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“The Heavenly Work of Charlie Kirk”
(Finishing Well at its Best) For many of us Finishing Well folks in the 55+ crowd, this past week has been heart-breaking with the news of the death of Charlie Kirk, who was an incredible proponent of godly values to our younger generation. By now we’ve been well exposed, hearing commentary on this horrific act of violence. We all feel grief for his widowed bride, Erica and their young children. The prayers of believers in our nation have certainly surrounded her and her family. Most of us, in our stage of life recall the shock of the news of the 3 assassinations, so long ago in our childhood… JFK, Martin Luther King, Jr., and RFK. I don’t recall understanding much in ’63 in 4th grade with JFK, but I sure felt it a lot more in ’68 with MLK & RFK in the midst of the Vietnam “conflict”. You can sense much more of the tension and reality of social/political/racial hatred at 14 than you can at 10 years of age. But when I heard the news of Charlie’s death, realizing he was only 31, and in light of the 70 years I’ve been so blessed with, it was devastating. Not only because of the obvious evil intent of this horrific act, but if you were aware of his powerful stand for the Lord and his great way of articulating truth on a college campus (or anywhere), you know that the Kingdom of God lost a powerful earthly voice last week. Everyone will have a “take” on what just occurred. And most people will have “opinions about other people’s opinions”, which is pretty easy for us to simply comment affirming or criticizing others. But what do YOU feel in your heart with this event as a person trying to “finish well”? We’re not kids hearing of violence now, we’re parents and grandparents having seen a lot of life, struggle and what I believe this is all about…..SPIRITUAL BATTLE. Charlie wasn’t coming at people with “political rhetoric” that never said anything. He came with conviction that we are lost without the cross of Jesus Christ. But he came listening and inviting reasoning & debate, all the while remaining vulnerable and never having to be “bleeped”, which is a miracle in itself in our hostile verbal culture today! 1 Peter 2:12 says, “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good works and glorify God on the day He visits us.” (NIV) Charlie certainly lived that verse out while being accused of being narrow-minded, homophobic, & unqualified without credentials since he had only attended college 1 year and never graduated. But his dedication to learning, both intellectually and spiritually was beyond amazing! In the book, “Contagious Christianity”, author Mark Mittelberg suggests there is a formula for faith in Christ to penetrate culture and carry on in our lifetime and the next generation. He refers to it as HP + CP = MI, which is High Potency + Close Proximity = Maximum Impact. Charlie could have been content to just have a successful podcast & write a few books, but he was COMPELLED to be out and among the people who needed truth the most. He apparently was driven by the words of Jesus in Luke 5:31, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance”. (NIV) That’s where the ministry is…..and that’s where sometimes the danger is. But the danger is far more than just political disagreement. It is the spiritual battle we’re all in. Charlie was just on the “visible/volatile front line”. At times he was like John the Baptist, “preparing the way of the Lord” in the minds of those he engaged discussion with. At other times I would liken him to Apollos who was described as one who is described in Acts 18 as an Egyptian Jew who was “eloquent & mighty in the Scriptures as well as FERVENT in spirit and taught boldly in the synagogue.” And yet Charlie got in the middle of the thinking minds of those in Athens as Paul did in Acts 17, with his formidable speech at the Areopagus with the “Idol to the Unknown god” they were famous for. Paul enlightened them took a moment to identify his crowd but got to the point quickly saying in verses 30-31, “In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now He commands all people everywhere to repent. For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising Him from the dead.” (NIV) Now that message “thinned out the crowd” for Paul. Only a FEW became believers that day in Athens, while earlier in the chapter, SOME did in Thessalonica and MANY did in Berea. Every crowd is different. Every audience is unique unto themselves. And like Paul, the persecuted apostle who was always having to defend his calling & integrity, so did Charlie. He was “anointed and appointed”. God raises up certain followers of His whose hearts fully belong to Him and are courageous enough to take the message of Jesus, the only hope for forgiveness and heaven, to the gates of hell