Charlie Kirk was killed a few days ago and a good part of the world is grieving.  What I have found interesting is that everyone seems to need to qualify their condemnation of the violence by saying, “while I didn’t believe everything he said, we shouldn’t support killing of others’ beliefs.”

Why do we feel so strongly that such qualifiers have to be made?  That people didn’t agree with everything?  Is it because we have become that tribal?  That we are scared because of maybe the way he supported one candidate over another?

• Did we agree with everything Abraham did when he lied about his wife?
• Did we agree with everything Moses did when he killed?
• Did we agree with everything David did when he killed and committed adultery?
• Did we agree with everything Solomon did when he used his authority as king to get hundreds of women?

Sometimes I think today we would approach the death of Jesus like this:  I didn’t agree with everything he said (“eat my flesh and drink my blood”), or everything he did (“he knocked over the tables of the money changers at the temple”), but he was a good man.  He gave a lot of good teachings and such. I didn’t agree with him but I don’t condone the violence of the cross.

Somehow this rhetoric, feels off.  It feels like virtue signalling.  Self-righteousness somehow.  That those who say such things have to make sure that they it means they aren’t voting the way he did or believing the way he did.

The reality is that Charlie was a Christian brother.  He preached Christ.  He spoke of righteousness.  He engaged people.    He was killed because he confronted sin.

John the Baptist was killed because he confronted the sin of Herod.

Stephen was killed because he confronted the sin of the Jews.

The prophets of the Old Testament and the apostles of the New Testament were all killed because they confronted sin and called people to repent.

Jesus confronted sin and was killed.  (“Repent” was his first message (Matthew 4:17; Luke 5:31-32).  Read Matthew 23.  It is scathing.)

Our problem is our gospel has become soft.  Charlie was a good example with confronting sin with a smile, wise words, and never backing done upon his convictions.  He was killed for that.

There is a righteous grief.

So how do we respond to our brother’s death?

The answer is bold proclamation of the gospel.  More bold than ever before.  It has always been this way when the saints have suffered.

* When Stephen was murdered, they went out with great boldness.

“they that were scattered abroad went every where preaching the word” (Acts 8:4 KJV).

* When Paul was imprisoned, the believers were provoked to greater boldness in the gospel:

“Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.  As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ.  And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear” (Philippians 1:12-14).

* When Peter and John were arrested, the angel of the Lord told them to go to the very center of Judaism at the temple courts and preach the gospel.

Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy.  They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.  But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out.  “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life“… “Then someone came and said, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.” (Acts 4:17-20; 25).  

Righteous grief responds to violence with greater proclamation of the gospel.  It is the very thing Jesus commanded.

After Jesus died, he rose and appeared to them again.  And what did he say?  He told them to “Go!”  (Matthew 28:18-20).  It wasn’t hold back.  Hide.  Cower.  Just be nice and preach less boldly, spread a softer gospel.

He promised persecution, suffering, and death.  But he told them to go.  Just, go.  If you die, you are safe with me.  And so they did.

The question is, will we?

As Tertullian later said, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church,”