Evil manifested itself on Wednesday, September 10, in broad daylight. Such a savage attack, taking the life of Charlie Kirk, in the public square, is both shocking and alarming. This assassination is shocking, as it reveals not a reaction over a disagreement between two reasonable adults discussing a matter of which they disagree, but rather a premeditated and planned act targeted at one particular person, Charlie Kirk, father of two young children and husband to Erika. It is also alarming, as one considers the public nature and potential threat that terrorists, like the murderer who shot Charlie, pose to law-abiding citizens.
In this hour of mourning, in the face of such a horrific public and premeditated attack, I am compelled to offer a pastoral reflection in hopes of providing some comfort, clarity, and confidence in this dark hour of our generation.
Many emotions undoubtedly surround this circumstance. Our hearts immediately go out to Charlie’s wife, Erika, and his young children. So many good experiences, memories full of life and love, and more will never be shared with their father. He died at a mere 31 years old. We think of the many witnesses who saw this wicked assassination unfold, and our thoughts and concerns go out to them, as they will never unsee the savage and gruesome attack. We think of Turning Point, the many employees, safety staff, volunteers, and supporters who dedicated their time, energy, creativity, and resources to engaging a young generation in honest and respectful political discourse. We think of brutal, savage evil that was expressed by one of God’s image-bearers. We think of this person who looked down the barrel through a scope and made the life-ending trigger pull on another human image-bearer of God. It is quite an understatement to say that many emotions are welling up inside of all of us, regardless of our political persuasions. What happened was evil manifest, and it was wicked because God says so. Period.
Now, how does one process all this? So many questions: Why did this happen? Why did this happen to him? Why did this happen to his family? Why did this happen to this cause? Will this happen to me? Will this happen to my loved ones? Will this cause the world to go into chaos? Will there be sufficient justice? What was Charlie Kirk so passionate about? Is it worth it? Was it worth his life? How should I respond? How should I respond to those who disagree with me? How should I feel about this killer? What about all those who have died unjustly, whose names we will never know? Why is there evil? Is God too weak to stop the evil? Is God indifferent to evil? What about the evil thoughts I feel inside me when I think about this situation? Indeed, there are so many questions.
These questions and more are indeed natural, as we are finite humans living in a broken world full of surprises–good and evil. And that’s why I’m compelled to write out some pastoral reflections to hopefully lift hearts and minds, bringing light into the dark recesses of this moment.
And so, my purpose in this article is to offer three observations, three perspectives, and three words of encouragement, in hopes that comfort, clarity, and confidence may arise and express themselves within each of us.
Three Observations
While there are many observations one could make regarding the assassination of Charlie Kirk in broad daylight, there are three that I want to highlight as a framework for processing this well.
Observation 1: Evil’s Manifestation
Evil is natural to the natural man. However, it manifests itself and expresses itself in a variety of ways. At the bottom of evil is a mind, heart, and will bent on self. We can look at it this way. It’s a desire to control. In other words, it’s a self-focus that leaves no room for unmet expectations. This was first manifested in the Garden of Eden with Adam & Eve. They took from the fruit and ate after Eve had said, It’s enough to make her wise (Gen. 3:6). The eating of the fruit was in full and complete defiance of God’s command; yet, sin, taking root after having been persuaded by Satan, manifested itself in self-centered control. The consequence was discord. What was once a place of peace, fellowship, unity, love, knowledge, and more became a place of separation, thorns, and ultimately, chaos.
Thus, evil manifests itself in many ways but with the same outcome: discord, and a person bent inward toward self, i.e., perversion. Satan is the father of this agenda, and he seeks to incline, persuade, and lead others to do the same. Every human heart is tilted toward the self, and only God’s intervening grace, provided in the gospel of Jesus Christ, offers hope of restoration.
Observation 2: Worldwide Response
The crowd watched as Charlie Kirk’s murderer fired one single shot, bent on destruction. Confusion and a profound confounding sense bellowed throughout the crowd as some scattered, others filmed, and the caretakers of Mr. Kirk rushed him to safety and treatment. The world held its breath in agonizing anticipation as this young, passionate, brilliant 31-year-old man fought for his life.
In the end, Charlie Kirk succumbed to his injury. The wound was incurable. And the world responded in horror, confusion, and a deep, confounding question as to why. President Trump addressed the nation, celebrities shared their condolences, news commentators made remarks, and one was even fired, as outrage over his comments led to his dismissal. The world watches even now and waits for the murderer to be found and brought to justice. It’s this cataclysmic event, public to all the world, that sends shivers down our spines as to the reality of one action impacting so many people so publicly. Our backyard has expanded to encompass the globe, which means we can observe many more events without the ability to offer direct care and assistance. That’s cause for certain confounding consternation–we just don’t have a default mode enabling us to process witnessing such grisly horror. Our emotions, thoughts, and more are bound to be activated in ways unlike ever before in history.
Thus, as our access to atrocities becomes easily accessible to us, it raises the importance of helping followers of Christ process evil through a biblical, Christian worldview. At the same time, we realize that evil has many faces seeking to instill terror in the hearts and minds of God’s image-bearers.
