A Pastoral Word to New Life Fellowship Church re: Charlie Kirk - By Rich Villodas

A Pastoral Word to New Life Fellowship Church - By Rich Villodas

Friends, I’d like to take a few moments to offer a pastoral word in light of the week we’ve had as a nation. It’s been an emotional week. A heavy week.

And if we are honest, the range of emotions in our country is felt right here in our congregation. We don’t live in a vacuum—we carry the news with us, we carry the pain of the world with us. As a city, we were reminded this week of a day in history that changed everything—September 11, 2001. 9/11 remains for us a sobering reminder of the painful reality of evil in our world.

And yet, as sobering as that was, it wasn’t even the only thing weighing on us this week. In Denver, another school shooting. Evergreen High School—two teenagers shot. A young shooter who took his own life. A community forever changed.

We also heard that over 200,000 Palestinians have been killed or wounded in Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza. Numbers that are almost too large to take in. Each one, an image-bearer of God.

We learned of a brutal killing of a Ukrainian refugee on a train in Charlotte.

And yet, that wasn’t even the main story dominating our attention.

Our nation has been shaken by the assassination of Charlie Kirk.

There are moments when a tragedy touches a nerve, and this is one of those moments. Almost everyone has had something to say. And so, as your pastor, before we move into prayer, I want to offer a few reflections.

First, what happened to Charlie Kirk was evil.

Political violence must be condemned—period. It doesn’t matter who the target is. Whether it’s a Democratic lawmaker, the President of the United States, or a political figure like Charlie Kirk—it must be condemned. This 31-year-old man, will never again see his wife and children. They will never again see their husband and father. This is a tragedy, and he did not deserve this.

And as followers of Jesus, we are called to walk the narrow path of compassion and empathy. Before we say anything else, before we debate or speculate, we pray for those who mourn. We pray for his family. For his wife. For their children. So let’s pause now, and hold them before God, as well as all those who are victims of violence.

[Prayer]

Second, when tragedy hits, our first response is lament.

Lament is not just feeling sad. Lament is not simply grieving. Lament is choosing to bring our pain, our questions, our anger, and our sorrow before God. Lament says: Lord, we can’t carry this by ourselves.

And there is much to lament.

We lament the culture of violence that runs so deep in our nation.

We lament the lack of imagination in addressing our gun crisis.

We lament the way we demonize one another across political and cultural lines.

We lament how thin and superficial our spirituality can become.

But lament isn’t the end of the story. Lament opens our hearts to God’s perspective. It positions us to receive grace to live differently, to respond to the world in the way of Jesus.

Third, we need to be mindful of how social media and the 24/7 news cycle are forming us.

We all want to be informed, but there is a line we cross where we are not just informed—we are being malformed.

Our addiction to outrage.

Our addiction to distraction.

Our addiction to numbing ourselves with our devices.

All of this works against the slow, deep work of the Spirit within us. It does not shape Christ in us. And if we’re not careful, the very tools we use to stay “aware” will erode our capacity to live with compassion, patience, and love.

Finally, this moment is a call to reflection and discernment about what faithfulness to Jesus really looks like.

This might be the central matter in all that is being said on social media. There has been much debate this week about Charlie Kirk’s faith. Some are calling him a good and faithful servant of Christ. Others are questioning whether he was truly a Christian at all.

And friends, here’s where we need humility. Like you, I’ve seen videos of Charlie speaking passionately about Jesus on college campuses. I’ve also seen videos of him using words that have caused great harm to black and brown people, to Muslims, and to LGBTQ people. We are in no position to offer the final word on anyone’s life, but what we must ask ourselves is this: What does it mean to be faithful to Jesus? What is discipleship to look like publicly?

If you read the gospels carefully, Jesus makes it very clear. The true mark of faithfulness to him is not prayer alone. It’s not fasting. It’s not speaking loudly about God in public.

The clearest mark of faithfulness to Jesus is this: loving our enemy.

That is the essence of Christian discipleship. That is the narrow way. And that is what we are called to—no matter our political persuasion, no matter our personal history, no matter what the world around us is doing.

And this is why, every Sunday, we pray a prayer of confession together. Because the world we long to see—a world of peace, justice, and love—begins with us. With our humility. With our honesty before God. With our willingness to name our shortcomings, and receive grace to be formed into the likeness of Christ.

So today, before we move forward, let us once again confess our sins together. Not just as individuals, but as a community that longs to bear faithful witness to Jesus in a broken and violent world.

[Prayer of Confession]