Sometimes things happen that are laden with implications that make them far too significant to be ignored. We witnessed another one of those this week. On Wednesday afternoon, my wife and I were on our way home from an appointment when we were stunned by a notification on my phone from one of our news sources. It simply announced that Charlie Kirk, a major young voice for God and the values Jesus taught, had just been shot. Not knowing the outcome at that point, we immediately joined the millions who were pleading with God for Charlie’s life. Then as the tragic story unfolded, we shared the emotional waves that came with it, the shocked astonishment that such a thing was happening in our country again, the awful grief for his family, and a profound sense of outrage that we have allowed the many layers of evil underlying this act of political terrorism to fester unchecked for decades.
In light of that, I felt strongly compelled to table the post I had initially planned for today and instead, just share a few thoughts the Spirit of God seems to have planted in my mind and heart since that terrible event took place.
Another Connection ~
Diane and I didn’t know Charlie Kirk personally, of course, but we were certainly aware of his work, the powerful influence for God he was, and the ability he had to unashamedly
encourage, proclaim, and live out the Biblical values he wielded among young people throughout our country. But there was another connection that affected our hearts as well. That connection had to do with an agency called The Family Foundation back in our home state of Virginia. I used to work for them, and we continue to collaborate with and support them in other ways.
Like Charlie did for most of his short life, The Family Foundation also works tirelessly to promote and defend Biblical principles and family values in the political realm. For the past few months, Diane and I have been meeting with a select group leading a collaborative prayer effort focused on Virginia’s critical upcoming election in November and especially on the Foundation’s annual outreach event coming up on October 4th – just a few weeks away. The event culminates a year’s worth of planning designed to showcase the agency’s legislative efforts and influence and give people from every corner of the state an opportunity to hear and see what God is doing in Virginia’s legislative realm. The primary speaker for this very important gathering was … Charlie Kirk, President of Turning Point USA. Because of that – and knowing something of the very influential conservative influence he’s had, especially on college age students at universities across the country – even though we hadn’t yet met him, Charlie’s assassination wasn’t just another news story for Diane and me.
An Unanticipated Application ~
In any case, as this horrible event unfolded, a passage penned by the Apostle Paul in his 
first letter to the church in Corinth kept coming to mind. Paul wasn’t addressing anything like a political assassination, of course, and on the surface, it doesn’t seem directly connected. But in the context of Charlie’s overall demeanor and the way he approached what God had given him to do, I think Paul’s words do apply. They’re found in the midst of his powerful dissertation on spiritual gifts, and particularly the gift of speaking in other languages, Paul offered this observation.
Even things without life, whether flute or harp, when they make a sound, unless they make a distinction in the sounds, how will it be known what is piped or played? For if the trumpet makes an uncertain sound, who will prepare for battle? So likewise you, unless you utter by the tongue words easy to understand, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air. There are, it may be, so many kinds of languages in the world, and none of them is without significance. Therefore, if I do not know the meaning of the language, I shall be a foreigner to him who speaks, and he who speaks will be a foreigner to me. (1 Corinthians 14:7–11 NKJV)
A Principle Gets Highlighted ~
My purpose here is not to delve into the practice of speaking in tongues. Instead, I want to point out and apply a principle that Paul highlighted with two illustrations. That is, if people don’t understand what we’re saying, then our message goes nowhere and we accomplish nothing. He reinforces that obvious truth with points like this:
-
- Even if an orchestra is equipped with the finest instruments, if none of them are in tune, there are no musical notes to follow, and no director to guide them, then it would produce nothing but oppressive, meaningless noise.
- For thousands of years, trumpets were used to direct military troops, and other large groups with certain specific blasts that had pre-arranged meanings. But if they just blared out random, raucous, meaningless sounds, no one would know what to do and the effort would be worthless.
- If someone has a message to deliver but speaks in a language the audience can’t understand, the speaker might just as well have been alone in a desert and shouting into the atmosphere.
- When we don’t understand each other’s words, there’s no connection, and we become strangers to one another. And in the culture Paul lived in, strangers were seen as people who didn’t belong. Strangers were considered to be potentially dangerous, and possibly one of Israel’s many enemies.
