Is the church going to be able to provide the moral clarity and courage for which Charlie Kirk was murdered?

Though Kirk’s killing was a political assassination, it was as much a religious martyrdom as anything else. Yes, Charlie was political, and his organization, Turning Point USA, was involved in politics, but what drove all of it was his faith and commitment to the Lord. Everything Kirk did, believed, and was sprang from his faith in God and Christian convictions. This is what drew so many to him, hungry for the light and the truth and the way. This is what repelled so many as well. As Jesus said, “They will hate you and persecute you for My sake.” Darkness hates the light, and lies hate the truth. This was the stark contrast we witnessed in the wake of Charlie’s murder, where the lost and the blind celebrated or justified it, while those of faith held vigils, mourned, and found their way back to church.

There have been countless posts on X (alone) of people inspired by Charlie Kirk’s faith returning to church or going to church for the first time ever — like this young man. Or leaving the Left. Or just picking up a Bible. Record numbers of people reportedly attended church over the weekend, and Google searches for church were the highest in 12 months. For those of us in the Bible Belt, it might not have seemed much different this past weekend, but the Kirk effect is real and is driving many to the Lord, which is all that he wanted.

“I went to church today for the first time in 15 years,” one man wrote. “Thank you, Charlie, for bringing me to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Until the day we meet, brother.”

“I’ve never felt more called to incorporate God more in our lives. I owe that all to Charlie and the legacy he leaves behind,” another person wrote.

A recent convert to conservatism posted on X about his experience at church, “Faith doesn’t ask me to ignore reality, but rather demands I face ALL OF IT, in its most terrifying forms…and still step forward. So if I do not have the Resurrection, I have nothing. No justice, no reunion, and the story ends…and today, I just refuse to believe the story ends there.”

To quote Tertullian, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church.”

Hans Fiene, a Lutheran pastor in Missouri, compares Kirk to Hezekiah, one of the few good Old Testament kings. He followed God and used his position as king to confront the evil of his day — the corrupt leaders, the idol worship, the child sacrifice, and the rampant sexual immorality. He reopened and cleansed the temple, bringing peace out of the madness. Many saw Kirk as a sign of hope, and while they didn’t share his faith, they could see that his religious zeal was accomplishing good things.

“He was winning debates, convincing many young people to aspire for something greater than victimization complexes and class resentment,” Fiene said. “He was helping rebuild an orderly and safe society that seemed to be driving back the violent idol worshippers of leftism. They were happy to have a temple-cleansing king on their side, not because they wanted to go to the temple, but because they recognized that leaders who cleanse temples also keep the baby-murderers, the rioters, the child-transitioners, the fentanyl smugglers, and the gang bangers at bay.” But then Hezekiah died, and his son simply returned the nation to all the wickedness and evil. Fiene continues, “As many nonreligious folks are now seeing through tearful eyes, we need something more than mere men who can temporarily help us. We need a God who can eternally save us. We need something much greater than kings who can die.” Kirk agreed wholeheartedly and preached constantly to look to Jesus as the only one who can save, and the only one on whom to build a functioning and flourishing society.

While massive crowds sang “I have decided to follow Jesus” at the Kennedy Center over the weekend, it’s going to take more than that to bring about a true resurgence of religion in this country. The church has too long built its house on the sands of compromise and relevance. It has allowed biblical truths to be perverted in the name of tolerance. If this revival is to survive, rather than being washed away like many other fads, the church must be built on the rock of Truth. It must confront and call out sin rather than tolerating it. It must engage with society and politics instead of hiding from or succumbing to them.

Too often, the church has been wishy-washy or silent, as has already been evidenced by the American pope (and I’m not just calling out one denomination here — all are guilty). One Catholic commented about this on X: “Charlie’s martyrdom came on behalf of a Catholic hierarchy that refused to be a Kirk: he confronted a modern-day Babylon. Through reason and sound doctrine, thousands were brought from tombs of confusion. He is the Baptist, whose head Herod took for daring to speak of sexual sin.” And Pope Leo? On the day of the assassination, he tweeted not about Kirk, not about truth, not about martyrdom, but about migrants at Lampedusa.

The church must set the example of “Live not by Lies,” and live not in fear of what man may do to you, as Charlie did. If the church doesn’t influence the world, then the world will influence the church. As Kirk said and lived, the church must be salt and light in the world. What do salt and light do to the environments that they are placed in? They transform them.

So, who has the final say? The bullet? The lost and deceived person pulling the trigger? Social media, news, and political leaders? As many are coming to find out through this tragedy, only Jesus has conquered sin and death. He has the final word. Jesus has won the battle and set the captives free. Only He can bring beauty from ashes, joy out of sorrow, and peace in the midst of pain. Only He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.