Observation 3: Terror’s Many Faces
When evil is given space to grow, it reveals itself in many ways and through many faces. One can only imagine the agony of Adam and Eve as they honored their murdered son, Abel, after having been brutally slain by his own brother, Cain. The terror and confusion that followed, leading up to God’s judgment and washing of evil from the earth in the flood, saving only one family from the devastating consequences. Story after story and historical account after historical account show only a fraction of the faces of terror witnessed by the victims of heinous, violent acts perpetrated against others.
Terror has many faces, and it expressed itself yesterday in public, premeditated, and savage brutality. However, its evil root is in every human, as James says in the fourth chapter of his epistle, “What is the source of quarrels and conflicts among you? Is not the source your pleasures that wage war in your members? You lust and do not have; so you commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures” James 4:1-3.
Thus, a Christian’s response to terror must not, cannot be terror. This grates at the very nature of our flesh and humanity. It’s why winning tribes in remote places for Christ are so hard, as detailed in The Spirit of the Rainforest, because of our inclination for revenge and exacting justice in our own way and time. Nevertheless, we must have the proper perspective if we have any hope for gaining the type of comfort, clarity, and confidence needed in a moment like this (and the more that will indeed arise again in a sinful, broken world full of wicked, broken people).
Three Perspectives
In this second section, I outline three perspectives to foster hope in the midst of despair, courage in the face of fear, and love in the face of hate.
Perspective 1: Untimely Death
Our first reactions to Charlie’s death might take many forms. Perhaps even thoughts like: he was speaking for my generation, he was a voice of clarity and common sense in the midst of confusion and abstraction, he was a Christian bearing testimony to Christ so publicly and often, he might have been a presidential hopeful, and more. But certainly one thought would be that he died too soon. It’s these concerns and more surrounding Charlie’s untimely death that need clarity.
First, death is a reality of every human (Heb. 9:27). It’s the topic of conversation that we usually avoid, mainly because we’re not really sure of life after death, and, it’s safe to say, that most of us don’t know anyone who’s been there and come back to tell us about it. So, we’re left seeing death from our perspective until we read and understand a fuller perspective from the Bible. Paul talks about heaven in 2 Corinthians 12:2, Jesus talks about what’s ahead for His followers in John 14:2-3, and Peter gives us steadfast hope regarding our home in the New Heaven and New Earth, wherein righteousness dwells in 2 Peter 3:13. The Bible clearly offers sufficient evidence that our life on earth is only a start to our eternity. In other words, death is really a passing from life to life.
Second, the Christian rejects the notion that death is related to fatalism or open theism. To run the risk of oversimplification, fatalism adopts a Stoic mentality, approaching life with detachment from emotion. What will be will be, so don’t let yourself enjoy life. Furthermore, open theism rejects God’s sovereignty and foreknowledge, thereby rejecting a world where freedom means God is totally sovereign over all things. In other words, fatalism removes human agency (limiting man), and open theism overemphasizes human agency (limiting God’s sovereignty)—both run counter to the biblical account.
On the other hand, the Bible teaches that all the days ordained for us were written in God’s book before one of them came to be (Psalm 139). At the same time, God works all things together, even our bad choices, and more for good (Genesis 50:20; Romans 8:28). To put it another way, Charlie was not made just for earth, but for earth, heaven, and then the eternal state (New Heavens and New Earth). His death was a passing from this life to the next in anticipation of fully experiencing his eternal life. His life was far too short, from our perspective, but it was full. God bless his full life!
Jim Elliot, a Christian missionary who died at the hands of those he came to preach the gospel, was said to have prayed this prayer: “I seek not a long life, but a full one, like You, Lord Jesus.”
Charlie Kirk died young, but he died having lived a full life.
Perspective 2: Justice Vindicated
In the opening chapters of the book of Genesis, we’re introduced to a murderer and a victim. Cain, in savagery, cut his brother down in cold blood. Right after he committed this crime against one of God’s image-bearers, God says something to Cain that echoes throughout all of history, and to our present moment. He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to Me from the ground” (Genesis 4:10). Abel’s blood had fallen to the ground in defiance of the one who spilled it out mercilessly, seeking justice and to be avenged.
Since then, to this very day, and until Christ returns, blood has been, is, and will be unjustly spilled on the earth, crying out for its vindication. God is not mocked by evil, nor is He the author of evil or overpowered by evil. Instead, God allows what He hates to accomplish what He loves (as one friend so rightly put it). In other words, evil is not a product of God, nor is it a more powerful source than God. So, how should a Christian rightly view evil?
God’s justice is fully and sovereignly administered in heaven and through God-ordained institutions on earth. Those God-ordained institutions on earth are the family (Ephesians 5), the church (Matthew 16, 18; Ephesians 2), and the government (Romans 13). All three of these institutions are finite, meaning they are no longer needed when Christ returns and establishes His Kingdom on earth.
