Responding to Charlie Kirk's Assassination

What Christians should do in the wake of tragedy.

As you no doubt know by now, 31 year-old conservative political activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated at a college event in Utah just hours ago. As of this writing, little is known about what transpired beyond this. But you already know that, because you’ve seen it posted on your timelines or because a friend sent you the news story. Not since Martin Luther King Jr. has an American this high-profile been assassinated. It is truly horrible in every sense of the word.

I initially began writing this Substack in the hope of helping Christians think about what it meant to follow Jesus in the public square. I’ve no clue whether or not I’ve accomplished this, but this moment surely qualifies as yet another high-profile cultural event that will illicit a massive response from people of all political persuasions. We need a game plan for how to respond in situations like this.

With that said, if you consider yourself to be part of the people of God, here are a few things I’d ask you to consider (plus a few things to avoid) in the aftermath of a national tragedy:

1. Pray for the family of Charlie Kirk.

Kirk leaves behind a wife, a three-year-old daughter and a one-year-old son. Those children will have to navigate a world without their father, and their mother without her husband. This one isn’t hard, folks. His entire family is living a nightmare and needs Jesus today more than we could possibly imagine. Don’t just think it. Grab your family, hold their hands, and cry out to God for them.

2. Don’t check out.

Maybe you’re reading this and thinking “I mean, politics isn’t my thing.” Please hear me: how much you do or don’t care about politics is just not germane to what’s happening right now and what’s about to unfold in our world. This is a really big deal for a lot of reasons. I get that it’s easier to dissociate and go watch some reels, but this isn’t the time to shrug your shoulders.

3. Pray for the shooter.

We forget this one a lot. Whoever did this was so filled with hate and rage that they brought irrevocable destruction upon this family. What they did was unspeakable and horrific. And yet, we serve a God who does not withhold mercy from those who repent. Even now, incredibly, God’s hand is opened to this person, ready to bestow a gift of unmerited favor that is salvation in Christ Jesus. Without Him, none of us could claim to be any better before the judgment seat of a holy God. You and I were lost once, too. Don’t miss this opportunity to intercede for the soul of this person.

4. Don’t feed the outrage machine.

This is the kind of cultural event where so, so many people are going to run to social media and react in two primary ways: either to vent their anger, and/or as confirmation bias to prove they’re right about something. My suggestion here is to limit the diet of social media you consume and produce surrounding this. Social media is an outrage machine that will push you to greater extremes the longer you feed it. It’s already happening on X as we speak, particularly for Christians on the right. Don’t fall for this. Pray instead.

5. Pay attention to how people react.

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness to light and light to darkness, who replace bitter with sweet and sweet with bitter” (Isaiah 5:20). Regardless of your political persuasions, a defenseless man was shot to death. Anyone you see openly celebrating this has something very broken inside them, plain and simple. When people tell you who they are, believe them.

6. Don’t ignore the pattern.

We don’t yet know the identity of the shooter, but it’s difficult to imagine the person who shot him carried a deep love for the things he publicly championed. The parallels between this and the events that transpired in Butler, Pennsylvania just over a year ago are similarly hard to ignore. This keeps happening, and it all seems very one-sided. I’ll just say this: how people who have historically challenged Charlie Kirk and the things he championed react in the coming weeks will speak volumes.

7. Pray for the country.

This might seem rote and obvious, but let me challenge you: when’s the last time you actually did this? I mean, when’s the last time you put your phone down for ten minutes and cried out to God for his mercy on behalf of our nation? Heck, there was another school shooting today that sadly will be relegated to a footnote in news broadcasts. That this keeps happening is surely symptomatic of deeper issues, but it must be said that it’s not a waste of time for us to lift up our country before God and cry out for mercy.

8. Pray for justice.

As of this writing, the shooter is reportedly still at large. While God surely desires that all men would come to salvation, he is also a God of justice. “For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him" (Psalm 33:5). We can and should pray that God would bring justice to victory in this situation. That starts with the shooter being brought into custody without any further casualties.

9. Buckle up, it’s about to get bumpy.

Not to sound alarmist, but my first reaction to seeing this news was how events like this have precipitated actual wars in the past. I’m not saying that’s going to happen (although it sounds like

Konstantin Kisin

is thinking along similar lines), but it would not surprise me in the slightest if the reaction to this is somehow even worse than the event itself. I sincerely hope I’m wrong. But again, a man is dead. Where it goes from here, I have no earthly idea. Christians need to “keep [our] heads in all things” (2 Timothy 4:5) and be ready for whatever comes next.

10. Seek the Lord and give thanks.

Among other things, moments like this are a sobering reminder of how fragile life can be. None of us are promised tomorrow, and this should be a reminder to all of us that every breath is a gift from God. Take time tonight to thank Him for everything He has so graciously given you. Look for opportunities to share your gratitude with others. It may be the instrument He uses to draw them closer to Himself, and to form you more deeply into the image of Christ.

Have mercy on us, O Lord, today and in the days to come.