It’s been a heavy couple of weeks in America.

A young woman was murdered on a bus in Charlotte, North Carolina. Charlie Kirk was assassinated on a college campus in Utah. At the same time, a shooter opened fire at a school in Denver. Just weeks ago, students died in a shooting at a Christian school in Minneapolis.

Yes, people die every day in this country. Evil is not new. But these events have pierced our collective conscience. They’ve made evil feel close. They’ve reminded us of the fractures and rage just beneath the surface of our culture.

Charlie Kirk was a Christian brother who gave his life to advancing the gospel and engaging the public square with truth. He wasn’t perfect, but he was courageous—and his courage cost him his life.

For those who shared many of Charlie’s convictions, his murder feels personal. Is that what America has come to—that believing what he believed is worthy of death? Judging by some of the celebrations online, it seems there are those who think so.

The young woman in Charlotte could have been your daughter, your sister, your wife, or your best friend. The children in Denver or Minneapolis could have been your kids. This is why this week hurts—it feels like it could have been us.

I’ve wrestled with how to respond. The anger, grief, and confusion are real. The temptation is to retreat into despair or lash out in rage. But neither is faithful. Instead, we must look at these events through the lens of God’s Word and respond with both moral clarity and Christian hope.

Sin, Evil, and the Role of Government

The first truth we must face is that we live in a fallen world. This is not Heaven. Creation groans under the weight of sin. Evil is real and active.

The book of Judges describes a society in rebellion against God: “In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.” (Judges 21:25)

That could have been written about our own day. We live in a time of moral anarchy. We call evil good and good evil. We celebrate rebellion against God and then act surprised when chaos follows.

But God, in His mercy, gave us law to restrain evil. He established government to uphold justice. Romans 13 calls rulers “God’s servants for your good,” bearing the sword to punish wrongdoers and protect the innocent. Peter says governors are sent “to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good” (1 Peter 2:14).

Justice is not optional. It is the God-given duty of the government.

And yet our society has abandoned that duty. We excuse wrongdoing. We frame criminals as victims, eroding accountability. Violent offenders with dozens of convictions return to the streets again and again. We have replaced justice with endless rehabilitation programs that rarely work and put the public at risk.

The man who murdered the young woman in Charlotte had no business being free. The government failed in its most basic task: to protect its citizens. When courts and councils turn violent offenders loose, the vulnerable pay the price.

Christians must not grow numb to this. Justice is a matter of loving our neighbor. Proverbs 21:15 says, “When justice is done, it is a joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers.” Our current system sends the opposite message—evil will not be punished, good will not be protected, and citizens must fend for themselves. The result of injustices is that the righteous are terrorized and evildoers rejoice.

We must demand reform in our criminal justice and mental health systems. People who pose a clear danger must be detained and treated, not left to harm others. Justice delayed is justice denied, and a government that refuses to bear the sword invites lawlessness.

Our legislators, judges, prosecutors, counselors, therapists, pastors, law enforcement, and others must have the moral courage and resolve to not only speak out for what is just and true, but also act in accordance with it.

Truth, Spiritual Warfare, and the Christian Witness

Charlie Kirk believed that ideas should be debated, not silenced with bullets. He knew that truth is the foundation of a flourishing society. That’s why so many Christians feel unsettled right now. His murder forces us to ask: do we have the courage to speak truth when it costs something?

Too many believers stay quiet out of fear of appearing partisan. But we must stop confusing courage with compromise. Politics has shifted. We’re no longer just arguing about tax rates and infrastructure bills—we’re arguing about metaphysical realities: what is a man, what is a woman, what is marriage, what is life? These are creational truths.

When Christians speak on these issues, we are not taking “political positions.” We are taking Christian positions that happen to line up with one party more than the other. That does not make them partisan positions—it makes them biblical ones.

The most important thing we can do right now is stop being silent. Pastors especially must find their voices. Normal people across the country are done being quiet, and it’s time for the church to lead with courage.

Let’s be honest: America stands at a crossroads. We can choose Christ or chaos.

The visions being offered for our nation are not morally equivalent. We can return to the Christian foundations and worldview that once made our country strong, or we can descend into lawlessness where everyone does what is right in his own eyes. Those are the stakes.

Please make no mistake, we must choose between two distinct futures. And they are not the same. Our two political parties in our country are not morally equivalent to each other.

I am not baptizing the Republican Party. They are not the official party of Jesus. They did not come from Mount Sinai on high from God to say “Thus saith the Lord.”

But the current state of the Democratic Party, as they are, is not the party that my parents believed in and followed when I was a kid. It’s not the same party.

They are a party at war with creational realities every day. Creational realities.

They are at war about what it means to be a man or a woman, about marriage, about sexuality, about who has the right to live in a womb. They are at war with life and prosperity.

There is one side in particular with a progressive ideology that not only tried to suppress the story of the young woman in Charlotte, but also celebrated both in the media and with college professors and many others the death of a man whose beliefs they did not hold.

We are not talking about the two same kind of things. As Edmund Burke famously warned, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” There is no universe where this kind of thing can be okay. We are in a battle for truth and for the future of our nation.

And if you’re more concerned about sounding partisan than you are concerned about the reality of what’s actually happening in our society right now, you have lost the plot.

But this is not just a cultural fight or a political fight; it is also a spiritual one. Scripture reminds us: “We do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against…the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians 6:12)

The hatred that drove someone to murder Charlie Kirk was not merely political—it was demonic. The dehumanization of those who bear God’s image is satanic at its core. But we must not lose heart: “He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” (1 John 4:4)

Our response must be marked by courage and love. Jesus commands us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us (Matthew 5:44). Loving our enemies does not mean ignoring justice or avoiding truth. It means refusing to repay evil with evil. We answer hatred with good.

And we must pick up Charlie’s mantle. He called young people to faith in Christ, to marriage and family, to purpose. If his death means anything, it must mean that more of us will proclaim that same message—boldly and without apology.

Life, Death, and the Hope of the Gospel

Tragedies like these force us to confront a sobering reality: life is short. Neither Charlie nor the young woman in Charlotte knew it would be their last day. One day, it will be ours. Are we ready to meet our Maker? The good news of the gospel is that we can be ready.

“Christ died for our sins…he was buried…he was raised on the third day.” (1 Corinthians 15:3–4)

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

Jesus died to offer forgiveness and eternal life to all who repent and believe. This is the hope that sustained Charlie Kirk—and it can sustain us.

Yes, we grieve. We are angry. But we do not grieve as those without hope. We do not despair. The day is coming when Christ will wipe away every tear, death will be no more, and all things will be made new (Revelation 21:4). Until that day, we cling to the God of all comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3–4) and let our grief drive us to greater faithfulness.

A Call to Prayer and Action

America needs healing. But healing won’t come through politics alone. It won’t come by venting online or retreating in despair. It will come when God’s people humble themselves and seek His face.

“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)

We are not Israel, but the principle still holds. We need a movement of God. We need revival in our churches, courage in our leaders, and reform in our institutions.

So we will pray. We will grieve. We will demand justice. We will speak the truth. And we will proclaim Christ as the only hope for a broken and divided nation.

Because the alternative is unthinkable.