Charlie Kirk was pronounced dead after being shot on campus in Utah on September 10, 2025. And the nation has been left paralyzed by the responses, which have ranged from mocking laughter (“LMAO”) to cold acknowledgments wrapped in disrespect, and even to calls for military crackdowns and civil war. So, through all of this noise I’ve asked myself one question: how should we respond?
Christians are not left without guidance. Scripture reminds us: “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment” (2 Tim 1:7). In moments like these we must rekindle that gift from God because if we respond to violence with hatred, division, and vengeance, then the darkness wins.
Loving Our Enemies in Practice
Jesus’ command to “love our enemies” isn’t sentimental and isn’t optional. His command calls us to truly and deeply care for our enemy’s well-being. Yes, we may—and often must—oppose what people do or stand for when it harms others or society. But we do so from a place that respects them as being made in God’s image. And we do so, not as seeking their destruction, but as seeking their salvation. This is something that I think Charlie Kirk often did well as someone who patiently engaged with people’s ideas in order to win them over to the truth. This is what love requires.
The way some of Kirk’s opponents have treated his death—with mockery or scorn—reveals a coldness of heart that cannot even allow peace in the moment of his passing. But let’s be honest: the temptation works in the other direction too. Already, rage-profiteers are telling millions of people that “the left murdered Charlie Kirk.” That is not the truth. If Tyler Robinson is found guilty, then he murdered Charlie Kirk. Although rhetoric does influence action, the responsibility belongs to the individual. Remember, Scripture says “Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent and the just, because I will not justify the guilty” (Exodus 23:7). As peacemakers we must seek repentance, reconciliation, and restoration for everyone. Laying this murder on the doorstep of everyone based on ideological lines will merely entrench people in their sides.
The Darkness Around Us
However, the deeper problem is not merely political—it is spiritual and moral. Our culture has been conditioned to vilify “the other side” until political violence starts to feel like an option. Influencers and politicians on both sides have learned to profit from outrage, stirring up fear to build their platforms. They are selling us anger as if it were a virtue. It is not. Anger is not a Christian virtue. So we must be careful of those who try to make it one because those who are doing so are trying to take advantage of us.
Let’s remember the early church, who knew what it was to live under hostility. They also lost leaders, friends, and loved ones to injustice. Yet they did not abandon Christ’s call. They overcame the darkness by holding fast to the light—by returning again and again to the crucified and risen Christ, who forgave, who loved, who rose. And they embodied this toward those who did them harm.
The Way Forward
So what does it look like to be peacemakers now?
- Refuse to let tragedy become ammunition. Don’t share posts or memes that inflame division.
- Speak truth without slander. Name sin and injustice, but don’t spread false accusations.
- Show compassion to the broken. Even the coldest mockery comes from wounds that need healing.
- Value human life more than political wins. No ideology is worth more than the image of God in a human being.
Proverbs 31:9 says, “Speak up, judge righteously, and defend the cause of the oppressed and needy.” That is our calling—not to score points, but to bring light into a dark world.
Lord, deliver your people from the darkness. Make us instruments of peace in a time of pain.
A Dedicated Faith 