We need to be bolder. We need to be willing to tell people about Christ, and we need to be willing to suffer the consequences of it.
I never had the privilege of meeting Charlie Kirk, but if there is anything that has been made clear in the last few days it is that he was a bold man who wasn’t afraid of the consequences of telling the truth.
Obviously, his focus was broader than mine is. There are those that God has called to have a heightened interest in politics and a desire to shape the political thoughts of others, but what is fascinating is that Charlie Kirk, despite his obvious passion for politics, wanted to be remembered for one thing, his faith in Christ.
He had a lot to say about a lot of different things. This is what made him polarizing. He talked about Trump, abortion, immigration, transgenderism, homosexuality, race issues, among many other things, there are probably hundreds of videos you can find on each topic. I saw a few videos where he defended Michael Jordan as the greatest basketball player ever. The man had many interests.
He was a fascinating individual. He was an incredible debater. He was unbelievably smart. But what I hope we can see and learn from him is that he was unashamed of Christ. That’s what he wanted to be known for.
Of course, you can have different political takes than him, and you can feel like he went too far at times in some of what he said.
But what you cannot do is ignore the fact that Christ was often on his lips and that he was faithful to declare his love for Christ. This will help you realize that this man was first and foremost a follower of Christ. And that it was his love for Christ that drove him to the college campuses to converse with students and with people, who for the most part not only hate conservatism, but in Charlie Kirk’s mind at their core hated the Christ he loved. He believed that talking with people especially at a university where knowledge should be searched for and shared together, was the essence of what we were called to do here on earth. And he didn’t believe that those students were being exposed to truth, in most areas of life, but especially about Christ and the Bible. That’s what drove him to the campuses.
It is his love for sharing truth that ultimately killed him. And it is exactly this that we should learn from him and be inspired by.
And my fear is that you and I might be tempted to shrink back our sharing of the gospel because it could get us shot or put in prison.
That’s exactly what happened in Philippi almost 2000 years ago.
Paul is in prison for sharing Christ. He’s the greatest evangelist on the planet. Perhaps in the history of the church. And yet in God’s sovereignty he’s stuck in a jailcell. Is it a waste? Why would God put the greatest evangelist he has on the bench?
That might be what the Philippians were asking themselves. Their father in the faith, their missionary, their friend is in jail. Why would God put him there?
And so Paul in his God given wisdom writes to encourage them and writes some fascinating words that I think will encourage us as well.
He says,
Now I want you to know, brothers, that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel. (Phil 1:12)
That is just remarkable, isn’t it? He is saying that him being stuck in jail is actually spreading the gospel further. The humility it would take to say that is astounding to me.
He gives us two reasons.
The first is that he has a captive audience. He’s chained to a pretorian guard. Commentaries say that four guards a day would take six hour shifts to be chained to Paul. This meant that Paul had four people a day stuck beside him for six hours straight at a time.
What do you think they talked about?
Obviously the Gospel. Obviously, his conversion. And obviously these men would walk away blown away, not only from his innocence but that he was willing to suffer for Christ. These men would go home and share with their families about this unique prisoner who is in prison because he preaches that a crucified man that Pilate had crucified a few years prior, actually rose form the dead and let Himself be killed despite being the Eternal Creator of all things because it was the only way that sinners could be reconciled to God.
Paul didn’t have to walk around and share the Gospel because the guards were doing it for him! These guards had much influence in Rome since they protected Caesar himself. The end of Philippians tells us that some were even saved in Caesars household! (Phil. 4:22)
The second reason is even more shocking to me. Paul says these incredible words,
…and that most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord because of my chains, have far more courage to speak the word of God without fear. (Phil. 1:14)
Do you see why that is incredible? People in Rome come visit the apostle Paul, who is in chains and could get his head cut off by crazy Nero for preaching the Gospel, and walk away MORE likely to share the gospel and not less!
I cannot express to you how insane this verse is to me.
Getting your head potentially cut off should do the opposite, no? Shouldn’t it be a deterrent? And yet Paul tells us that these wise, Holy Spirit filled believers upon seeing their brother in Christ in prison, potentially facing execution, causes them to walk away more excited, more bold, more likely to share the very thing that put him in that situation! The only explanation is that faith and boldness in Christ is contagious.
I don’t know all that God is doing through the death of Charlie Kirk, but I do hope two things happen. I pray for two effects. And they are exactly what God did through the apostle Paul.
The first I’ve already seen. Charlie Kirk has so many videos where he talks about faith in Christ and Jesus being the only way. I know that those are being shared more than ever before. I will be sharing a couple in this post. I’m thankful for that and I pray that God would use them to build His church.
Second, I pray that believers would be emboldened to share the gospel. That we would be willing to take the gospel to the street and live for eternity rather than this life. May you in a way that only God can do, use Charlie Kirks death to give you a greater desire to live for eternity and be willing to suffer for Christ.
I’ll add one more thought at the risk of being misunderstood. There are many political figures online talking about the effect that Charlie Kirk’s death will have politically. That they created millions of Charlie Kirks by killing him. Perhaps millions will be emboldened to preach Republicanism, but I hope that you reading this post understand the fact, now more than ever, that the greatest problem that the world faces is not immigration, nor gun violence, nor race issues, the greatest issue is the problem that each human being hates God from birth and loves their sin. They will spend eternity apart from Him unless they repent and trust in Jesus Christ alone for their salvation. Preach that. Explain that. Spend your life, however much time you have left, boldly and lovingly explaining that to people.
P.s. I’ll include two very short videos here at the end that I think are worth watching. The first where he shares a mini version of his testimony of coming to Christ with a helpful challenge to pastors and evangelists and the second where he asks John MacArthur to share about Christ.