A Call to Clarity & Courage
On September 10, 2025 Charlie Kirk was brutally assassinated for proclaiming truth in the public sphere. A husband and father who loved Christ and his country was murdered at only 31 years old. His gruesome death was captured live on cell phones and uploaded for the world to see. America witnessed the kind of religious persecution that many of us were taught growing up didn’t happen here. Sure, people were killed in other countries for refusing to deny Jesus Christ, but that kind of persecution doesn’t happen here. So we were told.
As I have reflected on the assassination of Charlie Kirk, it has become increasingly clear that Charlie Kirk was a martyr for the Christian faith and a victim of persecution. He was not killed for being a “right-wing” conservative. He was killed because he proclaimed the truth. Persecution has always been a reality Christians face and one which the church is called to be prepared for, because it is “through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).
My aim here is to help the church see, with clarity, what happened on September 10 which will help us to be more resolved, with courage, to stand for truth and embrace persecution. Psalm 119:130 says, “The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.” God’s Word sheds light on the world and all that happens here. To help shed light on and bring clarity to what happened to Charlie Kirk, let’s unfold God’s words in Acts 19:23-28,
About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way. 24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. 25 These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. 26 And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. 27 And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.” 28 When they heard this they were enraged and were crying out, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
Acts 19 is one of many examples of persecution the early church faced. Notice what incites the persecution in this particular instance. In verse 24, we are told that Demetirus, who had a business in Ephesus making idols, is upset that Paul had been preaching saying, “gods made with hands are not gods” (v. 26). He was upset that Paul was ruining his business and finances because people were turning away from his shrine-making business to follow the true God. He goes on to express anger that Paul’s preaching also directly opposes the goddess Artemis and fears she “may be counted as nothing, and she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she and whom all Asia and the world worship” (v. 27).
In other words, the worship of Artemis was so embedded in the society at Ephesus that it drove the economy. Paul’s preaching hits them on a financial level but also was in direct opposition to their idol worship. After Demetrius explains this to the others working in this trade they become enraged and it leads to a riot. So on a surface level, the preaching against idolatry was first noticed by its impact on their finances and businesses. As they considered it more, they also realized that it directly opposed their worship of Artemis.
Now consider this situation in light of what happened to Charlie Kirk. He engaged in political discussions in the public square, traveling to college campuses to have peaceful debates about government, abortion, transgenderism, homosexuality and a host of other issues.
But what enraged those who opposed him that led someone to murder him?
On the surface it was his views on culture and specifically areas like gender, marriage, and abortion. Those conversations incited the most anger and hatred. Why? In one sense, he is claiming an absolute standard of morality to a relativistic culture. But, like the businesses in Ephesus, these issues are tied to an idol worship that is deeply embedded in our culture. And people get enraged when their idols are threatened. When you trace Charlie’s views down to their source, you find a completely different worldview and foundation compared with many of his opponents.
In America, it’s not Artemis worship that is threatened by the gospel, it is the idol of self-worship. Or what Carl Trueman refers to as “expressive individualism.” It is the idea that a person “finds [their] meaning by giving expression to [their] own feelings and desires.”1 It is, to use the language of Romans 1, exchanging the worship of God for the creature. And the creature worship that dominates society is the worship of self, one’s own subjective emotions and disordered desires. It is worship by those who have abandoned God and therefore abandoned objective morality. And it is impossible to abandon the worship of God without putting something else in his place. The self-worshipers of our day have replaced God with the worship of their own desires. Their desires have become ‘god’ and they find meaning in expressing themselves as they feel and desire. And when someone tells them they can’t do this and instead tells them how they should live according to the standards of God, it enrages them and threatens them down to the very core of who they believe themselves to be. The rage some experience from mere debate on these issues reveals this. This is because, whether politics or morals, it is impossible to disconnect them from that which you worship. For Charlie, God is the foundation of how his beliefs (from political policy to gender and sexual ethics) play out in the world. This was and is always the source of persecution.
In Matthew 14, John the Baptist is arrested because he had been preaching a biblical sexual ethic to Herod after he took his brother’s wife, saying, “it is not lawful for you to have her” (Matthew 14:3-4). Herod arrested him and eventually had him killed. It is not always a direct gospel presentation of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus that enrages the culture and sparks persecution. If you proclaim objective truth, that comes from God, in any area of life to a culture that is deeply involved in self-worship, you will be persecuted.
