Martyn Iles: Charlie Kirk Is A Martyr

This is a slightly abridged version of what Martyn Iles posted on social media in response to the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

When I think of Charlie Kirk, I think of strength and joy.

It is a rare and unmistakable combination.

I can think of a few moments in my career when I’ve encountered it powerfully.

It has always been among Christians who do hard things.

THERE IS A GAPING HOLE IN CHRISTIAN ACTIVISM

A brimming and indefatigable joy — despite being stretched to the limit by opposing forces and a relentless schedule — is a special blessing of the active Christian.

But a young man with boundless energy, incredible promise, a massive testimony, and a huge smile is now dead.

He leaves behind a young family.

There is a gaping hole in Christian activism.

It is an understatement to call it a tragedy.

I don’t say this lightly, but he is a martyr.

CHARLIE KIRK PREACHED THE GOSPEL OVER AND OVER

Yes, he was political, but any honest observer must note that he preached the Gospel over and over and over, using his advocacy work as a platform for it.

It was his first love and he didn’t hide it.

He overtly anchored many of his main points in the Bible and in the work of Christ.

The fact that he is a martyr is a large part of the tragedy, but it also offers rays of hope.

“YOUR BROTHER WILL RISE AGAIN”

First, we know the words of Christ: “Your brother will rise again. I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”

Charlie is alive right now, and he is rewarded with the special joy and privilege that comes to those who share in Christ’s sufferings.

I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death. (Philippians 3:10).

He is so identified with Jesus in being killed by those who hated him.

“DEATH OF A MARTYR BEARS MUCH FRUIT”

I have a second observation that is perhaps less understood.

I say this without meaning any insensitivity – only to offer hope:

Scripture reminds us that the death of a martyr bears much fruit.

There is a strange paradox in God’s sovereignty whereby He mocks evil by seeing that it ends up destroying itself.

The works of darkness become causes of their own destruction. 

‘WHAT YOU INTENDED FOR EVIL, GOD INTENDED FOR GOOD”

This is what Joseph recognised when he said (with the benefit of hindsight):

“What you intended for evil, God intended for good.”

Evil was done, but it confounded itself in the long run.

For the greatest example, look no further than Charlie’s Saviour.

THE VICTORY OF JESUS

Everyone thought that His awful death was the hopeless end of a false expectation.

But it was literally the world’s salvation.

Everyone thought that the powers of darkness reigned supreme that day.

But God “put them to an open shame.”

Their apparent victory was actually His total victory and the cause of their undoing, in time.

PATTERN IS JUST AS REAL TODAY

This pattern is just as real today, and it is repeated in miniature in Christ’s servants.

The early church saw this in the days of the martyrs and it made them strong.

They knew that this pattern, though horrible on the one hand, was never fruitless.

Jesus spoke of His own death in this way:

“Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” (John 12:24).

He then applied it as a wider principle.

“CHARLIE KIRK’S DEATH WILL NOT BE IN VAIN”

I want you to know that Charlie lived and died in such a way that it will not be in vain.

Indeed, the fruit of his life and death will be enormous.

I can’t tell you exactly how because I can’t see everything, and time has not run its course.

But this is the teaching of scripture. This is the witness of Jesus Christ.

‘WE DO NOT RESPOND WITH FEAR OR SILENCE”

Charlie stands out in his generation in this regard – above us all.

It seems impossible that his family’s grief will be answered, or that the promised fruit will come.

But we know all these things are possible because of our Lord Jesus Christ who has overcome the world in life and in death.

Also, we act. We do not respond with fear or silence.

We know that some things are worth it, and we keep on doing those things.