless hours of his videos that people have consumed have led to people feeling like they knew him more personally. His social media presence enabled him to be recognized and admired by many people. He inspired many in their love for God, family, and country. Because of these factors, his death feels more personal to us.

As believers, we are thankful that we can rest in the scriptures and reflect on them for comfort and security in trials.

While we would not agree with Charlie Kirk on every point of theology or politics, we are thankful for his boldness to share his faith in Jesus and with the world. We admire that he did not see his Christianity as something only in his head, but as something that affected the culture around him. We are glad for his loyalty and commitment to life, liberty, and the pursuit of freedom. We are glad for the inspiration he gave to many to be bold and unashamed in their faith.

Psalm 91 is helpful to reflect on and meditate on. We praise God that he delivers his people. Though from our finite perspective, it seems like evil sometimes wins, he protects his people and saves them to eternal life. While we might think that evil wins, Charlie Kirk, as a follower of Jesus, will be with God eternally, and the evil that killed him will ultimately be destroyed, not in this life, but in the one to come.

Psalm 37 encourages us not to fear, fret, be angry, or discouraged. We trust in God, even when the wicked seem to succeed, because God will deal with them as grass and wither them away. He will wipe out the wicked. The Lord does not surrender the godly like Charlie Kirk but will vindicate them and crush all evil. The psalm describes God as laughing in disgust at these evil schemers, because He knows they are no match for Him and His love for His people.

We also celebrate Charlie Kirk as a martyr for Christ and join the souls in heaven in asking, “How long, Sovereign Master, holy and true, before you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood?” Revelation 6:10. We cry out to God to end the killing of his people, but also acknowledge and trust that he is sovereign, holy, and trustworthy. We trust him, as Abraham did in Genesis 18:25, that the judge of all the earth will do right.

Jesus reminds us in Matthew 10:26-32 that we don't fear the ones who kill the body, but we look to God, who will judge the body and soul. Everything that seems secret will be revealed in God's judgment. God's children are incredibly valuable to him. Charlie Kirk acknowledged his Father as God, and Jesus promises that God will also acknowledge him.

Paul reminds us in Romans 8:18ff that all of creation (including our hearts) groans with the brokenness in the world around us. Not just for a broken physical world, but also for all the evil that is in the society around us. Evil that takes place on both sides of the political aisle. I'm thinking Mark and Melissa Hortman, assassinated earlier this summer by evil. The reason for this brokenness and evil is human sin. In events like these, assassination, and other tragedies, we cling tighter to our true and eternal hope that has been secured through Christ and is promised with the down payment of our current salvation and sanctification.

We trust in the conquering that Jesus has done. Jesus tells his disciples that he has already conquered the world John 16:33. He also tells us that one of the practical outworkings of his conquering is that his followers can now have peace, peace in the work that he accomplished, and peace in the work that he continues to do. In times of tragedy and uncertainty, we rest in the peace that Jesus brings.

We rest in the knowledge that Jesus is the Savior of the World. While we know this in our heads, our hearts can sometimes be pulled away by others. And while we know that our ultimate hope is in Jesus, we might be tempted to put temporary hope in leaders and public figures. But if history has taught us one thing, it is that people will let us down, people will come and go, and people will fail. We are thankful that our hope is not in temporary, or flawed humans, but in the Eternal God-Man. Jesus reminds John in Revelation 1:17-18 that he is the first and the last, the one who lives, the one who was dead, but is now alive (emphasis added). Death has no power over him. He has conquered it. This resurrection to new life, and the life to come, and freedom from sin are promised to those who follow him in faith and trust. Someday, death and evil will no longer exist as God in Christ puts them away. Revelation 21-22.

So what can Christians do in the aftermath of this event?

We entrust the future to God as we reflect on the truths of His Word. We trust that he will ultimately save His people and remove all evil against them.

We pray that God would be glorified and use what humans intend for evil for His good, as stated in Genesis 50:20.

We also take this opportunity to live boldly in Christianity as Charlie did. We look for opportunities to share the gospel of Jesus with others as their true and ultimate hope from sin and from death.