To be a Christian, especially today, entails a considerable risk of life and limb. That is so the world over, and now it begins, in a real way, in our very own America. To be a Christian invites persecution, ridicule, rejection, to be ostracized from society and the world at large. A great theologian said that to come to Christ is to die. But we who believe knew that before we committed and became one with Him. It then became our lot in life to die to self, to sin, to the world.
We knew what He did, we knew the horrendous story of the crucifixion, the persecution of Calvary. We saw no greater love than His as He laid down His life for His friends, for all mankind, for all humankind. We knew that to live for Him, to accept Him, would be to lay our all on the alter, including our bodies, willing to make them a living sacrifice. Charlie Kirk knew that, lived that, and died for that and more.
And so did the Apostle Paul. Paul, then Saul, hated Christians and Christianity. It was his mission to persecute and kill the followers of Jesus Christ. No one hated or persecuted Christians more than Saul of Tarsus. He was a Roman citizen, a Pharisee of the Jews, a blood thirsty killer and persecutor of Christians and Christianity. Saul was a master of persecution. So many early Christians died at his hand, or were jailed, or persecuted in physical ways, and lost virtually everything they had.
But then came the Damascus Road, where Saul met Jesus Christ and became Paul, and he was never the same. He turned from persecution to preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. His conversion was instant, dramatic, and dynamic, change at work from head to toe. The Christ of Glory knew what Saul had done, his horrible persecutions, and He said that He would show Paul the sufferings, the considerable sufferings and persecutions he himself would endure. No Christian could forget the question the Lord asked:
“SAUL, WHY DO YOU PERSECUTE ME?”
Why, said the Christ of Glory, do you persecute and kill those who love and believe in me, why? There came no answer to that question, but only the beginning of a total commitment to his newfound Lord and master. Saul then became Paul, and he never knew the extent of the promise of Jesus Christ:
I WILL SHOW THIS MAN HOW MUCH HE MUST SUFFER FOR MY NAME.
And suffer Paul did, big time. Paul described those sufferings in his own words in 2 Corinthians 11. He said,
“I have labored extensively for Christ. I have been imprisoned many times. I have
endured beatings without number. I am always in danger of death. Five times I received from the Jews forty lashes less one. I was stoned three times. I was shipwrecked a night and a day. I have been in danger from rivers, from robbers, from my own countrymen, from the Gentiles, and from dangers in cities and desolate places. I have lived in danger from false brothers. I have endured many sleepless nights. I have endured starvation and thirst. I am often hungry and cold and without enough clothing. I am under constant pressure of concern and persecution for all the churches of Jesus Christ I have established.”
Compared to those Pauline sufferings, so many of us Christians in America have had it easy, perhaps too easy.
Paul eventually endured the ultimate suffering, the ultimate persecution. He was murdered. He was beheaded, a brutal way to die. He lost his life in a split second at the cut of a guillotine. Charlie Kirk, the Christian and Conservative, lost his life in a second from the bullet of an assassin’s rifle.
Paul gave his life for the Lord he loved and in whom he firmly believed with all his heart, soul, strength, and mind. So did Charlie Kirk.
Violence and vengeance seem to be on the rise in America now more than ever. In many quarters, it is dangerous to be a Christian and a Conservative. And, if one is both Christian and Conservative, the danger is doubled. Charlie Kirk was both. The bullet of an assassin, a young, irrational killer, fame-seeking and revenge-minded, ended Charlie’s life immediately. Charlie Kirk died for his country, and his Lord-Savior. The Apostle Paul died for his Lord Jesus Christ and as a Roman Citizen. They were great men, martyrs, heroes, missionaries, courageous, loving, an example to all of us who followed in so many ways. These two men laid down their lives for their fellow loved ones and families, and in fact all humankind. These two men showed the world that there was no greater love than that of a man, each of them, laying down his life for his friends, for all. And so did Jesus of Nazareth, our Lord. The Christ of Glory died young, 33. Charlie Kirk died young, 31. Paul lived longer, but suffered persecution longer. All three died brutal deaths, the Lord of Glory the most brutal, and violent, and painful, and suffered the most and longest of the three, for us, for you, for me. No greater love was ever shown to mankind than that of Calvary.
We often wish for vengeance, retribution, and justice. But our Lord commands us to love our enemies, one of the most difficult things in all of life. He tells us that vengeance is none of our business, but that He, when and how He wishes, will be the instrument of vengeance. He requires us to turn the other cheek and promises He will make things right. Violence only begets more violence. Love, on the other hand, real love, never stops producing miracles. You could say that love in the face of violence and evil is the greatest weapon of all. The greatest vengeance, the greatest get-even is to pray for your enemy, do good to him or her, and show the love of Jesus Christ in every way. The only way you and I can do that is with the power, the courage, and the strength of our Lord.
Like the Apostle Paul, Charlie Kirk knew that, believed that, and died for that.