Let me be very clear at the outset here, that I speak for absolutely no one but myself in what follows.
1 – Rejoice: Whether you were a Charlie Kirk fan or not, it is right for us to rejoice that in his murder and memorial, many numbers were exposed to the Gospel and to contemplate its implications who had probably not done so before. This is a good thing, and we ought not minimize it in any way. God has used this opportunity in profoundly impactful ways.
Did many who spoke at his memorial articulate the Gospel well? No. Yet a number did. I am reminded of Paul’s comments to the Philippians when he wrote: “It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. The former, however, preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can add to the distress of my chains. What then is the issue? Just this: that in every way, whether by false motives or true, Christ is preached. And in this I rejoice. (Phil. 1:15–18, BSB)
Irrespective of the motives or defective presentations of the Gospel that were proffered – the Gospel did get preached.
No, that is not to be used as an excuse or an endorsement of poor articulation. It is to recognize God’s sovereign hand in using wondrously diverse means to make the Gospel known. We do really well to rejoice in that and what God might still do with it.
2 – Be Hopeful: It is right to be hopeful that the seeds of the Gospel however imperfectly sown can yet bring a great harvest of souls into the Kingdom.
A while back, a dear friend of mine and powerful co-laborer in the Gospel told me how in fact he was soundly converted to Christ through the preaching of one he knows now was a true heretic. How good is our God! Let us be truly hopeful that this occasion will yet yield tremendous results for the Kingdom.
In hearing accounts of how some were shaken and stirred by the murder and its aftermath I cannot but be hopeful. God works in all times, places and circumstances. Let us hope in Christ that there will be lasting results and not a mere temporary or quasi-revival like movement which will fade as quickly as it arose. Hope in how our God sovereignly moves.
3 – Be Prayerful: Pray that God magnifies the name of Jesus Christ in it all. Pray that those moved will find solid, Christ-centered churches to be planted in. Pray that the enemy’s attempts to distort the Gospel and turn this into a merely social, political or cultural movement be thwarted. Pray that Christ remain the focus, not men, not philosophies, not movements.
4 – Be Temperate: Just as spiritual growth in individuals is almost never the result of individual ecstatic experiences, neither is growth in Christ’s kingdom overall.
Just as there was only one death of Jesus Christ on the Cross, so there was only one Pentecost. We find our part in each, but they are not repeated.
There are certainly great pivotal moments in redemptive history – spiritual punctuations (if you will) like the Reformation. Notable course corrections. And Church history records many in different times and places. But such are anchored in the Church, not in the culture as the culture considered in itself. Certainly it will have cultural ramifications as more and more people are born into the Kingdom and live like it.
But a culture is not an entity. It is a composite. It is comprised of the prevailing nature of those who inhabit it.
Jumping on bandwagons only means we get carried away.
Following Christ is an entirely different thing. As individual Christians apply themselves more and more to growing in the image of Christ through the Word and the Spirit – that will influence our world more than anything any “movement” can ever do.
5 – Avoid Pronouncements: May there be something of true revival occurring right now in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s murder? For sure. But when you survey the great revivals in history, they typically are not marked by blending them with political movements. Though there is no question some sought to capitalize on them for those purposes. Such revivals may have had great impacts on politics and social reforms – but those impacts were the result of conversions, not hybrids in their nature. I will admit that this is a concern which looms largely in my mind. The aftermath of the revivalism of Charles Finney proves my point. Sweeping moral reforms followed his methods and preaching. But as one who lives in the “burned over district” I can tell you that in time, such breeds a Gospel resistance and hardness that is worse than what came before.
The entire Northeast, which was the hub of the Great Awakening is now the most Gospel resistant region in the United States today.
Is this a revival? Maybe yes, maybe no.
Is this a true “turning point” in America? Maybe yes. Maybe no.
Christ did not die either to create or preserve Americanism. He died to save the lost souls of men, and reconcile them to the Father through his cross.
If we want a more Christianly culture, we need more people truly born again by the Gospel. Anything else will prove to be a curse in time.
Avoid the “this is it” kind of thinking and talking. We do not yet know what this is or what the outcome will be. Don’t pronounce it to be anything, until we see where it goes.
Encourage what is Christ-centered and Christ honoring, reject what isn’t.
6 – Be Discerning: Conversion to conservatism is not the same as conversion to Christ.
When social and cultural reforms emerge from more people authentically serving Christ – amen and amen! But those need to be seen as by-products, not the goals. Reconciliation to God through the person and work of Jesus Christ is the end game. We dare not lose sight of this. But even in great revivals, such social and cultural reforms in every case (as near as I can discern) prove to be temporary. That is all they can be. Only reconciliation through the Cross is permanent.
If a worldview which is more closely parallel to true Christian values emerges in the general populace, glory to God! That is a good thing. It blesses many. As afar as it goes. But if a true apprehension of Christ is not at the foundation, it will grow corrupt rapidly and become a false Gospel unto itself.
Over the years I’ve interacted with a number of people who have become sober through programs like AA. Is it good that they are sober? Of course! At the same time, in deeper conversation with some of these, they confuse sobriety with salvation itself. And this is a deception even worse than before.
Jesus notes: “When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it passes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ 25On its return, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. 26Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and dwell there. And the final plight of that man is worse than the first.” (Luke 11:24–26, BSB)
If we accept the reading of the Gospels that posits 2 cleansings of the Temple in this light, we find a most important principle: Mere outward reforms, even done in perfect righteousness, if not accompanied by the indwelling of a new Spirit, will leave the end condition of the one initially “swept” bound even worse.
A merely better moralized America will in the end, become a deception of the worst kind of bondage.
7 – Be Biblical: Just because something can be built on a Biblical passage, does not mean that is what the Bible actually teaches and emphasizes.
Prime example: Baptism for the dead in Mormonism, or foot washing as a sacrament.
No doubt some of the people in Elijah’s day thought the showdown on Carmel was “it!” Now its is happening (whatever “it” is.) Now there will be a huge turn around in the nation. But it wasn’t so.
When even Elijah saw that was not so, his heart fainted. He was no better than his father’s he said. But of course, God never asked him to be. So he is shown in his cave experience, the answer to the crying spiritual need of God’s people was not in mighty, miraculous demonstrations on the mountain. Not in the destruction of the false prophets. Not in earth shattering movements (earthquakes), not in sweeping winds of change (the whirlwind), not in the fire of great fervor, but still and only in the Word of God speaking to the hearts of man – preserved by his sovereign providence. Israel didn’t change for all of that.
The bottom line in it all must be – Jesus Christ. His plans. His purposes. His Kingdom propagated and built upon the preaching of his Gospel. And his kingdom is not of this world. If it were – as he himself said to Pilate: ““My kingdom is not of this world; if it were, My servants would fight to prevent My arrest by the Jews. But now My kingdom is not of this realm.” (John 18:36, BSB) That hasn’t changed.
ResponsiveReiding 