to engage with those unknowingly standing nearby. I heard one commentator mention that conservatives had given up on the college campuses. And why wouldn’t they? They had to fight unsympathetic administration, secular faculty, and student resistance. But Charlie Kirk was called to love that group and bring 100% truth balanced with 100% grace. He tackled not only basic Biblical issues of gender, marriage between a man and a woman, and human life beginning at conception, but everything else they wanted to throw at him. His organization, “TURNING POINT USA” hoped it would be just that in many people’s lives and in the nation. He was committed to the “passionate reclaim” that Paul mentions we are to be about in 2 Corinthians 10:5 “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.” This morning, my wife, Sue Linn and I read from Matthew 12 in the BIBLE RECAP and part of the reading included the passage of Jesus defending His “casting out demons” as something good and holy. He says the words that Abraham Lincoln quoted, that “A Kingdom divided against itself cannot stand”. Jesus was making a point that the Devil wouldn’t cast out devils! He went on in verse 29 to illustrate His point by asking, “How can anyone enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house.” (NIV) What Jesus was referring to was He was “tying up the devil “and taking His children back from demonic depression, disillusion and deception. And through the power of the Word of God and the Holy Spirit, he untied as much defective theology and non-Christian world views as he possibly could with the short life that he had. Sometimes preaching and engaging like that tries to bring only “light”. Sometimes all that’s brought is the “heat”. Charlie brought both. He brought the heat….endured the hurt….and in the end, took the hit”. Now my invitation to you, my friends of the Finishing Well ministry is very simple. Where we are in our lives, with many of us in retirement, being busier than we ever imagined we’d be, how should we resolve to live and steward the remaining days that we have on this earth for the Kingdom of heaven? We’re not all called to college campuses, but we are to pray to the Lord of the Harvest that He would “send forth workers” because the fields are ready. Not only there but in many circles of relationships in our lives, there are people who need to know the “SERIOUSNESS” of eternity and how dependent our final destination is upon a BOLD FAITH in the Lord Jesus Christ! So how can people our age make a difference? To borrow a little ad from the “drink more milk” campaign… Got a SPOUSE? Got grown KIDS? Got GRANDKIDS? Got FRIENDS? Got ENEMIES? We’ve got opportunities to encourage and “lean into” our families’ lives with the truth of the Word of God. But before we can lean in, we have to pump up. That HP + CP = MI is really true. Our spiritual conviction (high potency) has to deepen, and we are to equip ourselves with the Ephesians 6 “armor of God”. And the PRIVILEGE of encouraging our families and those around us. We have left the time we have left”. Charlie didn’t know and none of us knows how long our time is. This week I’ll be doing 2 funerals of dear people who would have been at our next Finishing Well event if they were able and with us. Barb Gilbert was such a dear key volunteer and leader at Northside for so many years and her life will be celebrated. And Dallas Richards joins the “heavenly crowd” as well. He & his wife, Jane were a delight every time I saw them as they attended, served and encouraged so many others. And yet this week, I also get to celebrate a fella, who will celebrate his 100th birthday. I got to baptize him when he was 92. What a thrill! You’ll hear more about my friend John (a Finishing Well attendee) in next week’s devotional. But we all most likely won’t get a century of life here. And God calls us to use it for His purpose of reaching and nurturing the disciples that are “in our care and in our reach.” So what is our priority and on our “to do list”? Hebrews 3:12-14 says, “See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly till the end the confidence we had at first.” May we make every effort & pray every prayer to the end that God will use us and raise others up to “represent and re-present” His Son as the ONLY hope for our eternity to the culture around us. May the Lord send others who will follow in Charlie’s footsteps, passionately and fearlessly proclaiming the truth. And may He send YOU & ME to our families and our circles of influence to do the same! In your own words. With your own personality. Giving account of the “hope that lies within YOU”. And may we cheer one another on, allowing our lives and callings to “overlap” as we do our best to help each other to Finish Well. Love you friends, george
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