For too long, Christians have bought the lie that loving God and loving your neighbor means caving in to the culture war. While turning the other cheek has its place, ignoring evil in our midst is not part of that. The assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk has sparked a widespread revival. It shows that Satan, who has infiltrated even the most seemingly solid Christian institutions, has no home here any longer. Christians’ focus from now on should be on living boldly for the Lord, like Charlie did — even if it becomes the hill on which we die.
A concerted effort has long been underway among leftists and self-styled progressive Christians to take faithful believers out of the game culturally and politically. Perhaps no better example of this was Obama’s “bitter clingers” statement that was designed to marginalize true believers. Obama tried to make such people appear to be some extremist fringe group who did not belong among civilized society.
More recently the “Christian nationalist” slur was intended to shame conservatives who “believe that the country was founded as a Christian nation and that Christian values should be prioritized throughout government and public life.” Hmmm. And I thought that living a morally good life was a basic tenet of a civilized society.
But that is where we have been. The Left has tried to scare people away from basic Christian beliefs. Such efforts have been designed to neutralize bearers of the Good News of Our Lord. Yet, a small but powerful sect of bold and morally courageous faithfuls, such as Charlie Kirk, successfully rejected those attacks and devoted their lives to sharing the Gospel with anyone who would listen.
Moral courage such as this is hard to depict or write about. It is far easier to show examples of physical courage, such as, a fireman risking his own life by running into a burning building to save people who might otherwise die.
There are no monuments to those who stand up at a school board meeting and speak the truth. The same can be said about those opposing the idea that boys can change into girls or that unborn babies aren’t people.
The Charlie Kirk memorial gave many people the opportunity to stand up and be counted. It was a beautiful, one-of-a-kind memorial service in which millions of people across the world heard and saw the Good News that has been suppressed so much in recent years. There will be no turning back from this.
The memorial started with more than an hour of worship focused on spreading “the faith that Charlie had in our great God.” When the eulogy portion of the service began, the speakers who took the stage spent much of their time pointing their fellow mourners back to the life-saving message of the cross and emphasizing the eternal truths held by Christians across the globe.
The number of politicians who publicly expressed their faith in Jesus Christ was mind boggling. During his speech, Secretary of State Marco Rubio used a recap of Creation, the Fall, and the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to affirm that Christians will see Charlie again.
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth reminded the funeral-goers that Charlie was a “warrior for country, a warrior for Christ” whose life and death should inspire Christians to do the same.
Vice President J.D. Vance confirmed the widespread spiritual awakening on Sunday when he admitted that he has “talked more about Jesus Christ in the past two weeks than I have my entire time in public life.
As Tucker Carlson noted, the arena was electric with the presence of the Holy Spirit.
Another surprising event on Sunday was the live streaming of the service on all of the major networks and many other networks as well. Human beings made those decisions. Just how many were nudged by God to do so? How many people around the world saw and participated in this service? Only God knows.
Is politics outside of Christianity? The short answer is No. Politics should be how we arrange ourselves for the sake of justice and mutual benefit. Of course, most recently, justice has been sorely absent. However, returning to a moral life can help the wheels of justice return to their original function.
To get there, we need to follow God’s order for life. And one needs to reject the idea that Faith is a shameful thing.