7 Christian Leaders on Healing America after Charlie Kirk’s Assassination

Michael Foust

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By Michael Foust, Crosswalk.com

Christian leaders across the nation say they are praying that Charlie Kirk's assassination will mark a turning point for the better in America, inspiring people to embrace what he represented -- healthy dialogue without violence, the free exchange of ideas, and ultimately a vision that points to the gospel.

Kirk died Sept. 10 shortly after he was shot on the campus of Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah, as he answered questions in front of some 3,000 students. He was the founder of Turning Point USA and a leading voice in both conservatism and Christianity.

Here's how seven leaders hope Kirk's death will change America for the better.

1. Erick Erickson, conservative radio host, Erick Erickson Show

"This event feels like a turning point," Erickson wrote in a World Opinions column. "There have been a series of escalating acts of violence for some time. James Hodgkinson attempted the mass assassination of Republican members of Congress on a baseball field. Luigi Mangione assassinated Brian Thompson, the CEO of United Healthcare. An anti-Semite in Washington killed Yaron Lischinsky and Sara Milgrim, two Israeli Embassy employees. A man in Minnesota assassinated Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband, while also attempting to kill State Sen. John Hoffman and his wife.

"In Ephesians 4:26, the Apostle Paul said, 'Be angry, yet do not sin.' During the Biden Administration, a number of mostly online political activists on the right insisted that the right must behave and operate the same way as the left. Some suggested the Christian idea of turning the other cheek and forgiveness were signs of weakness. Now, political activists on the left and prominent politicians like Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy say the left needs to 'fight fire with fire.' Where Christianity calls for us to love our neighbors and let God handle retribution, the world desires that we take it upon ourselves to do that. Many political activists, shocked and angry at Charlie Kirk's death, are wondering how to respond.

"Last week on his radio program, Charlie said, 'You have to try to point them towards ultimate purposes and towards getting back to the church, getting back to faith, getting married, having children. ... I'm trying to paint a picture of virtue of lifting people up, not just staying angry.' As Christians wonder how to respond to another in a growing list of violent acts in this country, we should remember Charlie's words. Our job is to love God and love our neighbor. God will provide and God will punish.

"Today, Charlie Kirk is home with the Lord. His wife, Erika, and his two children are without a husband and father. The conservative movement is without one of its prominent advocates. But Christ remains, and so too does the mission Charlie Kirk set for himself -- painting a picture of virtue to lift people up instead of keeping anger festering."

Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Megan Varner/Stringer

2. Mike Johnson, U.S. Speaker of the House

"What we loved about Charlie was that he loved to engage debate, and he genuinely respected and genuinely loved -- in a Christian manner -- the people on the other side of the table," Johnson told CNN in the hours following the assassination. "He didn't hate anybody. You know, he had vigorous debate, but that's kind of the point. But he was trying to win the argument, but he had great compassion for the people that he was debating always, and he had the right heart about it. He represented free speech. You know, we talk about the free marketplace of ideas, and I think President George W. Bush said the college campus is supposed to be that. Charlie Kirk, I think, contributed more productive content to the free marketplace of ideas than anyone in his generation. It's a great and tragic loss, and we'll be dealing with this for quite a long time. …

"... It unifies everybody on both sides of the aisle. We have to call out political violence. I think there is a recognition -- some are saying it openly, some more quietly, that the vitriol, the level that is there now, the hatred that has been fomented -- you know, there's a time that we've got to turn the volume down. … There's a lot of people, I think, that find pleasure in stoking that fire and it's dangerous. There are deranged people in society, and if they are encouraged along this way, they will do dangerous things increasingly. …I think social media has been a toxin in politics. I think it has added to this vitriol. …We should see one another as colleagues and fellow citizens and fellow countrymen and not as enemies. That's not what Charlie Kirk represented. He genuinely loved the debate, because he genuinely loved the people, and I think that's a really important thing for us to remember.

"... This is not who we are. We're better than this. We need to be setting an example as Americans. We are the free marketplace of ideas. We celebrate and defend vigorously free speech. Charlie Kirk did that as well as anybody that I know."

Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Win McNamee / Staff

3. Albert Mohler, president, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary

"I first met Charlie Kirk several years ago when we were both addressing a major conference of conservatives," Mohler wrote in a World Opinions column. "Backstage, I was impressed by his gifts but turned off by his demeanor. That was during Charlie's years of bare-fisted libertarianism and personal assertion. Back then, he saw Christianity as a huge drag on conservative progress. He was pretty clear in calling for a new young conservatism of liberty and resistance. At the time, he didn't have a lot of use for conservative Christians, and he wasn't subtle.

"Not long thereafter, Charlie embraced two things that had been missing from his earlier approach. He openly and boldly claimed the gospel of Christ and courageously identified himself as a Christian believer. He also began to argue with consistency that a recovery of Christian truth was essential for a lasting conservatism. He was right.

"... He was a man who knew he had enemies and a man who loved confrontation. But he was animated by ideas and driven by passion. He was doing what he did so well, arguing for his beliefs, when the assassin aimed his weapon. He was still so young. No one knows what he might have done over decades ahead. But the political loss disappears into the mist in comparison to the unspeakable loss that is now experienced by his widow and young children, now fatherless.