So . . . What does any of that have to do with Charlie Kirk and/or his assassination? Maybe it has more to do with it than we might think. In light of Paul’s illustration about trumpets,
consider this. Charlie’s trumpet never blared out an uncertain sound. Nothing he did or said smacked of uncertainty. Neither the words he spoke, the beliefs he espoused, the challenges he delivered, nor the policies he promoted, ever smacked of confusing, ambiguous ecclesiastical waffling.
Drawn by Something Different ~
The scores of thousands of people who heard Charlie’s spiritual and political messages didn’t respond because he was smarter than everyone else. They were drawn by the confident certainty that characterized him. Charlie was, first of all, certain about Whose he was and what he believed. Because of that, he exuded certainty about why he was here, where he was heading, and what would happen to this country if things didn’t change. Like Paul’s comment suggested, when the trumpet’s notes are clear, so is the response it calls for.
And regarding Paul’s illustration involving language, Charlie didn’t wade into oppositional 
territory sounding like some weird, unintelligible stranger. He knew his opponents’ world and spoke to them in terms they recognized about things their world couldn’t offer. He represented things that were better and more fulfilling, things that were intrinsically good and eternally secure. Charlie told them about a love their world didn’t have and a life that wasn’t filled with loneliness, disappointment, depression, anxiety, and fear.
Serving Jesus, Not Institutions ~
But Charlie Kirk wasn’t killed just because he professed to be a Christian or because he claimed to believe the Bible. He was killed because he was serious about both and that made him a threat. American Christianity has largely become a scattered collection of discordant, hyper-divided, confusing array of self-centered groups intent on promoting, financing, and protecting their own interests. Charlie was not representative of that. He was a church member, but he didn’t serve a congregation, or a denomination, or some theological institution, or some iconic preacher’s organization. He loved, served, and boldly represented the One who died for Him. Like every other follower of Jesus, Charlie was sent to carry His message into a violent, hateful, deceptive world intent on obliterating His name, and he did that until the end.
Only God knows why Charlie Kirk was taken, but Jesus may have given us a clue when He said:
Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone, but if it dies, it produces much grain (John 12:24)
My personal conclusion is this . . . Every one of us who claims to follow the One Charlie served represents part of the ‘multiplying process’ Jesus had in mind. Our role may not be to hold campus debates like Charlie’s did, but wherever God leads, we’re to be courageous enough to replicate his example. And we must remember that the impact Charlie had was not created within the confines of some safe, sanctified church building. He took his trumpet where its call was not being heard, and with his life, his words, and his dying breath, Charlie made the call and the implications clear – in no uncertain terms. And now, fellow believers . . it’s our turn.
“TWEETABLES” ~ Click to tweet and share from the quotes below. Each one links directly back to this article through Twitter . . .
-
-
- Nothing Charlie Kirk did or said ever smacked of uncertainty. Neither the words he spoke, the beliefs he espoused, the challenges he delivered, nor the policies he promoted, ever smacked of confusing, ambiguous ecclesiastical waffling. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)
- Charlie was, first of all, certain about Whose he was and what he believed. Because of that, he exuded certainty about why he was here, where he was heading, and what would happen to this country if things didn’t change. Like Paul’s comment suggested, when the trumpet’s notes are clear, so is the response it calls for. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)
- Charlie represented things that were better, more fulfilling, intrinsically good, eternally secure. He told them about a love their world didn’t have and a life that wasn’t filled with loneliness, disappointment, depression, anxiety and fear. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)
- Charlie loved, served and boldly represented the One who died for Him. Like every other follower of Jesus, Charlie was sent to carry His message into a violent, hateful, deceptive world intent on obliterating His name, and he did that until the end. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)
- Charlie took his trumpet where its call wasn’t being heard. and with his life, his words, and his dying breath, Charlie made the call and the implications clear – in no uncertain terms. And now, fellow believers . . it’s our turn. @GallaghersPen (Click here to Tweet)
-
To follow this blog for more “Right Side Up Thinking ~ In an Upside Down World” …
Sign up just below the Search box in the upper right sidebar for regular email notifications of new posts.
And to “Share Your Thoughts,” continue to scroll down …
Check out Ron’s book, “Right Side Up Thinking in an Upside Down World ~ Looking at the World through the Lens of Biblical Truth” 
Gallagher's Pen ~ 