A Clear and Present Day Martyr

Charlie Kirk, the Modern Stephen in USA

How the crack was met with a cry that only a spirit could hear.

When he entered into ivy halls without form of fear, there was carried a great gift which drew people ever near.

Courage and sound mind held sway every day. Withstanding when devils hidden came out to play.

Never would he yield and brought to their heel. At their altar they could not make the man kneel.

With a crack they’ve removed his voice but yet the words shall ever resound. May Stephen’s life bring baptism to Paul.

Let truth be known to all.

The book of Acts in the New Testament of the Bible records the early history of how the church, the believers in Jesus as the foretold messiah, grew in number and strength even in the face of persecution. In chapter 6 we see that the church in Jerusalem has grown so large that the disciples are needing to delegate duties of serving the poor and needy to others so that they can continue the work of evangelism. Amongst the elders chosen to do this task was a man named Stephen. What we know about him from this chapter is that he was filled with the Spirit of God and had a servant’s heart. But we also know that he was a man of good character that could be trusted by others to do what is right. It is in chapter 7 that he is taken by the Jewish priestly authorities for preaching and spreading the faith in Jesus. When he is before the Sanhedrin, their council of priests, he gives them a history lesson of their people starting from Moses all the way to the prophets and the present day pointing out their failings to understand the will of God while trying to reveal that they don’t have to follow in the same footsteps. Unfortunately, they are unwilling to listen because of their pride and take him out of the city to be stoned to death. As this is being done there is a man known as Saul of Tarshish. A man we know better by the name of Paul.

Paul was brought up with zeal for God and approved of what was being done to Stephen. A man whom he believed was guilty of blasphemy against God for saying an ordinary man who was also a blasphemer was telling the truth. But as we know from Acts chapter 9 Paul is knocked from the horse on his way to Damascus so he could continue the work of hunting down what he believed to be a heretical sect. In that process his eyes were opened and the same zeal for God led him to become a major leader in the early church by providing someone with upbringing and education in the finer aspects of the Jewish tradition combined with the insight Holy Spirit provides a person. His letters of instruction to church leaders throughout the Roman world would end up composing a vast amount of the New Testament.

Now what does this all have to do with the man Charlie Kirk? It has to do with one thing, hope. A hope that his life might influence others to have their eyes opened. He was an everyday man who chose to speak with others and engage in debate with people in places of debate and education. He went to places that held beliefs opposed to his own but he continued onwards. Using his time to help point people to Christ. When he encountered those who had been hurt by the members of the congregation that they were a part of, he would express sorrow. Saying that he was pained to hear that the people who are supposed to be better than others in how they behave and the standards of treating others that they strive towards would act in a way that caused pain to others. And likewise saying that he prays that person would be able to overcome that wound to their soul and be willing to once more open their hearts to Jesus Christ.

When Charlie Kirk was assassinated many people took to social media in celebration and declared that they wanted to find more members of his movement to also kill. There are also people who declared he wasn’t martyr material and so his death wouldn’t matter at all. But I find them to be wrong.

Life Before Death

A martyr isn’t made by the way a person dies. It is made by the life that they lived before dying. No one would care if a man who cussed people out and called them all sorts of names died at a speaking event and were doing this at the time of death. I say this knowing that there will always be people who follow a person enough to get them popularity. I am not referring to those who approved the behaviors but those outside of the circle. Now let me put forth a different scenario. If a man speaks respectfully to those who come with questions, and does his best to remain steadfast in beliefs, but is not hostile when confronted by those of a different belief and has respectful disagreements we can see how they might receive more sympathy from a wider audience. 

At the time of writing this blogcast, September 30th 2025, the motivation to the shooter is uncertain. Allegedly he claims it was because of Charlie Kirk’s hatred and stances against LGBT related issues. Stances which come from the instructions laid out for Christians by God in His word about sexuality being a special gift from God between a man and a woman which shouldn’t be perverted in any way. Be it through promiscuity and pornographic content for gratification, same-sex relationships, blurring the lines between man and woman which are clearly defined elements of biology, or any other ways we can think of God has made it clear that it’s something made to glorify Him symbolically. When man and woman come together in such a way it is meant to bring forth life via egg and sperm unifying to conceive a child that is the “one flesh” statement of how they are made into a single being. This act of creation models how God is our creator and from the two creates three similar to how we have God the Father and God the Son whose unity allows for the Holy Spirit to exist. Next is pregnancy which lasts for forty weeks or forty times seven to bring about three from two. Seven is the number of God and the amount of days it took for Him to create the world with one day to rest as an example for us to stop and remember all that He has done for us. Three is a number in reference to the triune nature of God. And forty is a number representing preparation and change under His guidance for His purposes. Kirk would often point to the Bible as to why he happened to hold his beliefs but he had other non-Bible dependent reasons for holding them. 

He is a martyr by the textbook definition of someone who dies for the sake of what they believe. But the effectiveness of a martyr will be determined by how they lived. What led up to their death and how they treated those around them. As Christians, we need to remember this and continually work to have our lives in submission to Jesus for the sake of transforming our character into something that is in line with His own. I had a dream in the first half of this year where I experienced the death of a martyr. It wasn’t anything big or grand, it was just my dream self doing regular life before the dream version of me was killed during prayer and I found myself with the other martyrs under the altar of God crying out for justice. Crying out to our brother Jesus for comfort.

So many of us want to be someone who gets named in the history books that we forget one important thing. we just will have a name known only to our Father in Heaven and the family He’s chosen to bless us with. Naked we came into this world and naked we shall depart it. It’s both humbling and terrifying to think about. How in the end very little will matter aside from where our souls end up and if we chose to do everything possible to bring more with us into the place of God’s grace.

Until next time, 

Courage and Godspeed may your thoughts always bring you closer to the Father of the Heavenly lights from whom all good things flow.