Last week, Charlie Kirk was shot and killed, murdered at a college campus in Utah. This affected me deeply, and I’ve been trying to understand why. I met Charlie Kirk once. He was kind and genuine, but it was very brief. Like a lot of people, I watched some of his viral videos on YouTube, but I didn’t follow him. I didn’t have a close connection to him. For some reason, though, I’ve been mourning for over a week now. Why?
From what I know and what others who knew him have said, he was deeply religious. Quite overtly, Charlie was a practicing Christian who was very serious about it. He didn’t just believe in God, he followed Jesus’ teaching with dedication and passion. He’s what you would call devout. From all accounts, he led hundreds if not thousands of people—particularly young people—to Christ. He was a modern disciple of Jesus. No, he wasn’t Mother Teresa or Billy Graham, but his faith clearly included lots of good works (see James 2:14-26), and he bore much good fruit (Matthew 7:18). Many Christians aspire to have a faith as strong as his.
Charlie was a good man. He had strong moral character. He seemed to be a wonderful husband and father. He honored his mother and father. Was a good friend to many. A great employer. Extremely successful in all he did. He was kind and loving and gracious. He was very patriotic. In a lot of ways, he was the ideal American.
He was one of the great debaters of our time; he was certainly the most well known, and possible the most skilled. Even South Park acknowledged it. He had a passion for having conversations with people, exchanging ideas, and challenging the logic and reason behind arguments—not just of his idealogical opponents, but also his allies, and even his own. He liked to debate to refine and evolve his own conclusions. He was seeking the truth, even if the truth contradicted his own prior assumptions. And he spoke boldly of Jesus while doing so.
Charlie Kirk was not an extremist. Hew was not a radical. He was not a racist. He was not homophobic. He was not hateful. He was not fascist. He was not a Nazi. He was none of those things, not even close. He was quite moderate, a bit of a centrist even. His views and beliefs are very normal and common—not just among “the Right” today, but among most Americans just 15 years ago regardless of political party. Charlie was abnormally good and righteous, but he was otherwise very normal, just a regular guy. Most of all, though: he was loving, even to those who treated him like garbage.
Sadly and pathetically, many members of the news media, the Democrat political party, college professors and “Left” identifying citizens have lied about Charlie Kirk, both before his death and after. They slandered him. They took his words out of context to make it seem like he said the exact opposite of what he meant. Not just some fringe people, but prominent journalists, politicians, school teachers and celebrities. These lies spread throughout “the Left” and directly led to his assassination. If he hadn’t been wrongfully slandered, he would be alive right now, full stop. Charlie’s blood is crying out for justice: not just from the murderer and those who may have been directly involved, but from those who so viciously lied about him, and those who spread the lies, until someone acted upon it. The lies continue to be told to this very day, and the people who perpetrate them are quite literally doing the work of the devil. Shameful.
While all of that is tremendously bad, even worse has been the reaction from many “on the Left” after Charlie’s murder. Many have celebrated it. Many have mocked it. Many have justified and minimized it—pathetically, even in some churches (these churches should read James 3:1 and Matthew 18:6-7). There are people who have turned this psycho murderer into a hero—sick and evil! There is no excuse for this behavior: it’s as awful as awful gets. Words cannot express just how bad that is. It’s become clear to me that this is good versus evil. Like the sick creatures in Narnia who celebrated Aslan’s death, many “on the Left” are doing the same thing; the outcome will also be the same.
To be clear, this isn’t a Left versus Right issue necessarily. It’s not Republican versus Democrat. It’s truth versus lie. It’s right versus wrong. It’s good versus evil. It’s freedom versus communism. It’s all of those things, which don’t neatly overlap the two major political parties, but there is quite a bit of overlap that must be acknowledged, and not dismissed. More and more—especially over the last decade—the overlap has become obvious, and it’s becoming impossible to ride the fence. Choose your side (Joshua 24:15).
“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood,” Paul says in Ephesians 6:12, “but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”
If you notice, no cities are being burned down right now. People aren’t going around violently marching and vandalizing, or murdering people. We’re not violent and we don’t condone violence, and we avoid it whenever possible. It’s a stark contrast to 2020 and 2021. There’s a lot of savage speech and barbaric actions lately, and—by far—they’re coming mostly from one group: “the far Left”. That group is very large. Those who support that behavior—perhaps they wouldn’t participate in it, but they agree with it and cheer it—are a significant group of Americans. The majority of Democrats, according to a recent poll, think that political assassinations are justified. Over 10% of Democrats believe it is ok to openly celebrate when someone is assassinated that they disagree with. Those people are your neighbors, folks at the grocery store, school teachers, nurses, pilots, etc., etc., etc.. We no longer have a civil society when those around you desire to murder you for your words and beliefs, and would celebrate if it happened. You cannot have civility with the uncivilized.
