The news of Charlie Kirk's assassination hit me hard. It was one of those moments where you stop what you’re doing and try to process the headline. I never met him. I never shook his hand or had a conversation with him. But like many of you, I felt like I knew a part of him. I’ve spent countless hours watching his campus debates, his interviews, and his show. To see a voice so full of life silenced so violently is profoundly disturbing.
In the days since, I’ve found myself reflecting on his life and what it meant. I can't shake the feeling of loss, not just for his family, but for the conversations he’s no longer here to have. As I’ve tried to make sense of it, five things have crystallized in my mind about the man I saw and the legacy he leaves behind.
1. His Calling Came From God
I believe Charlie Kirk was living out a calling. His mission, as I saw it, was to get young people to think critically about the world around them and to mobilize them for what he believed was the good of society. This wasn't just a career; it was deeply rooted in his Christian faith.
The Bible says in Ephesians 2:10,
“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
I believe this verse was written on Charlie’s heart. He understood that God designs us with a purpose in mind before we’re even born. He didn’t just talk politics; he preached the gospel and shared God’s truth. The moving words from his wife, Erika, after his death only confirm how integral his faith was to every part of his life.
Some will point to the "separation of church and state," but they often misunderstand it. Thomas Jefferson’s famous 1802 letter to the Danbury Baptist Association was about preventing the government from establishing a national religion, not about preventing Christians from participating in public life:
“Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man & his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, & not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,' thus building a wall of separation between Church & State.”
Charlie understood that his faith didn't disqualify him from the political arena—it qualified him.
2. His Gifts Equipped His Calling
God doesn’t give someone a calling without also giving them the gifts to fulfill it. Charlie was exceptionally gifted in several ways:
Clear, compelling communication. He could take complex, abstract ideas and make them simple and understandable for any audience.
Strong self-assurance. How many 20/30-somethings do you know who would willingly stand in front of a hostile crowd and invite their loudest detractors to the front of the line for a debate? He did it with confidence and respect.
Intellectual engagement. He genuinely enjoyed the battle of ideas and the process of logical debate.
A vision for legacy. He wasn’t thinking small. He built a national organization with over 3,500 high school and college chapters because he wanted to make a lasting impact.
Strategic thinking. He knew exactly where the culture war was being fought: on campus. His relentless campus tours were a testament to his strategy of engaging both his staunchest supporters and his harshest critics.
Photo by Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune
3. His Character Sustained His Calling
Talent can take you far, but character is what sustains you. We've all seen gifted leaders fall because their character couldn't support the weight of their influence. From everything I've seen and from the testimony of those who knew him, Charlie’s character was strong to the end.
He reportedly said he wanted to be remembered as “someone who was courageous in his faith.” By all accounts, he was also a devoted husband and a loving father, roles he took with the utmost seriousness. Publicly, he was almost always calm, patient, and respectful. While you can find clips of heated moments, his overwhelming pattern was to debate ideas, not to demean people.
4. Disagreement Isn't Hate
This might be one of the most important lessons from his public life. In our culture of "expressive individualism," we’re often told that if you disagree with someone’s choices or beliefs, you must hate them. This is a dangerous lie.
Charlie was accused of "hate speech," but he just had a differing point of view. He asked people why they believed what they believed, and in doing so, he often exposed shallow foundations. His cordial and substantive dialogues with people he profoundly disagreed with, like Bill Maher and Gavin Newsom, prove his goal was discussion, not destruction. His political convictions flowed from his biblical convictions. The critics who disagreed with him were, in large part, disagreeing with the implications of the Bible.
5. The Grief of a Life Cut Short
It’s simply appalling. Here was a man pursuing a faith-based calling, equipped with incredible gifts and sustained by strong character, and his life was violently cut short. He had so much more to do.
I work with people in their early 20s, helping them discover their purpose and gifts. It's a journey. To see someone who had clearly "arrived"—who knew his purpose and was operating in it so effectively—taken from this world is a unique kind of tragedy.
Getting Busy Living
A tragedy like this forces you to look in the mirror and ask, "What am I doing with the time I have?" Charlie's life and sudden death inspire me to take these steps, and I invite you to join me:
Get right with God. The ultimate purpose of life is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. That starts with a personal relationship with Him.
Find your purpose. Your relationship with God and your purpose in life are intricately interwoven. Ask Him to reveal the "good works" He prepared for you.
Use your gifts. Discover what you are uniquely good at and direct those gifts toward making the world a better place.
Build strong character. Your impact will only be as strong as the character that undergirds it.
Remember life is short. We could live 100 years, or we could be cut down at 31. As they said in The Shawshank Redemption, it’s time to "get busy living or get busy dying."
Thanks, Charlie Kirk, for your impact on this world. You got busy living.
Dear reader, I pray that you, God willing, do the same!
Note: The views expressed in this post and video are my own.