However, in all three God-ordained, earth-bound institutions, they are to administer justice according to God’s Word. The focus as we process the murder of Charlie Kirk, specifically relates to the government as the God-ordained institution to administer God’s justice. Therefore, the government ought to, within its full power and utilizing its full resources, ensure the safety and well-being of its citizens. And, when evil arises, cutting down one or more of its citizens, it deploys its resources to administer swift and appropriate justice.
Thus, the government must be the leader in bringing this assassin to face the fullest measure of consequences allowed by the governing bodies’ laws.
Perspective 3: Same Story, Different Hand
History is full of bad characters. We could list one after the other. The reality is that evil is within the heart of man until a man’s heart is changed by grace through faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Perpetrators run rampant in God’s good world, dismantling families, dissolving structures, and creating chaos. We saw it in Mao, Lenin, Hitler, Pol Pot, and this murderer who took Charlie’s life.
The hand that pulled the trigger of the single rifle shot is no different than the hand one brother used to slay another. The story repeats itself because this is the story of the evil one and his spawning of wickedness in God’s image-bearers. He will not relent until he destroys all mankind.
But God. But God. God speaks a greater word, y’all! God will not be mocked. He wins. The story is not finished, and I’ve got three words of encouragement to share…
Three Words of Encouragement
Encouragement 1: The Multiplicity of God
In a sermon on 1 Kings 18-19, Tim Keller shared a fascinating point about the multiplicity of God. He stated how Elijah, on the run from Jezebaal to save his life, had found comfort from God but also confusion. He thought he was the only one who hadn’t bowed the knee to Baal, but God responded to the contrary. Indeed, 7,000 hadn’t bowed the knee. Moreover, Elisha would lead as Israel’s new prophet, and God would raise up Hazael and Jehu to administer His justice. This was not at all what Elijah had in mind.
God’s dealings, as He was teaching Elijah, would be through ways and means we, as finite humans, cannot understand–the mystery of God (Deuteronomy 29:29).
God is not finished with the life and message of Charlie Kirk. He is raising up young men and women, boys and girls, of all ages, races, nationalities, and more to carry the baton forward. America is a land brimming with diversity and opportunity. It is a land where free speech is one of its rights, and where public discourse in civility is one of its core values.
Will you carry the baton?
Encouragement 2: A Broken Reed He Will Not Break
Undoubtedly, there are many whose hearts are broken. Broken for Charlie. Broken for his family. Broken for his passion. Broken that his voice and leadership will not be carried into the future. Broken over the brokenness of the world. Broken over the brutality of the murder. Broken over the motive for such a cowardly act. And in that brokenness, there is the temptation to despair. Why this? Why now? Perhaps even, why not me? Why him?
It’s that brokenness that I want to address briefly. Richard Sibbes wrote a remarkable book titled The Bruised Reed. In it, he argues that Christ will not smite or destroy the Christian as he grows in grace, but instead bring him to maturity. Sibbes states, “It is with a Christian as it was with Christ, who sprang out of the dead stock of Jesse, out of David’s family (Isa. 53:2), when it was at the lowest, but he grew up higher than the heavens” (Sibbes, p. 18). In other words, the Christian’s growth, rooted firmly in Christ, will grow in grace; they will not be ultimately destroyed (Colossians 2:6-7). Sibbes goes on to say that as he begins his second chapter, “In pursuing his calling, Christ will not break the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax, in which more is meant than spoken, for he will not only not break nor quench, but he will cherish those with whom he so deals” (Sibbes, 10). God builds and mends, satan shatters and destroys.
Indeed, Christ taught that there is a death worse than physical death in Mark 10:28, “Do not fear those who kill the body but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.” Our physical death is one step in a larger reality beyond.
Thus, dear Christian, discouraged and downcast by the evil and malice brought by this murderer (and so many others), God will not let you, even though bruised, be crushed. He is with you. He will guide you. Trust Him.
Encouragement 3: Resilient Response
Years ago, Denton Bible Church received a bomb threat just before our Christmas Eve services. Tommy, our pastor at that time, stood against it. Paraphrasing his response, he said: We cancel church for bad weather or ice, but we do not cancel church for terror. We stand against the evil that stands behind it.
Now more than ever, Christians must arise with clarity on the Bible, confidence in their calling, and courage to press on wisely into this world riddled with sin and evil. They must stand on the Word of God and entrust their souls to Him.
They must stand and: “Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm” Ephesians 6:13.
Conclusion
How is this possible? How can Christians hope to stand?
Christ stood for us. He took the justice of God. His blood was spilled so that God might reconcile us to Himself. He offers you grace in your weakness. Come to Him in faith, daily, and receive His grace, not only the power to save but the power to witness (Acts 1:8).
Your life, as was Charlie’s life, is in His hands.
“So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling; 13 for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure” Philippians 2:12-13.
May God put a new song in your heart, a song of praise to our God!
“I waited patiently for the Lord;
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.
He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay,
And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.
He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear
And will trust in the Lord.”
Psalm 40:1-3
Amen.
Today, we also remember 9/11. We will never forget the lives of those lost at the hands of evil and terror.
— September 11, 2025