Understanding the Martyrdom of Charlie Kirk

by Keith Tucci, NRP Apostolic Team Leader

When tragedy strikes the life of a righteous and beloved man, reasonable people ask the rhetorical question of the ages—Why do the righteous suffer?

In an attempt to fill the human void of understanding, and in some cases to offer comfort, we often reason as mere men and not as the eternal creatures God has created us to be. Man’s humanistic philosophy discounts and fails to grasp the final destination and reward of godly men and women.

To understand this assassination, we must be completely clear on why he was assassinated. He was not guilty or accused of a crime. There was not a soul who charged him with injuring their body or property. There is no allegation of threat or impending danger against him.

His death was orchestrated in hell as an attempt to silence him and to stop the movement. What was his message? His message was not chiefly conservative or even political–it was Kingdom. 

Kirk advanced the notion that Christ’s Lordship should be obeyed and submitted to by all. This meant that those in policy, government, media, and education were being held accountable–and these are precisely the ones who resisted and misrepresented his message. His preaching was an articulate communication of a sound Christian worldview that clearly declared Christ as King!

The following four points represent a cornerstone of that worldview. They address how we should filter and view our environment, as well as how we should believe and behave in the world in obedience to Christ. Kirk used his own apologetic grid, but as I apply what he said and taught against my four simple cornerstones, it’s easy to discern them as being biblical.

(1) Man cannot save himself; he is born with sin. There is only one Savior, that is Jesus Christ. For communicating that, Charlie was accused of being anti-Muslim, anti-Jew, etc.

(2) God is the deliberate and specific Creator, i.e., divine design. For that, Charlie was accused of being narrow-minded, unscientific, and rigid.

(3) God is the only authoritative and just law maker. At the end of the day, our opinion is just that–our opinion. In and of our own selves, we cannot presume to speak for God or justify our actions apart from Him and His Word. For that, Charlie was accused of being judgmental and hateful. 

(4) The Bible is God’s revelation to man and is authoritative and inerrant. It is our rule of faith and practice, and God cannot be known apart from His Word. For that, Charlie was accused of being naïve, religious, and exclusive. 

Every position he took rested squarely on the scripture, which he unashamedly used as his authority. For those who tried to dismiss him as a Christ follower and merely holding an irrelevant religious position, he could then persuade with natural law. Natural law contains the principles of governance that are established by history in civil society and also reflect the character of God. Natural law is a set of laws derived by natural and universal moral principles. Charlie Kirk was an evangelist, primarily to our nation’s educational system that has expelled God from school. 

If we understand these things, then martyrdom is the only conclusion to be made. Not all deaths are the same in God’s eyes. Hebrews 9:27, Inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment is often misunderstood or used out of context when there is a premature death–a terrible accident, a ruthless disease, the death of a child, etc. This scripture does not teach that there is a specific day of death that is pre-determined by God for us. What it does teach is that none of us can escape death and the resulting judgement. There are promises in scripture about long life related to obedience. We also accept the stewardship of the safety and health of our bodies to prolong our lives. To suggest all people die in the will of God is not consistent with God’s Word or sound thinking. 

Is the death of a martyr different? Is it, in fact, not just tolerated by God, but perhaps orchestrated by heaven? Before you gasp, consider this: Who owns our life? Who paid for our life? Have we not pledged ourselves to glorify him with our life? There can be no historical debate as to whether martyrdom has glorified God and advanced his Kingdom.  

We struggle with this when we presume ownership of what is clearly His–our lives. Keith Green was a psalmist and prophet to the body of Christ, and, like Kirk, his voice  caused great ripples in the church and culture. Green, a converted Jew who called all to Christ and called the church to holiness and lordship, died in a plane crash. He died prematurely when they overloaded their private plane. His death was a tragedy. It was preventable. His loss was great.

Was Kirk’s death premature, or did his Lord honor the very mission He had entrusted to him? Did the all-knowing God confound the plans of darkness? As I watched his wife preach to the nation, it occurred to me she had probably just preached to more people at one time than any person in history!

Because Kirk built an organization and not just a ministry, the legacy and multiplication of that is growing exponentially before our very eyes. Could God have orchestrated this? Does God have the right to orchestrate it if it pleases Him? Did Judas betray Jesus to be crucified as part of God’s plan? Yet God, in His righteousness, still held him guilty of betrayal!

Was the martyrdom of John the Baptist a tragedy or an offering of life? It should be noted that John was martyred because he confronted the sexual sin of a political leader.  Kirk’s unwavering biblical stance on Bible morality and sexuality is what drew the greatest anger of those who resisted him. 

Acts 13:25, And while John was completing his course, he kept saying, “What do you suppose that I am? I am not He. But, behold, one is coming after me the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to untie” would lead us to believe John fulfilled his mission even though he died young.

When Stephen was stoned, did God look away or did he honor his life? It says Christ stood up in Acts 7:55-56, But being full of the Holy Spirit, he gazed intently into Heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God and he said, “Behold I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” This gives us a picture of the Lord’s pleasure. Notice in verse 54, Now when they heard this, they were cut to the quick, and began gnashing their teeth at him. 

What was Stephen preaching? Among other things, he preached against child sacrifices. Acts 7:42-43, But God turned away and delivered them up to serve the host of heaven; as it is written in the book of the prophets, “It was not to Me that you offered victims and sacrifices forty years in the wilderness, was it, O House of Israel? You also took along the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of the God Rompha, the images which you made to worship. I also will remove you beyond Babylon.”

When the scripture talks about us standing before God to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” do you think that is worth the offering of our lives? Is it to be considered that our lives being offered could include potential martyrdom? Charlie is in Heaven, and we are still on this earth. He is rejoicing, and we are in pain at our loss, not his. 

Let’s die with our boots on and honor, by our obedience, what our voices declare was taken from us.

Here are 3 action steps:

1. Turn anger into action, not bitterness; do not just speak.

2. Resolve to walk in greater obedience, giving your life as an offering. 

3. Prepare by being able to articulate the precious principles of scripture.