I have to confess that I never really watched a lot of Charlie Kirk’s videos before his murder. He was on my radar primarily as a provocateur and the organizer of efforts to get professors he saw as too liberal fired (an effort that I strongly disagree with)
But since his murder, I have watched a lot more of his videos and exchanges, and have been really struck in particular by how frequently Kirk turned conversations back to faith in Jesus Christ. What I have come to appreciate is that Kirk was a man deeply driven by his faith in Jesus and his desire to proclaim him. I also came to see how Kirk would try to genuinely and respectfully engage with those who disagreed with him. Even though I still disagree with some of the positions Kirk held and tactics he employed, I have grown to really appreciate him.
If you haven’t seen it already, I highly recommend this video from Frank Turek who was there when Charlie was killed
One thing that has not gotten enough attention is how Kirk’s very last answer at UVU shortly before he was shot showed his powerful and consistent witness of Christ. As an ex-Mormon Christian who recently went witnessing to Latter-day Saints outside of BYU, this one hit particularly close to home
Unfortunately, I don’t think there is a complete video of the exchange, but Zach Metzger who was at UVU representing Ratio Christi wrote one of the most detailed accounts of it
I have yet to see a full clip of it come out, but the first student who asked Charlie a question that morning was a Mormon who asked Charlie what evidence he had for Christianity over against the Latter-day Saint faith. Charlie prefaced his answer with a reminder to the audience that he loves the Mormon community and that what he was about to say was not intended to upset them, but he went on to challenge the Mormon student on Mormonism. “Where is the archaeological evidence for the Book of Mormon?” “Where are the Golden Plates?” I remember Charlie asking the student questions like these.
Charlie then went on to contrast the evidence for Mormonism with that of Christianity. He explained how the Bible contains real people and real places that we have archaeological evidence for. He then went on to explain that there is real evidence for Christ’s empty tomb. He specifically talked about the 500 witnesses mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:6 and the fact that it was women who discovered the empty tomb, which the Gospel writers would not have made up. He cited Scripture after Scripture.
But Charlie didn’t just stop with facts supporting the Gospel, he proclaimed the Gospel itself to the crowd of about 3,000 people. “Jesus Christ was a real person. He lived a perfect life, He was crucified, died, and rose on the third day, and He is Lord and God over all,” Charlie said to a mostly cheering crowd.
I love that this was the last thing that Kirk got to talk about before his murder. Interestingly, Frank Turek mentioned that the question of how to share the Gospel with Mormons was one thing that they had actually been rehearsing for just before the event.
Ultimately, Kirk is exactly right. The evidence for the resurrection is overwhelming. And if the resurrection is true, then Jesus is Lord and Savior. There is no other more important thing that we can know. Jesus was “was crucified, died, and rose on the third day, and He is Lord and God over all.”
This is a short clip of his testimony of the resurrection minutes before he would be killed:
Ultimately, none of us knows how many days we have left on this earth. Few of us will be killed by an assassins’s bullet. But on any given day we could die in a car accident, or not wake up from sleep, or any number of other things.
From Charlie Kirk, I have gained a renewed desire to bear my witness of Christ to everyone that I can. I gained a renewed commitment to be fearless in speaking about Jesus and the salvation that he offers.
When asked about what he most wanted to be remembered for, Kirk answered “I want to be remembered for courage for my faith.”
That is the prayer of my heart as well.
The apostle Paul put it this way: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, will award to me on that day” (2 Timothy 4:7–8).
None of us knows how many days remain. But may we, like Paul—and like Charlie—live and die with the testimony of Jesus Christ on our lips.