The tragic assassination of Charlie Kirk is more than the loss of a leader—it reveals the spiritual battle raging in today’s younger generation. The young man who killed him grew up in a Christian family, yet within just a year of college, he was radicalized to the point of deadly violence. That a life could turn so drastically so quickly is a sobering picture of the evil at work in our times.
Scripture tells us that the end of time is a season of harvest, when fruit—good or evil—comes to full maturity. Revelation 22:11 (NIV) says: “Let the one who does wrong continue to do wrong; let the vile person continue to be vile; let the one who does right continue to do right; and let the holy person continue to be holy.” A clearer sense of the verse is: “Let the wicked grow more wicked still, and let the righteous become more righteous still.”
This points to a growing polarization as history moves toward its conclusion. As Proverbs 4:18 (NIV) reminds us: “The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter till the full light of day.” At the same time, the path of the wicked grows ever darker.
Charlie Kirk was a spearhead for righteousness in his generation. He engaged those who opposed him with conviction and love. In his death, we see how fiercely some in this generation despised what he stood for. His murder is not just a personal tragedy—it is a glimpse of the larger cultural and spiritual warfare shaping young people today. Families are being torn apart, with adult children rejecting their parents because of this deep moral divide.
And yet, Scripture also gives us a more hopeful vision of the end. The last verses of the Old Testament declare: “See, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the parents to their children, and the hearts of the children to their parents” (Malachi 4:5–6, NIV).
So how should we respond? The answer is the way Charlie himself lived: engage, reason, and pray. To those who even rejoice at his murder, we are called not to withdraw but to reach out—to speak truth, to pray for them, and to believe for reconciliation. Instead of only focusing on the polarization of Revelation 22, let us also look with hope to the promise of Malachi—that God can turn hearts back to one another, even in the most divided of times.
© 2025 B Arnold Stein
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