Statement from Pastor Paul Lawler on the Tragic Death of Charlie Kirk (Update)
UPDATED: On the Assassination of Charlie Kirk, and My Recent Social Media Post
On Wednesday of last week, we all heard the news of the assassination of Charlie Kirk. When the news broke, I issued the following statement:
Today we grieve the news of the assassination of social commentator, Charlie Kirk. Our nation has lost a great Christian intellectual, deep thinker, and one who modeled the gift of civil dialogue. Our prayers go out to his wife and family. Our prayers also go out to our nation as we grieve this unthinkable act. We condemn political violence of any kind and pray that we will all labor to preserve public spaces throughout our nation as safe zones for working through varying perspectives represented throughout our democracy.
The post regarding the sudden death of Charlie Kirk was expressed in an hour of great grief related to an assassin's bullet and the loss of life, for a wife and children who no longer have a husband and father, and for the dark state of our nation.
Kirk was a deep thinker who challenged the cultural status quo on numerous issues. My calling him a "Christian intellectual" is related to his profession of Jesus Christ as His Lord and Savior, his entire family's active involvement in their local church, and his own deep thinking. If he did not have high intellectual acumen, he would not have been invited onto the set of many news programs, talk shows, have a large following on his podcasts, or draw large crowds on college campuses. My post was not an endorsement of everything he has said, nor was it a political endorsement, but it was rooted in deep grief related to a dark scar that will be forever etched into our history as a nation.
For what it’s worth,it has always been a conviction of mine to guard against politicizing the pulpit. This remains true. I would have posted something similar if a prominent thinker representing a left-leaning perspective had been assassinated. All people are of sacred worth. This truth is baked into universal reality by our Creator.
No Christian, nor any Christian intellectual throughout time, has gotten everything right at any hour of history. (Luther was anti-Semitic; Wesley had a terrible marriage, C.S. Lewis drank too much later in life, and we could go on...) In time, history will judge each person, and to a greater degree, each will stand before the Judgment seat of Christ and give an account of their lives and every idle word they have spoken. And for what it is worth, so will you and so will I. (2 Corinthians 5:10; Matthew 12:36)
Even though Charlie Kirk was controversial and polarizing, leaders from around the world issued statements following the news of his death. These statements validate our grief as a nation and come from people with varying political perspectives. You can read those HERE. The Catholic Church issued a statement. Many protestant denominations issued statements. As your Pastor, I also issued a statement. In each case, these words are not endorsements of everything Charlie said or every perspective he held but were expressions of deep sorrow over an evil tragedy.
As we move forward as a nation, may God give all of us grace as we grieve. May God give Charlie’s wife, daughter, and son the strength as they attempt to move forward. May God give wisdom to our nation to become better at civil dialogue. May God heal us, revive us, and usher us into a better day.
ORIGINAL: Statement from Pastor Paul Lawler, Senior Pastor of Christ Methodist Church of Memphis:
Today, we grieve the news of the assassination of social commentator, Charlie Kirk. Our nation has lost a great Christian intellectual, a deep thinker, and one who modeled the gift of civil dialogue. Our prayers go out to his wife and family. Our prayers also go out to our nation as we grieve this unthinkable act. We condemn political violence of any kind and pray that we will all labor to preserve public spaces throughout our nation as safe zones for working through varying perspectives represented throughout our democracy.
