How Should Christians Respond To Charlie Kirk’s Assassination?

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 12:21

For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.
2 Corinthians 10:3-5

As we all most likely know by now, a despicably evil thing happened this week:

Charlie Kirk was murdered publicly in front of thousands of people. This has sent shock waves throughout the world, and has caused shock in so many individual lives, including my own.

One thing that most people want to know is this:

How should we respond? What should Christians do in light of Charlie’s assassination, along with all the evil behind this, including the growing darkness throughout the world?

PRAY

We all need prayer, and we all need to pray – especially for those impacted the most by Charlie’s murder. We need to also pray for our enemies, and for those who persecute us. In the bigger picture, pray about what you can and should be doing in this spiritual battle, and in this war against biblical Christianity, God, His Word, and against all of humanity. (Matt 5:44; Phil 4:6-8; Col 4:2)

GRIEVE

First of all, make sure you take time to fully mourn and grieve this stunning tragedy. There are no shortcuts in grieving, so make sure to process this with God, and His Word, especially with the Psalms (e.g., Ps 37; 73).

Yet also make sure that your grief is used to motivate you for good things (Rom 12:21)—especially when it comes to the war that is currently raging. (see: The War From Hell)

FORGIVE

Do not let this evil turn into bitterness and resentment in your heart (Eph 4:31-32). That not only grieves God, but it causes great harm to you, and those around you (Ps 73:21-22; Heb 12:15; Matt 18:34-35). Therefore, we all need to forgive, and to do so in the right way. In other words, while many people rightly choose to forgive, and do so with good intentions, they often try to forgive without rightly understanding how to forgive. (see: Forgiveness)

With that in mind, know that forgiving does not mean we stop seeking justice, nor does it mean we are to become doormats, or that we are being weak. Forgiving evil does not mean we stop fighting against evil. In fact, the pain inflicted by evil is added motivation to defeat evil, and to lessen the harm it does to us, and to others. (see: Forgiveness + Trust)

Speaking of motivation, forgiving others does not mean we cannot be angry. In fact, we can and should be angry, and to use our anger, but only as God intended (cp. Eph 4:26-27), as a God-given emotion to solve problems and defeat evil.

While God is known for forgiveness, He has also been described as the angriest person in the Bible. However, God always used His anger for righteous purposes, which ends up offending those who violated or distorted what is right. (Jn 2:13-16; 8:31ff)

So, regarding this evil act, and the reality of its evil source, forgiveness without action is unacceptable. In fact, that would be wrong and unloving, especially toward those who have been harmed, as well as all those who will be harmed in this war.

EQUIP

We must firmly grasp the reality of evil, and of evil ideologies, especially those that are at war with Christianity and all of humanity. Therefore, seek to become sufficiently equipped in God’s Word, which will equip you for life, for love, and for contending for what is good and loving. (2 Tim 3:15-4:5; Heb 13:20-21; Eph 6:10-18)

ENGAGE

Evil forces have always been at war with God, God’s Word, God’s people, and all of life as a whole. Unfortunately, far too many Christians and disengaged in this battle. However, Christians, and especially Church leaders, should never be naive or passive. Instead, we need to “contend for the faith” (Jude 1:3) as we “fight the good fight”—and do so out of love, while obeying and fully relying on God and His Word. (2 Cor 10:3-5)

LOVE

As always, we are called to love God with all of our hearts, and to love everyone, including our enemies. (Matt 5:43ff)

The call to love never changes, but how we love does change. And the different ways we love depends on the context of what is needed in those we love. (1 Thess 5:14-15; 2 Thess 2:22-26; 2 Tim 4:1-2)

Furthermore, if you truly want to love, then relentlessly expose counterfeit love. In other words, if you want to love—especially by protecting and blessing others, and overcoming deception and evil—then focus on this: exposing and warning others about counterfeit love. (Eph 5:6-11; 2 Jn 1:7-11; Ti 1:10-12)

Similarly, if you want to truly love, always base your love on the truth, while passionately exposing, avoiding, and eliminating error, false teachings, and every form of evil.

What is more, if you want to be truly loving, you need to be confront enablers—those who enable error, sin, and evil, and do so in the name of “love.” That is a supreme way to love because this enabling of evil is one of the most destructive forces in our society today—and it has spread throughout many churches. (see: Enablers)

If counterfeit love was somehow completely eliminated, this entire world would be radically improved. Better yet, so much evil would disappear, and actual love would bless more and more people. What, then, could be more loving than to fight against and expose enablers and counterfeit love?

On a similar note, and as a friend of mine often says:

“People are not the enemy, they are the opportunity.”

While leftists certainly see biblical Christians as the supreme enemy, we should pray for them, and actively love them with the truth. However, in so doing, we are to never, ever compromise the truth. Instead, we should see them as people to love with the truth, and with grace. (Jn 1:14-17)

Yet always be wise, discerning, and careful around those who are hostile toward you, and biblical Christianity. (Matt 10:16)

Some specific ways we can love those who are deceived, and perhaps “taken captive” by the Enemy, is by not tolerating evil and slander and, instead, by actively pushing back against and exposing evil, especially the evil of leftism.

With certain people we should be very bold, and this includes showing them where they are in error. On the other hand, to be passive with evil is to guarantee that evil will prevail—and to ensure that people will be deceived and destroyed. In fact, that kind of passivity is a form of enabling.

Therefore, be passionate in your pursuit of truth, standing against evil, and loving others with the truth of God’s Word. Nothing is more loving and potentially beneficial in the lives of those who are in error than to show them these errors, and turn them to the truth. (Jas 5:19-20)

By the way, that friend of mine (whom I have known for over fifty years) was Charlie Kirk’s pastor. Not only has he had some wonderful things to say about Charlie before and after his death, he shared some great insight about evil. What is more, his words also give us more understanding when it comes to evil and how to respond to it:

This truth allowed Charlie to face every threat with courage because he didn’t fear death. All evil knows is death and they derive power from death. Charlie lived for life and will be remembered for this. My heart is broken for his family, his wife Erika and his two precious children. Evil has not prevailed and it will not win.

Rob McCoy

Evil is all too real. It is in our presence, whether we want to acknowledge it or not.

Evil is not passive. Evil is perpetually at war with you, and your loved ones, as well as God and Christianity.

So the questions for all of us now must be:

• How equipped are you to confront and overcome evil?
• What are you going to do about all this?
• How are you going to respond when evil strikes you, and those you know and love?
• How did your church handle evil in the past?
• What are your church leaders doing about evil now, especially this particular evil that is front and center, and even inside the Church?
• What are you going to do about counterfeit love, and the enablers of evil, sin, and error, especially those who claim Christ?

More Equipping Resources

The War From Hell: Leftism’s Diabolical War Against God, Truth, and All of Humanity

Learning To Discern: How To Spot False Teachings and Doctrines of Demons

Enablers: Enabling Dysfunction Or Enabling Reconciliation

Re-Minded: How To Renew Your Mind, Quiet Your Soul, and Transform Your Life

 

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