What do you love? And what do you hate enough that, when it threatens what you love, you’re willing to fight for it?

I’ve lived a great life. I grew up going to a great school and even better church in a small town with good friends. I earned an engineering degree from a reputable university, and I now attend a conservative, Bible-believing seminary. I’ve traveled the world on mission trips and seen God work in mighty ways. This is a life I have loved and cherished.

But in the background of this wonderful life, the message from the world has been clear. Because I am a Christian, straight, white, male, I am therefore bigoted, homo/transphobic, racist, and misogynistic. Thus,  my opinions and perspective are not welcome in broader society. 

I’m not too surprised by this. Our Lord told us to expect as much.

“Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account.”  Matthew 5:11

“In Me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

If the world hated Him first, why shouldn’t it hate me if my identity is rooted in Him? But it’s not just my spiritual identity they hate. It’s also the immutable attributes God gave me at conception.

These accusations never concerned me because I always had that assurance that my life and work were in service of the one who overcame the world, who promised to destroy the evil we see daily once and for all.

Of course, that was when they were merely accusations.

As it turns out, words have meanings, and accusations carry weight. The incessant conflation of the good, the true, and the beautiful, which we as believers celebrate, with the evil, the dishonest, and the horrific that oppose us, has led some sinister devotees to pursue the logical end of these accusations. After all, mustn’t “evil” be destroyed?

In our postmodern world, handed down to us by generations past, the most significant transgression conceivable would be to deny someone “their truth” or “their reality.”

Again, why are we surprised? In a world without objective truth, whatever you decide is good for you, dare not be questioned. Who are you, straight-white-male, to argue that I shouldn’t put my child on hormone blockers, or that illegal immigration is a threat to our society, or that I shouldn’t murder my unborn child?!

By the grace of God, that philosophy is dying. It has failed to satisfy the way it promised. It failed to deliver the fulfilling life that everyone desires. As it turns out, what we determine to be good, true, and beautiful has no bearing on reality. Eyes are being opened, and truth is being sought after.

The problem? Those ardent devotees to a dying worldview want to hold so tightly to this godless ideology that says, “I get to determine reality! I am the arbiter of what is true! I am the only god in my life!”

Those poor, misguided souls have been told some fantastic lies and sold a false bill of goods. Now they propagate it. They hold so tightly to the idea that they can build a moral framework from which to judge the world, a self-serving morality that makes them the tolerant victors.

That was Charlie Kirk’s greatest sin. Greater than being a straight-white-male, greater than loving his country, greater than marrying young, greater than starting a family…was his perceived “intolerance.”

Charlie was repulsed by the wickedness and vile character that postmodernism created. He labored endlessly to win hearts and minds in the enemy’s playground: America’s college campuses.

And they killed him for it. On September 10, he was murdered for no other reason than his effectiveness in speaking truth to a lost and wicked world.

He was armed not only with a quick mind and detailed arguments, but with a truth that is greater than some man-made ideology or pompous philosophical framework. He pursued and communicated the only truth by which lives may be transformed and hearts of stone may be replaced with hearts of flesh.

Hear me well: postmodernism has validated the supremacy of the self in a new way. It enabled the wretch to make himself his own god. Charlie fought for their souls, not with a sword but with the love of his Redeemer. But they loved their debauchery, and Charlie refused to affirm it. They wanted everyone to celebrate their wicked lifestyles, but Charlie’s message was too compelling. Eyes were being opened, and that was just unacceptable.

Deep in my soul, I am seething with fury. I don’t enjoy it, nor do I celebrate it, nor do I wish it to persist. I envy who I was a few days ago, a seminarian serving in a local church, jovial and enthusiastic. Surely this must be how David felt when he wrote: “Arise, O Lord! Save me, O My God! For you strike all my enemies on the cheek; you break the teeth of the wicked” (Psalm 3:7).

So where do I go from here? Where do any of us go?

For starters, I’m fighting hard to cling to Paul’s command: “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21).  But my sinful flesh is competing against me. How am I to persist? What good must I do to overcome this evil?

It is my obligation as a Christ follower to love my enemies and pray for those who persecute me. I can say with integrity that my desire is for their salvation. How great are the testimonies of those who have been redeemed from this nefarious ideology! Oh, that in the coming months and years we would see a renewed devotion to the God of grace, who in His great love offers redemption to a fallen and wickedly sinful people.

But to fulfill that obligation, I cannot stand idly by. I will not affirm what is debauched. I will not compromise with evil, and I will continue to call out those who do.

A great solace lies in the Beatitudes, namely the command to hunger and thirst for righteousness. I must long for God and strive to be molded into His image. I must continue to grow in obedience and faithfulness as His redeemed servant. And with everything in me, I must continue to chase hard after God and foster a love for Him in those around me, because He is worthy of it.

Simply put, I must keep loving God. And cherish His plan of redemption for sinners like myself. I must rejoice at His sanctifying work in the hearts of His followers.

Because of this love, I hate with every fiber of my being this godless ideology that has ensnared the last four generations and convinced them that their vices are virtuous, all the while indoctrinating them to resort to whatever means necessary to protect the very vices that hold their destruction.

How can I overcome evil with good in this way? Ultimately, I cannot. I have no authority to tell a dead man to rise or cause a blind man to see.

These are works of God that we pray for, but God, in His grace, allows us to be instruments in His redemptive work, presenting the good, the true, and the beautiful, so that others have no choice but to respond in one of two ways.

I will contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. I will not go gently into the night and watch the world be taken captive by hollow and vain philosophies. Because of my love for God and my desire to see His name made great, I will continue to hate evil and labor to overcome it with good.

Will you join me?