By Jonathan Keller, President & CEO, California Family Council
It was just one week before his assassination that I saw @CharlieKirk11 speak in Visalia, California. That proximity now feels both providential and haunting. Although our tenures at @CAFamily Council and @TPUSA overlapped almost entirely, we were (regrettably) not close friends. He was 11 years younger, and we ran in different circles, but I count myself blessed to have met him in person several times.
When Charlie first emerged, I’ll admit I was initially wary. Like many young activists trying to build a brand by capitalizing on the latest fad or fury, TPUSA seemed like an attempt to sell libertarianism to millennials. At the time, they were known for their “Socialism Sucks!” signs and stickers, not promoting Christian values.
But on September 21, as millions joined Charlie’s memorial in prayer and worship, I saw something deeper: a platform God used to point people beyond politics.
When Donald Trump came down the escalator in 2015, @TPUSA was on the rise. While many Christian leaders were concerned about handing the presidency to a former Democrat billionaire from New York, others worried about a brash 22-year-old college dropout from Chicago leading the conservative youth movement.
Some feared that Trump and Kirk might herald a new “Christ-less conservatism.” A political project that cut tax rates but not abortion rates, that defended markets but not marriages, and that mistook libertinism for liberty.
Early on, Charlie gave little reason to think otherwise. His college tours were more famous for zingers and memes than mentions of Scripture. Dr. @AlbertMohler, President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary @SBTS, once reflected on meeting a young Charlie backstage while speaking at a conference:
At that time, Charlie Kirk, as a very young conservative, was really not a Christian conservative in terms of his identity. As a matter of fact, he saw Christian conservatives as something of a limiting force of that other conservatives would have to overcome. He didn’t identify with Christianity personally.
And quite honestly, he spoke of, if not denying a conservative Christian influence in political conservatism, at least he wanted to limit it. And he saw that as a limiting factor in terms of conservative victory. And honestly, he wasn’t too impressed with a conservative Christian leader. I think that the Christian part was the drawback.
Indeed, in 2018, Charlie identified himself as a “Conservitarian,” telling the gay conservative podcaster Dave Rubin that the “imposition of (Christian) values through legislation and government” was “something I don’t necessarily support,” and that he tried to “always advocate for every one of my political positions through a secular worldview.”
But then Jesus got a hold of Charlie.
He began to be discipled by pastors like @RealJackHibbs and @RobMcCoyUS, and mentored by apologetics speaker and author @DrFrankTurek. In 2021, he founded @TPUSAfaith, declaring a goal of finding “1,000 Dietrich Bonhoeffers.”
That same year, Charlie also married @MrsErikaKirk. Together, they moved from building a political organization to fighting for the soul of an entire generation.
“The Charlie Kirk who emerged in just a few years openly identified with Christianity,” said Dr. Mohler. “He began to see Christian convictions as central to any kind of viable conservatism.”
In a speech to 100,000 mourners in person and millions online, @SecWar @PeteHegseth shared how Kirk “realized, like so many of us have, that this is not a political war. It’s not even a cultural war. It’s a spiritual war…You see, we always did need less government, but what Charlie understood and infused into his movement is we also needed a lot more God.”
Charlie has plenty of detractors who are more than happy to point out his shortcomings. Foes criticized his campus debates as unnecessarily provocative, bordering on arrogant, while others complained he was overly simplistic and lacked precision. And truthfully, some allies (myself included) were at times jealous of his success, especially at such a young age.
But Charlie’s assassination revealed a truth that many onlookers missed. I believe he embodied what our 26th President called “the man in the arena.” In Theodore Roosevelt’s April 23, 1910, speech “Citizenship in a Republic,” he declared:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
These words, written over a century ago, could have been Charlie’s epitaph. He entered the arena when too many “culture warriors” were content to critique him from the comfort of their pulpits, think tanks, and social media accounts. He went to hostile campuses where few conservatives dared to tread, endured mockery and protests, and paid the ultimate price for his convictions.
In doing so, Charlie set an example for conservatives, yes. But more importantly, he set an example for Christians.
So many of us long to hear “well done, good and faithful servant.” But in Jesus’ Parable of the Talents, that commendation was given only to the stewards who multiplied what their master entrusted to them by taking risks.
The one who played it safe? Some of harshest condemnation recorded in Scripture.
While Charlie certainly made mistakes, no one can accuse him of being overly cautious. He chose the risk of battle over the safety of silence, preferring to face failure in the arena rather than sit comfortably on the sidelines. He did not bury his calling or hide his light under a bushel.
The “Hall of Faith” listed in Hebrews 11 is filled with imperfect men – Noah, Abraham, King David, Gideon, and Samson – all with failures recorded elsewhere in Scripture. But the author counted them worthy to be immortalized, not for perfect theology or impeccable decorum, but for their bold, faith-driven actions!
“…Through faith,” the author tells us, these men and women “conquered kingdoms, enforced justice, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the power of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, were made strong out of weakness, became mighty in war, put foreign armies to flight” (Hebrews 11:33-34).
As my wife and I watched his memorial service last Sunday, some of the most powerful men and women in the world testified to Charlie’s deep faith in Jesus. Through the millions of young Americans he inspired, through Turning Point USA, and through the witness of his amazing wife Erika, who testified with such grace and courage, Charlie’s voice will echo for years to come.
Like Abel, the first martyr, “through his faith, though he died,” Charlie “still speaks” (Hebrews 11:4).
But here on earth, the arena remains, and it calls to the rest of us.
The arena isn’t limited to campuses. It’s the Church, the Capitol, the Culture – every sphere where truth confronts lies.
Jonathan Keller
Will we answer with the same courage Charlie demonstrated?
Will we strive boldly, as he did?
Or will we remain safely in the stands, content to critique those who dare to step into the ring?
The arena isn’t limited to campuses. It’s the Church, the Capitol, the Culture – every sphere where truth confronts lies.
The enemy wants us to believe these arenas belong to them. They want us cowering in our churches while they indoctrinate our children and criminalize our convictions.
Charlie’s assassination reminds us that the stakes are higher than we imagined. The arena is dangerous – deadly, even.
But it’s also where kingdoms are conquered, justice is enforced, and the lions’ mouths are stopped. If Charlie’s death teaches us anything, it’s that we cannot afford to remain in the stands.
Charlie proved that just one voice, committed to truth, can shake an entire system. Imagine what an army of such voices could accomplish! Not just critics or commentators, but doers.
I don’t think the conservative movement (or the church) should be waiting for another Charlie Kirk. He is irreplaceable.
Instead, I am praying for an entire generation of men and women to follow in Charlie’s footsteps.
We need a church full of faithful stewards who will, as the 18th-century missionary William Carey said, “expect great things from God; attempt great things for God!“
The battles are many.
The harvest is plentiful.
The arena is waiting.
Originally published on Jonathan Keller’s X profile: https://x.com/JonathanKeller/status/1971005039658631467 Reprinted with permission from Jonathan Keller. Photo by Jonathan Keller.
