To all those now joining, Welcome.
“This is the day that the LORD has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.” But this day, 11th September, is also the day that so many will say “never forget”. And I, for one, will always remember. (I’m still thinking through whether that is the same thing.) The evil accomplished on this day so many years ago now, will continue to be the proof to me that Jesus is who he claimed to be and the Kingdom of Heaven is advancing. Jesus Christ is King. His Kingdom is not OF this world, but it is IN the world, and his enemies run scared.
Charlie Kirk died yesterday. However, I have seen maybe one passing tribute on social media to that watershed moment in 2001 in light of a new watershed moment. Charlie is now a high profile, well known Christian martyr. By his life, there are so many who have heard about Jesus and his Kingdom. I see people who are turning to Jesus in response to his example, which now grows across American culture like Paul Bunyan’s shadow. Charlie’s folklore-like persona is solidified to the point that even his political opposites have had to admit that he was a man who wanted discourse with those he disagreed with and to platform other opinions and ideas alongside his own. He was confident and fearless in his positions.
But there is a grave danger in some carelessly chosen words and phrases. There are those who are stating he was killed for having conversations. Others state it was because of his political stances on immigration, LGBTQ, or abortion. Some are spreading the conspiracy it was because he spoke out about Israel in past month.
No. It’s NONE of these reasons.
Charlie Kirk was killed because Jesus Christ was his King. To attempt to somehow dress-up this reason in any other garb is disingenuous. Make no mistake, Christian Martyrdom has come to America and it was televised.
For the faithful Christian, martyrdom is nothing new. Even now, in our days, there are many communities in the world where martyrdom of Christians is taking place consistently. In fact, it is a grand tradition for the Assembly of the Saints to publicly die for following Jesus.
This is NOT a call for Christians to take up physical weapons against anyone in retaliation or vengeance, though we can hope and pray that justice is done. This is an opportunity for Christians once again, or maybe for the first time, to truly count the cost of following Jesus and find the terms of this spirited and invisible war acceptable.
On this day, the day after a new watershed moment, there is, in reality, no new fight. There is no new war. There is only the same battle that has been raging since the Resurrection of Jesus; the deathblow to death itself. To follow Jesus is to be his witness to those ignorant of him and the one who sent him. That is the definition of martyr: a witness. There is no fundamental change to Christianity today. For all those who are experiencing something new today, take great comfort in the fact that it is YOU who experiencing a change. For all those finally joining what it is to see the world in the proper, truthful paradigm, welcome aboard. Don’t bother buckling up, you have things to do. We all have things to do.
Just like Charlie did.