And yet, and yet…

I honestly hesitate to write this today. Not because I think what I’ll write will be controversial, but because I wonder at the effectiveness of adding my voice to the chorus of expressions that I’ve seen online reacting to the murder of Charlie Kirk. To be fair, I didn’t know who he was before it all happened. And yet, many people I love and respect have reacted in a whole myriad of ways to the killing.

What should we say to an act of cold-blooded violence like this? What should we say to the violation of another’s free speech and to the brutal acts that have been committed? I think I have to mention that the peculiarity of the era we are now going through is marked by people of every political stripe seeming to devolve into violent means to get a message out. He made someone upset, and they killed him for it.

What we are watching is a universal despair of the truth. For a long time people have been told that their opinions matter and have been given an open microphone to pitch them into the world. What we are now experiencing is the result of the emptiness of those promises. The vast majority of opinions are pitched into the digital void to never be heard again. The result makes sense: most begin to shrug their shoulders at the matter, others try to force meaning and impact by violence. It is ugly.

I had the unique juxtaposition this past week of interacting with a ministry that fights against sex trafficking in LA at the same time that this news broke. As I was walking by rooms where young women who have been abused for the majority of their lives can get a simple night of rest, I was struck by the evil that causes this. The reality is that the multi-billion dollar pornography industry drives this degeneration, and as a result hundreds of thousands of young lives are ruined. What should we do with this? With murder and prostitution and homelessness and judgment and apathy?

And yet, sin is always ugly, no matter what the medium. When we place our hopes and dreams in flawed, corrupt, and immoral systems, the result is like missing a stair in the dark: it frightens, it jars, it hurts, it causes a reaction. We live in a generation that has missed a step.

Murder is horrendous and an affront to God, no matter what political banner it’s done under.

Do you want to know how to see this cycle of ugliness end? Be sacrificially kind to one another. Place your faith in Jesus and not in a bot with an agenda. Be a person of integrity, meaning what you are doing with your life. Don’t take the lazy route and just toss your opinions into the digital ocean. Make a difference and love someone you hate. Stop telling everyone else to change, and make a change yourself.

Have grace for those who have none.

I absolutely believe that the chaos of our time is a result of generations given empty promises, and the human heart lashing out to mean something real. I absolutely believe that the only answer for human hearts is a Savior who cares. I absolutely believe in him, and in you.

So do you really want my opinion? Probably not. Most likely it’ll wind up being a whisper in the whirlwind. But you know what, I mean it.

So I’ll say it anyway.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. ¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. ¹⁷ Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. ¹⁸ If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.

Romans 12:14-18