Charlie tried to tell college students that their true value came from being made in the image of God. That pretending to be a different gender was a demonic counterfeit to finding true meaning and satisfaction through Jesus Christ. He knew people were sinners but that God demonstrated his love by sending Jesus Christ to die on the cross for sinners (Romans 5:8). And he wanted the truth of the gospel to be applied to every area of life. But that good news would mean that transgender and homosexuals were wrong and needed to repent. It would mean acknowledging the truth and turning from sin. This is what the self-worshipers, apart from the grace of God, resist to the point of rage. Repentance. Their hatred of God and love for self blinds them. And in this instance it led to murder. Charlie Kirk wasn’t just a conservative activist upsetting liberals, he was a Christian who believed that we live in God’s world. And the gospel he preached, which included holding up God’s moral standards to unbelievers, enraged them. It enraged them to the point of killing him because they are so deep in their worship of self.
But there is good news. Seeing this situation clearly will help the church. Throughout the book of Acts, when persecution comes, it emboldens the church. When Stephen was killed in Acts 7, a great wave of persecution came against the church, but those scattered went on preaching the word (Acts 8:1; 4). Martyrs make the fearful bold. Martyrs make cowards courageous. Joe Rigney writes, “Seeing courage spreads courage. Seeing boldness awakens boldness. Seeing fearlessness overcomes fear.”2
If Charlie Kirk was a true martyr, we should expect a greater fear of the Lord and boldness to fall upon the church as we continue on in our mission. We are already seeing this. I have been personally reflecting on my own temptations to fear and feel a renewed sense of courage welling up inside me after these events.
Another way this tragic event can strengthen the church is how it reminds us that the gospel can’t be stopped. Throughout Acts, we read statements like this in the midst of opposition and persecution, “So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily” (Acts 19:20). Jesus promised, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). The gates of hell come against God’s church with acts of violence and persecution. But they will not prevail. The church will be strengthened and the gospel will “prevail mightily.” Videos are circulating about people attending church for the first time in years after Charlie’s death. Others are sharing how they were reasoned out of their positions by Charlie. God not only used his ministry but he will also use the martyrdom of Charlie Kirk, like he uses all persecution, to strengthen our convictions and grant us further courage to share the gospel in a hostile world.
Joe Rigney says that “Christian boldness is courage and clarity about Jesus and sin.”3 We must see, with clarity, the truth about Jesus and sin. And then we must not be afraid to proclaim it. In the next chapter in Acts we see a beautiful portrait of biblical courage. One that I believe will help us in the present times. Paul writes this in Acts 20:20-27,
…how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house, 21 testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. 22 And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me. 24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God. 25 And now, behold, I know that none of you among whom I have gone about proclaiming the kingdom will see my face again. 26 Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all, 27 for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.”
Christian courage is not shrinking back (v. 20; 27) from declaring the truth. Charlie Kirk was an incredible example of this. Christian courage is also pressing on despite risky or dangerous situations for the glory of Christ (v. 22-23). Paul knew that imprisonment, afflictions, and more persecution awaited him but he went on in courage because he cared more about the glory of Christ than his own life.
What happened to Charlie Kirk might happen to us. This is a scary thought to consider. There are many, who, if they knew what I believed about men, women, marriage, and sexuality would be enraged like the killer who took Charlie Kirk’s life. But we can’t shrink back from what needs to be said because self-worship pervades our society and we have the solution. And we must be faithful to proclaim it, no matter the cost. And not only to proclaim the truth, but to do so with happy hearts remembering the words of Jesus, “In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Take heart Christian. And press on with boldness to serve Jesus and proclaim the gospel.
Charlie Kirk was a martyr. He joins the cloud of witnesses that have gone before us, testifying of the gospel to a world unworthy of them. This is the path we follow, knowing, as we proclaim Christ, He is saving sinners enslaved in self-worship for His glory. Do not fear persecution. Be courageous and continue on in our mission for the glory of Christ remembering the truth of James 1:12, “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.”
- Carl Trueman, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2020), 46. ↩︎
- Joe Rigney, Courage: How the Gospel Creates Christian Fortitude (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2023), kindle edition. ↩︎
- Joe Rigney, “What Has Jerusalem to Do With America? Lessons from the Book of Acts Part 1” Desiring God, February 10, 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxhmos0XYdc ↩︎
