Charlie Kirk and the unavoidability of politics

“I want to be remembered for the courage of my faith.” - Charlie Kirk

Christian Living and Politics

When the nation was shaken by the tragic death of Charlie Kirk last week, we posted several clips of the young man talking about the gospel, about Jesus, and about the veracity and trustworthiness of the Bible. I also asked the elder preaching that coming Sunday to include some words of instruction in light of the controversy and the ongoing debate about how we engage as Christians in the political arena. Ben Keller did a tremendous job breaking down the basics and that brief, concise portion is included here for consideration. View the video or read the transcript:

I pray that God uses what seems like an egregious loss last week for his good purposes, and that even as we lament a brother in Christ’s passing we can see and rejoice that God’s purposes bear fruit from this tragedy, that the name of Jesus is lifted up even higher and ultimately God is glorified all the more.

What do I mean by the unavoidability of politics?

Everybody has a metaphysic, a worldview, a belief system, ultimate commitments. You do. The Pope does. Steph Curry does, Taylor Swift does, Donald Trump does, Vladimir Putin does, Charlie Kirk did, the 9-11 Al-Qaeda hijackers did. Everybody has some sort of metaphysic, ultimate commitments. Poorly formed, illogical, yeah, maybe, but you've got them. And those commitments, those beliefs have ramifications for the people that hold them. So politics then is downstream from worldview. And politics is the clash of ideas and compromises and agreements and disagreements that inform and undergird or sometimes undermine governments and civic organizations at the national, regional, and local levels. This is true worldwide.

And it's the reason that Charlie Kirk, as an outspoken Christian conservative in the arena of public debate and discussion, was simultaneously beloved and reviled.

As a Christian, Charlie understood the message of reconciliation. Equally, he understood that a Christian worldview will have political impacts because politics and worldview overlap. They always have. They always will. Consider marriage. There are some churches where if I got up and started talking about the definition of marriage, people would complain that, hey, wait a minute, don’t get political here!

Well, that's true in one sense. I would be getting political because marriage has been the foundational institution for every civilization since the dawn of time. before monarchies, before parliaments, before democratic republics. So marriage is inherently political. Nations have a vested interest in their own safe and prosperous continuance.

At the same time, marriage is pre-political. The definition of marriage predates the United States Constitution. It predates the Roman Empire. It predates the fall of man. That's how foundational the definition of marriage is.

Or consider the sanctity of life and the issue of abortion. Rejecting the personhood of the unborn is not an American political debate. It is that, but it is far more than that. You guided my conception and formed me in the womb, said Job to the Lord 4,000 years ago. You made all the delicate inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb, said David to the Lord 3,000 years ago.

Now do you realize, do this thought experiment for a second. Just follow me on this. Any person who says, I'm a Christian, but I deny the personhood of the unborn, that person actually cannot affirm in good conscience the Apostles' Creed, the Athanasian Creed, the Nicene Creed, or the Chalcedonian Creed, the four ecumenical creeds of Christendom.

Why can't they affirm it in good conscience?

Because all the ecumenical creeds of the church assume the full humanity of Jesus Christ from the moment of conception by the Holy Spirit. And the humanity of the incarnate Christ was like us, the Bible says, in every respect. Except one, he had no sin. He was like us in every respect. So you can't believe that and simultaneously believe the unborn image bearers of God are without value until a government or a doctor or a mother declares that they have value.

Also, here's your periodic reminder that we have to be deprogrammed from 50 years of hearing “don't legislate morality”. Let the deprogramming begin.

Every law legislates morality.

EVERY law legislates morality.

“Don't legislate morality” is a euphemism in America. And it’s a way for people to say they do not want any governing authority making laws that in any way restricts their sexual conduct or the results of that sexual conduct. You notice how nobody ever says don't legislate morality about construction codes or hunting rules or even hot button issues like immigration. Have you ever heard anybody say about immigration, which has people with lots of opinions, “hey, don't legislate morality”. No, you've never heard that. They only say it when it comes to issues of sexual behavior.

Some laws promote and require actions that are deemed morally right. Some laws prohibit actions that are deemed morally wrong. Some laws contain both requirements for moral goods and prohibitions against moral wrongs. But every law legislates morality.

I'll talk about my own workplace. Well, surely you're exaggerating, Ben. Not every law. Every law. legislates morality. Let me show you how. At my workplace, a manufacturing company, we're subject to all the rules of L&I and the Washington Administrative Codes. Some of you have probably heard or worked in places where they have machine guarding. So we're required to guard our industrial machines in a certain way according to the Washington Administrative Codes. Why? Because physical harm to employees is viewed as a moral wrong. That's why. And the prevention of physical harm to employees is viewed as a moral good.

Now, partisan affiliations will wax and wane. In America, the political parties are important, but only insofar as they incubate and promulgate worldviews. So I don't believe Christians should die on the hill of partisan affiliation because parties and platforms change. For example, did you know that 91 Democrats in the United States House of Representatives and 21 Democrats in the United States Senate voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964? Do you think any of them would vote against that today? Not a chance, not a chance. So there's all kinds of examples on both sides of the political spectrum of that shift.

But especially in the light of the public and gruesome assassination of a prominent political figure who was also a brother in Christ, I want to make sure we understand that to some degree, every sermon is political. The fact that Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth has political ramifications. The fact that Jesus also said his kingdom is not an earthly kingdom has political ramifications. The fact that Christ told us to give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and give to God what belongs to God has political ramifications. The fact that the Bible says everyone must submit to the governing authorities for all authority comes from God and those in positions of authority have been placed there by God has political ramifications.

John the Baptist, I don't know if you remember this or not, he was killed for rebuking the personal sexual sin of Herod and Herodias. And he told Herod this, “what you've done is against God's law”. Herod was a political leader. John's life and faith clearly had political ramifications. And when it comes to the public proclamation of our faith… we believe, along with Peter and the disciples, that we must obey God rather than human authority. That has political ramifications.

So how then should a Christian in any nation around the world determine how they can best faithfully interact with the political situation they're in? How do we put all these things together? Here's the answer.

We're expected to study the scriptures, to discern their meaning and their application for all areas of our life, that includes politics. And it can be done. We patiently read and meditate on scripture. We study the Bible to show ourselves approved diligently as believers who do not need to be ashamed and who can correctly explain the word of truth.

Not only can we do these things, we must do these things. If we don't, the words of Christ himself will condemn us as they did the Pharisees when he told them, your mistake is that you don't know the scriptures and you don't know the power of God.

That's what he said right to the face of the Pharisees.