A Pastoral Letter on the Death of Charlie Kirk

Dear WestGate Church.

Charlie Kirk—a conservative activist, author, and media personality—was shot and killed today while speaking at a university in Utah. But more accurately, and much more importantly, Charlie Kirk—a son, husband, father, and human being—was shot and killed today. Like many of you, I was stunned, saddened, and angered by the news. 

I did not agree with all of Charlie’s politics. Points of alignment were coupled with points of divergence. But agreement is not a prerequisite for love. Love has no prerequisites. If it did, it would cease to be love. To be formed into the image of Christ includes growing in our capacity to love all, with nothing required. To follow Jesus is to lean into the sometimes inconvenient and often beautiful journey of loving those near and dear to us, as well as the always challenging invitation to love strangers, acquaintances, and enemies too.

Charlie Kirk was not my friend nor was he my enemy. For the most part, he was an intriguing public figure whose debates made me think, sometimes made me upset, and occasionally made me reconsider. And as a Christian, he was my brother in the family of God. But I do not grieve his death today for those reasons alone. I grieve his death because death is wrong. His wife and young children should still have their husband and dad. His friends should still have their friend. Charlie should not have died today. Death wrought on one human being by another like this is evil, full stop. 

There is undeniably much evil in our world. This is not what shocks us, though it should. What shocks us is when death comes knocking on our door personally. Or when death comes rumbling through the digital walls of our smartphones and feeds, as it has today… as it has on many days in recent months and years. Far too many days.

From George Floyd during the pandemic to the school shooting in Minneapolis a couple of weeks ago to Charlie Kirk’s assassination today, the onslaught of evil in our world is unrelenting. So I grieve with you today, and am saddened and angered with you too. 

Come, Lord Jesus.
Deliver us from evil. 

I’ll leave you today with a prayer we’ve prayed together at church more often than I’d like in recent years, adapted from a prayer written by my friend David Taylor.

O Lord, you who abhor those who murder the innocent
Be not deaf to our bitter cries, we pray, and do not abandon us to our pain this day. 
Hear and heed our groans for justice, and meet us in this lowly and desperate place. Deliver us from evil, for your name’s sake, so that we might witness
Your might to save and your power to heal.
We pray this in the name of our Fortress and Refuge. Amen.

Grace, Peace, and Love to you,

Jay Kim
Lead Pastor