A Call to Mourn, Unite, and Pray
By Ellis White, Senior Pastor
Hey church, it’s Pastor Ellis. I’ve been hearing from many of you over the last several days about how you have been impacted by the assassination of Charlie Kirk. So, I wanted to put some thoughts out there, about how we, as followers of Jesus, should respond to this tragedy, and others like it. I’ve got four things that I believe we should do.
First, call out evil for what it is. The prophet Isaiah wrote a series of “woe” statements, warning people against things that they were doing that were not good. One of those was “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.”[1] As followers of Jesus we have to be willing to speak out and call evil, evil. The assassination of Charlie Kirk was simply that: evil. And anyone who says otherwise is wrong. We must call out evil for what it is.
Second, mourn with those who mourn. Over the last several days I’ve heard about how many of you have been profoundly affected by this in a way that has surprised you. You are mourning Charlie’s death. But I’ve also heard from those who didn’t know who Charlie was. Some of you are mourning, some of you aren’t. But the call of Paul in his letter to the Romans is to, “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.”[2] If you are not mourning, you are called to come alongside those who are and mourn with them. We are one in Christ; when one of us hurts, all of us hurt. Which leads me to point number 3.
Let’s unite as a church. I heard the Oregon Ducks football coach talking about his locker room this past week. He said that they were all over the map politically and even on the topic of Charlie’s assassination. Yet, he said, they were coming together as one team in the locker room. Yet, it seems like this issue has been dividing rather than uniting the church. Jesus prayed for us, his followers, “that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.”[3] Jesus calls us to be united. Let’s not let the Oregon Ducks Football Team show us how it’s done. Let’s unite together as the church, around the person and work of Jesus. Don’t let the enemy pull us apart because we disagree with how another brother or sister is responding to this tragic event. There is more that holds us together than pulls us apart.
And fourth and finally, let’s pray for our country. In writing to his protégé, Timothy, Paul says, “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”[4] We must pray. For all people. For those in authority. For the family of Charlie Kirk. For the family of the shooter. And for God to use this to bring people to a saving knowledge of his son, Jesus.
So, church, let’s call out evil for what is evil. Let’s mourn with those who mourn. Let’s unite as the church. And let’s pray for our country.
Pastor Ellis
P.S. If you want to share this, I’ve also recorded this as a video that you can share with this link.
[1] Isaiah 5:20
[2] Romans 12:15
[3] John 17:20-21
[4] 1 Timothy 2:1-2