It will be a tragic moment I will never forget. I was nearly finished teaching a class, ironically, on Christianity and culture to an eager group of Christian young people, when a text came across my iPad with the news that Charlie Kirk, champion for Christ, communicator of conservative values, and patriot, was shot at a rally at a college in Utah. My reaction was and is one of shock and horror. Here is a good young man, a husband and father, assassinated in the prime of his life. The tragic irony was that he was killed while engaging people with whom he disagreed.
As the news of Charlie’s passing was confirmed, I sat at my desk and wept. I never met him, but I wept for him. I wept for his wife and precious children. I wept for the country.
I know so many hundreds of young people – in my family, classroom, at the campuses where I speak – who looked up to Charlie. They loved him, not merely for his bold stand for truth in the culture, but for his outspoken faith in Jesus Christ. As journalist Dave Weigel said, “Pulled this quote from my last in-person interview with Kirk. His pitch wasn’t just ‘join the GOP, you’ll get lower taxes’ – it was that you could give yourself to Jesus Christ and have a life worth living.”
Click Here to Read More (Originally Published at Baptist Press)
Daniel Darling is the director of the Land Center for Cultural Engagement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and a bestselling author.
