By: Jen McGee
Do you think Jesus was “too political” when He decided to document the stoning of Stephen, the first NT martyr killed for his faith?
I have been very disappointed this past week. Sure, I’ve gotten some “heat” from unbelievers because I posted about Charlie Kirk’s assassination. The “lost” have made stomach-churning, demonic comments, and they have cheered on the death of a Jesus-loving man who stood for truth, but they do not surprise me. The lost will continue to act lost.
However, to me, the saddest response to Charlie Kirk’s assassination has been from pastors and pastors’ wives. I’ve been told by fellow “pastors’ wives” that they can’t believe I would dare post anything about Kirk’s assassination because of the terrible things he stood for. They clearly have taken his comments out of context and jumped on a bandwagon of hate, seemingly driven by Satan himself. I clicked on one of the commenters’ profiles and saw a rainbow flag over her profile picture. What are we doing, church? Why are we not standing for God’s truth?
I’ve also seen several pastors stating that they felt too much pressure to talk about Charlie Kirk at church today. Others said they see no reason whatsoever to mention him, because they were “just going to preach Jesus”.
Now, I get what they are saying. Some people seem to love the flag more than the Bible. And that’s wrong. Jesus is ALWAYS our reason, our purpose, and our message. But are these pastors claiming they’ve never used any supporting material when they’ve preached? Jesus used stories, current events, and supporting material when he preached, didn’t He? So why can’t pastors and churches? Are they claiming they’ve never referenced martyrs like Stephen of the New Testament, or Jim Elliott? Or are those martyrs “safe” to talk about, and Charlie isnt’?
Men and women who have boldly stood for Jesus have been dying for thousands of years for their faith. But most of us have never watched this brutality with our own eyes so close to home. It’s hit us differently. And it’s causing us to think more about whether we can continue living a lukewarm life for Jesus. Why not be willing to talk about this in church, of all places?
This is not a time for complacency. The easiest thing in life is to just “say” we are a “Christian”, and then stay in our lane, blending in, living life as people pleasers – tip-toeing around, never making waves, or any difference at all. Scared to offend. Scared to get pounced on when Jesus’ truth doesn’t please this wicked world.
A young couple came to church today for the first time in many months. They told me that the craziness of this world has prompted them to start taking their faith seriously. They said they were tired of not doing this, and that they now understood that they will prioritize what’s important to them – and they wanted to prioritize their faith and going to church.
That’s why talking about Charlie’s death matters. Because it’s stirred our hearts to change. It’s convicted us to be bolder, and to make our lives count for Jesus. We are in a spiritual battle – don’t shy away from sharing Jesus and His truth!
We may lose social media followers, tithing church members, close friends, or even our lives, but as Jesus said, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” (John 15: 18-19)
We live in a dark time, but the light of Jesus is shining through – will it shine through you? God is at work, and what Satan meant for evil, God meant for good.
Just a Mom’s View 