“The tongue of the wise uses knowledge rightly,
But the mouth of fools pours forth foolishness.
The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge,
But the mouth of fools feeds on foolishness.”
Proverbs 15:2, 14 (NKJV)
Many of us have watched over the years dialogues between Charlie Kirk and college students. The students often approached the open microphone with an emotional statement or a very charged accusation/question; Charlie took the statement seriously, treated the person seriously, and then went about replying. Sometimes the replies were grounded solely in secular political philosophy or economics, sometimes they touched on the need for forgiveness from God and a life rooted in Christ Jesus.
For me, the interactions over time displayed several things: first, the sheer mass of ignorance and foolishness living in the hearts of countless college students. Even those students who weren’t openly hostile revealed fairly shocking shallowness, or self-contradicting opinions, or worldviews grounded on my-feelings-as-authority. The second observation was the indefatigable and cheerful willingness of Charlie Kirk to question, challenge, support, and educate those speaking with him as well as those listening in. One gets the sense that he immensely enjoyed it all, that he loved those students, and that he loved them enough to free them from bad beliefs or assumptions even if it meant insults, attacks, and even death threats.
“Deliver those who are drawn toward death,
And hold back those stumbling to the slaughter.
If you say, “Surely we did not know this,”
Does not He who weighs the hearts consider it?
He who keeps your soul, does He not know it?
And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?”
Proverbs 24:11-12 (NKJV)
Your children are growing up in a world that is working to make more self-referencing, angry, activist atheists and socialists. This is, of course, distressing, and all the more so because the threat communicated is silence or death to those who resist that agenda.
Yet, it is also nothing new in the grand sweep of history. Jesus told his followers, “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33). What an extraordinary thing to say!
You may have seen clips of Charlie Kirk answering the question, “How would you want to be remembered? and he said, “I want to be remembered for courage for my faith.” I think he said that with the good cheer the Lord told us all to have.
What ought we do given these terrible murders and societal breaks? We ought to do what Paul said in Ephesians, “And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord” as well as “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.” (Deuteronomy 6:7). We should do what God has always taught parents to do. Only
maybe today, we have a better appreciation of what’s at stake, and what happens when a generation fails to raise up their children well.
Thanks to Charlie Kirk, we also have an amazing example of how powerful the testimony of truth can be when delivered with wisdom, grace, and the cheer of the Lord Jesus Christ.
“Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong.
Let all that you do be done with love.”
1 Corinthians 16:13-14 (NKJV)
May the Lord bless you and keep you,
Brian Turner
Head of School