"Now is the time for us to pray for Erika Kirk and her precious children. That comes first. But this is also a time for justice and a renewed determination to hold to honored convictions, even in the face of unspeakable violence. This generation of Christian young adults, and especially young men, is about to grow up a bit faster than they thought. The assassination of Charlie Kirk is not going to be forgotten, and the cries for justice are righteous and right."

Photo Credit: ©Courtesy of AlbertMohler.com

4. Ken Ham, founder, Answers in Genesis

"He was so gracious in the way he treated people. He was prepared to stand up for what he believed, but do it in a way that exhibited the fruit of the Spirit," Ham said in a social media video. …We'll be praying that God will be comforting his family. And somehow -- God's in control of all this -- and He has allowed this to happen for reasons. Maybe He'll use this to stir up a lot of other young people to be bold in their faith. Because, really, Charlie Kirk's a martyr. He was really martyred for his faith. I mean, he was so public with his faith and so bold.

"And maybe God will use this to stir up others. Maybe He'll use it to shock people into realizing there's something dreadfully wrong in this nation. And there is something dreadfully wrong. You know what it is. It's a heart problem. …For generations now, young people have been taught they're just animals, and the Bible is just a book of mythology, and therefore man is his own God. …They determine right and wrong for themselves. They determine what their morality is. They determine how to define things.

"You see, God is the Creator, and therefore He defines everything. But we live in a time when what the book of Isaiah says is correct, absolutely. We see it happening before our very eyes. They call evil, good and good, evil. …We see moral relativism permeate the culture.

"... But you see, government is not the answer. Legislation is not the answer. …The answer is changed hearts and minds in regard to God's Word, in responding to the gospel to be saved."

Photo Credit: ©Getty Images/Mark Lyons/Stringer

5. Greg Laurie, pastor, Harvest Christian Fellowship, California

"This is a tremendous loss," Laurie said in a social media video. "I think about when I was young, how we were impacted by the JFK assassination. And I think for many young people, it'll have a similar effect on them. There's a resurgence of young people returning to church right now, especially Gen Z and without question, Charlie Kirk had their ear and was influencing so many of them at a time like this. We ask -- Why? Why would God allow something like this to happen? And I can't really answer that question. I know we grappled with that 'why' question when our own son, Christopher, age 33 died in an automobile accident 17 years ago. So we pivoted to the 'what' question and the 'who' question first. The 'what' question -- what do we do? Well, we need to turn to God. And I think that we need to be inspired by Charlie's life. He was carrying the baton, and one would have thought he would have carried it for many more years, but now his race is done, but he hands that baton off, and we need to carry it to the next generation and call them to Christ and speak boldly on cultural issues and not be embarrassed or be ashamed.

"... I pray that there will be a spiritual awakening in America. I know that was something Charlie cared about and talked about a lot as well. You know, when I was younger, we had the assassination, I already alluded to, of President Kennedy, then Martin Luther King was assassinated. And not long after that, RFK, the brother of President Kennedy, was assassinated as well. And on the heels of that, a great spiritual awakening broke out in America called the Jesus Movement. May God use the life and the legacy of Charlie Kirk to remind America that we need to turn back to God."

6. Jack Hibbs, senior pastor, Calvary Chapel, Chino Hills, Calif.

"Charlie did what he did every morning -- kissed his family, read some Scripture, put on his pants and went to heaven," Hibbs told Newsmax. "… Every time that Charlie spoke, at any event, the media may not have covered it, but he always gave the gospel and the love of Jesus Christ to even the most antagonistic interrogator on the other side of the debate microphone. …That voice has been silenced. The message has not been silenced.

"... I believe that this is going to actually cause more and more young people to find out more about Charlie Kirk and find out what it was that he was willing to die for. Maybe, maybe it's something that they can take on, too. I think it's going to take a lot of shoes to fill Charlie's, but I think it's going to happen.

"... Charlie embodied what a young person should be doing, what older people should be supporting. He was so representative of the founding of this nation 250 years ago. That's how far we are from our roots. We need to get back."

7. Miles Mullin, acting president, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission

"Within the last 18 months, there have been political assassinations in Minnesota, attempted political assassinations of both the governor of Pennsylvania and then-presidential candidate Donald Trump, a deadly shooting at Annunciation Catholic School, and now this: the murder of political activist Charlie Kirk," Mullin wrote in a Baptist Press column. "Nearly every day we collectively sense the simmering low-key threats of violence that bubble beneath the surface at youth sporting events, customer service desks, and other public places.

"Our country is more violent, and it unsettles us. We want to live in a country that is safe -- where we are safe. But, we live in a country located squarely within a fallen world. A fallen world where sin crouches at the door seeking to pounce (Gen. 4:7), and when it pounces, death follows (Gen. 4:8).

"As citizens of an earthly kingdom we call America, there are things we must do to push back against the darkness that is pressing in. We must oppose the release of violent offenders, condemn political violence, and defend free speech, for these are good and right.

"But most importantly, as members of a heavenly Kingdom, we must point people to Jesus Christ, for it is only through him that the root cause of violence -- the sin that pervades this fallen world and our hearts -- can be overcome. And it is only through him that our fear of death is cast away, eternal safety is secured, and people can truly live in freedom. This is what Charlie would want, for even in the midst of his political activism, he constantly reminded us that 'It's all about Jesus,' who 'defeated death so [we] can live.'"