Jesus is the only answer. We, as a country, must pray. We must read the Bible. We must turn to God. 2 Chronicles 7:14 tells us exactly what we must do. Although prayer is increasingly being mocked today, it is an immense tool, a miracle and blessing from heaven. This is a battle, and in this battle we must put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18). As Christians, it’s our calling to do that each and every day.
As Americans, it is our duty to stand up and fight. Not with guns. Not with knives. We fight by making it clear with our words that the radical behavior we see on full display right now is completely unacceptable and it won’t be tolerated. We’re done with the lies. We’re done with the hate. We’re done playing the stupid games. We have had enough. You have awoken a sleeping giant. We will fight with words and love.
The reason why I named this blog Sheep From Goats is because I believe we are seeing a fulfillment of Matthew 25:31-46. I don’t know if the Son of Man is immanently returning in His glory or not, but the growing divide in this country (and maybe the world) is a separation: sheep on one side, goats on the other. Matthew 3:12 and Luke 3:17 also talk similarly of wheat being separated from chaff. We see this separation happening politically, socially, and even in the church. Be careful which side you are on, and be ready for Christ’s return.
I don’t have the comments section enabled on this website because this is not a debate. We tried to debate, and Charlie was killed. Debating has been put on pause. Now is the time for action. It’s time for men in this country to rise up to protect their children and grandchildren from this cloud of evil that has cast a long and dark shadow across the land. This is my way of speaking out. For too long I have remained silent. Yes, voting. But otherwise on the sidelines. I now see that I was wrong for not being a more active participant. For my God, for my family, for my community, and for my country, I will not sit silently while everything I believe is destroyed. It’s time to stand up, and the first step is on my knees in prayer.
The marketplace of ideas is closed because it’s not safe. This attack has been underway for some time now, beginning with cancel culture, continuing with so-called fact checkers (who were oftentimes dishonest and partisan), and now violence. Order must be restored to this marketplace before we can resume debate. To restore order, there must be accountability, and hopefully repentance. There is an extreme and evil ideology that has taken hold in a significant portion of “the Left” that is destroying the country like cancer destroys the body. This ideology is routed in ungodliness (or more specifically, that the self is god) and marxism. Hate, deception, and brutality are the symptoms. So-called antifascism (which, ironically, is pro-fascism) is a major aspect of this cancer. The cancer must be dealt with before we can have open debate, or even unity within the church.
Amos 3:3 asks, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” It used to be said that Republicans and Democrats wanted the same thing, but just disagreed on how to get there. That may have been true at one time, but it’s just not true anymore. We’re on paths that go in opposite directions and lead to opposite destinations. We can’t walk together if we don’t agree on where we’re going.
America was founded on the principals of faith and freedom; however, not just any faith, and not the libertarian and hippy idea of “anything goes” freedom. We need to invite God back into our nation; He needs to be allowed back in schools and the public square. On the foundational principal that Jesus is the Messiah is where we need to begin the rebuilding of our free speech marketplace.
People who said despicable things in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk assassination and then (rightfully) got fired from their jobs over their words, are now complaining that free speech should have covered their horrible sentiments. First, after cancel culture, so-called fact checkers and violent attacks, you have no point to make. None. You lost credibility. We’re done listening to this nonsense. Your words are meaningless. Second, having the right to free speech does not preclude anyone from the right to consequences from their speech. Third, your employer also has the right to free speech, and they exercised it when the said, “You’re fired.” Fourth, losing your job over free speech is so minor compared to losing your life—if you celebrated the death, you cannot cry over the loss of work, full stop.
Lastly, I want to conclude this introductory article with this: Jesus is Truth (John 14:6). He didn’t just speak the truth, He spoke Truth—each and every word out of His mouth. As followers of Christ, it’s imperative that we speak both the truth and also speak of Truth. Jesus is God, and God is love; therefor, Truth is love. Telling the truth is not hate, it is an act of charity; conversely, dishonesty is cruelty. So we must speak truth. We must also do good deeds. This is how we shine a light in the darkness (Matthew 5:16). Right now, the battle is between Truth and lie, and deception is loud and rampant. The goal of this Sheep From Goats blog is to speak truth in order to push back against the darkness that is overtaking America. We must pick up where Charlie Kirk left off. It’s all hands on deck.
Sheep From Goats 