Are You Now Engaged in This War?

Learning from Charlie Kirk:

Let me begin by saying this: As far as I know, with the 7000+ articles on CultureWatch, never before have I penned seven pieces in a row on the same person or the same event. But I must keep speaking to the life, death and legacy of Charlie Kirk. And more articles will likely be written as well.

What has happened with his murder is most certainly a real turning point. His story is now being told all around the world. And God can use this for his glory and his purposes. Many believe that real God-given revival is now coming forth. Three brief things can be mentioned about this:

It is said that revival is the sovereign move of God. That is correct.
It is said that revival is preceded by times of intense prayer. That is correct.
But revival can also come as a result of a horrific tragedy – such as the assassination and martyrdom of Charlie Kirk.

Just as the martyrdom of Jim Elliot and his four colleagues in the jungles of Ecuador in 1956 stirred up an entire generation for Christ, so too here. If it takes something as horrific as this to finally wake up God’s people and get them to see that they MUST stand up and speak out, well, so be it. If this terrible event will result in millions of believers finally no longer playing games, thinking only of themselves, and running with their trivial pursuits, then that is a good outcome.

We can be Charlie

The very same views held by Charlie are held by countless millions of genuine Christians. So even though we may not have the same calling and ministry that he had, we all can be like him in terms of godly passion, commitment, courage and a resolute, unshakeable faith.

I have already shared so many moving stories about people who have been inspired by Kirk, became Christians because of Kirk, or recommitted themselves to boldly standing for Christ and for truth. Let me offer just one more. Just the other day Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gave a moving tribute to Kirk. In it he shared this:

“Yesterday my 17-year-old niece left for Europe to go to college. And while she was packing, her mother, Amaryllis, my daughter-in-law, noticed that she had put a Bible in her suitcase. And Amaryllis was curious about it. And she asked her, and Zoe said to her, ‘I want to live like Charlie Kirk’.”

Wow. See Kennedy’s full ten-minute speech here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVChyf-drUI

And there are now hundreds of thousands of similar such stories – all because of one man, “through his faith, though he died, he still speaks” (Hebrews 11:4).

We each have a role to play

Not all of us will have the particular call of God that Charlie Kirk had, but we can all lift our game. We can all be more bold, more concerned about speaking truth, and more aware of the war that we are in. We must see the bigger picture here. In a time of war, things cannot remain the same. We must live and act differently.

Let me give just one tiny example. I of course have a public ministry that brings me heaps of hate mail and the occasional death threat. So I know a bit about what Charlie had known. One small thing can be mentioned, however. Every now and then someone will say to me something like this: ‘Bill, you are so busy in so many ways, but I notice that on the social media you are always liking posts or comments from others, replying to them, or sharing their stuff.’

And that is deliberate. I could save heaps of time if I did not do those things. But the way I see it, this is just one small thing that I can do to encourage others. Many people are discouraged and feel like giving up. To do something as simple as liking a post or comment they shared might help them to keep going.

In a time of war we can all feel disheartened and may well want to call it quits. But everyone must be engaged in these battles. So if taking a few moments out to interact with someone on the social media helps toward that end, then we all should seek to do it.

Courage

Let me say that I understand if you are squeamish about getting anywhere near as involved in the sort of ministry that Charlie was. Not only was he murdered in cold blood, but watching the countless demonised leftists celebrating, cheering and rejoicing in his death is enough to sicken anyone, and put them off from doing similar sorts of work.

And many evil leftists are even calling for others like Kirk to be taken out. This is putrid hatred and monstrous inhumanity. So I get that some of you are worried about speaking out – you might prefer staying silent and not rocking the boat. But Charlie would want you to rethink that. He would want you to be set free from any cowardice or fear, and to fully trust that God is able to help us and be with us.

Are you ready to die for Jesus Christ? Are you? We are now at that place in the West. You better have this sorted out by now. And as we read in Acts 18:9-10, “The Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, ‘Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you’.”

Yes, the passage does go on to say this: “and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” That second half of the promise to Paul we might not be able to claim for ourselves. Charlie couldn’t. But we most certainly can claim the first general part of that word from the Lord.

Billy Graham once rightly said this: “Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.” That has certainly been the case with Charlie Kirk. Believers all over the world have awakened from their slumber and lethargy, and have a new vision and a new passion to serve Christ boldly and unashamedly – all because of Charlie Kirk.

Please keep praying for his family and please keep praying that God will raise up a whole new army of sold-out, fearless, compassionate truth-speakers for Christ.

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