Over the past week, I’ve seen and listened to various responses to the murder of Charlie Kirk. What happened was and is horrific, and there is a lot about the way Americans are responding that is concerning.
I didn’t follow his work, but most of what I’d heard about Mr. Kirk cast him as a good person, a man of faith, and primarily as someone who promoted and engaged in civil political discussions & debate. Usually when I would hear something from Charlie Kirk, it was a particularly (or seemingly) divisive or bombastic sound bite, which is never a good basis upon which to measure someone’s character or opinions. The impression I get looking at his positions now in hindsight, he seems to have been a rather mainstream Republican, of the “religious Right” stripe.
Many times over the past few days, I’ve heard commentators, usually on the religious Right, describe Charlie Kirk as a “martyr,” and I have to wonder: a martyr to what?
This is where I think that many American Christians need to step back and take stock: In too many ways, politics has become the majority religion in the United States, even among Christians.
When American evangelical Christianity was co-opted into “the Religious Right” (and perhaps before, though for practical purposes this is an effective starting point), well-meaning American Christians have increasingly wrapped up their political beliefs with their religious beliefs, and vice-versa.
Over time, this has led to what is commonly called the “culture war,” the ongoing Christian vs. Secular battle over how government laws and policies reinforce or discourage our society’s increasingly different social norms. This is compounded by the fact that so many parts of our society that used to be ministries of the Church, such as health care, education, and charity, are now regulated by, or just taken over by the government. Under this religion of politics, differing political opinions aren’t just opinions, they’re blasphemy. This is why we feel more divided than ever before.
But while some of the specific issues are new, this is an age-old struggle that Christians should have some familiarity with, provided they’ve studied the Old Testament.
Ancient Israel, wanting to be like the nations surrounding them (which was exactly counter to what God intended for them), decided that they wanted a king. While the kingdom brought them material prosperity for a time, it also led to their eventual downfall – the kingdom split, and the sin that had previously been a matter of individual people soon became government policy, first infecting one kingdom, then the other.
Both kingdoms eventually became so inundated with their sins that God sent heathen kings to destroy their kingdoms and scatter the people.
The problem that we, as Christians, face by enmeshing our religious and political beliefs is in putting political victories ahead of spiritual victories. We make the government into our idol, while convincing ourselves that we’re doing the Lord’s work. As every election feels more important than the last, the more American Christians seem to be looking for political saviors, drawing focus away from our True Savior.
Which would God value more: a public policy win that brings the laws of the U.S. more into line with his laws, or winning the hearts of the lost to Him?
One thing that Charlie Kirk did well was engaging with people on a personal level, but his organization, Turning Points USA, is primarily political. Even the ‘faith’ element of the organization is about getting churches to engage in politics. So what was he martyred for?
I will use myself as an example: in my youth, I voted for George W. Bush for president because I believed he would be a more moral leader than President Clinton – a more Christ-like figurehead for our nation. And yet, under his leadership, his administration lied to start a war in Iraq, leading to the deaths of somewhere around a million people, and set up an off-shore torture prison, where they held and tortured multiple innocent people. He may not have been engaging in extramarital affairs, but that didn’t make him an example of Christ-like leadership.
Was it his faith, or his political positions? Was he martyred for God, or for his political affiliation?
My fear is that the Republican elephant is becoming our modern iteration of the golden calf.
Politics breeds divisiveness, and the world is increasingly obsessed with politics. Modern Christians have the same calling as the ancient Israelites: to be different, set apart.
“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2)
“Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.” (Colossians 3:1-2)
The murder of Charlie Kirk was a tragedy, and I pray for his family, especially his daughters who will now have to grow up without their father. I pray also for the church, that we would keep God as our priority, and not let political battles mar our witness to a world that needs Christ now more than ever.