Charlie Kirk was an individual who took the opportunities that God set before him with passion and courage. The impact that he made in 31 years on this earth was incredible. After tragedy struck, many Christians have rightfully reflected on their own impact on society and the people around them, asking if they are truly being bold ambassadors and laborers for Christ.
As Christians living in the nearness of Christ’s return, I can think of no call to action more timely. It is the Holy Spirit operating within us that restrains the increasingly wicked world around us and plants the seeds of the Gospel. By God’s hand, Charlie was led by the Spirit to be an effective restrainerโusing the truth of the Bible to reach out directly to the most hardened and ideologically deceived in our culture.
Until we die or are called up to heaven in the Rapture of the Church, each member of the body of Christ has been given a similar mission.
Jesus said,ย “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few” (Matthew 9:37). In the following verse, Jesus urges us:ย “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.”ย Charlie Kirk’s death, while horrifying and deeply heartbreaking, is being used by God to answer this prayerโcalling people to the fields and generating even more determination in those already laboring.
Franklin Graham, the son of the late Billy Graham and President of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, recently made a comment that I found startling. In a post on social media, he explained that Charlie Kirk’s example has made him want to be “more bold.” What a statement to come from a man who has dedicated his life to sharing the Gospel and is one of the boldest voices for Jesus of our time!
Howeverโunlike Graham, Kirk, and othersโthere are certainly many in the church who have been asleep, lacking boldness, courage, and urgency in this hour. Yet, in God’s infinite wisdom and foresight, He has used something as evil as the murder of Charlie Kirk and turned it to the good by stirring the last days’ church to wake up and toughen up.
Franklin Graham’s daughter, Cissie Graham Lynch, shared a powerful quote from her grandfather that aptly describes why the martyrdom of Charlie Kirk, and his courage to speak the truth while on this earth, has had an emboldening effect on many in the Church:
“Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.”
