The Blood of the Martyrs

Many of us have been deeply moved by the news of the assassination of Charlie Kirk for his Christian faith and conservative political views. It was even more disturbing to observe how people celebrated his death on social media and on public broadcasting networks. The motivation behind Kirk’s murder was to eliminate his voice and to intimidate those with similar views into silence. However, instead of suppressing Kirk’s witness, his death has elevated him to both national and international prominence. Whereas before his organisation, Turning Point USA, had around 3500 chapters, within a week or two following his death, his organisation has received more than 50,000 applications for new chapters to be established at high schools and universities. Not only that but all over the world media outlets and millions of people have reported the story of his faith in Jesus. Tertullian’s famous words at the end of the second century, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church,” is often proven to be correct. The willingness of Christians to die for their faith has inspired millions to believe in Jesus and to be bolder in their witness for the truth. Apart from raising political awareness, Charlie Kirk’s message was to encourage people to read the Bible, to believe in Jesus, to go to church and to have a family.

It is unfortunate that many churches today steer away from addressing political issues. The murder of Charlie Kirk has again brought the question of the relationship between the church and politics to our minds. Although Kirk’s death has saturated media outlets and has been the conversation around numerous family dinner tables, many churches and pastors have chosen to be silent. One reason for this silence is that the church has been cajoled to retreat into a corner and avoid any cause for offence. Those who want to raise political awareness are silenced with the accusations of being divisive or intolerant. We are not supposed to talk about politics at church or Christians should not involve themselves in political issues.

Of course, we should preserve the unity of the church and need much wisdom in how we address current issues, but at the same time we cannot avoid dealing with the challenges that we face day by day. In particular, the church needs to provide a prophetic voice amidst the darkness and confusion of society as well as provide wise guidance for Christians on how to live out their faith in the world. While it is wise for the church not to be involved in partisan politics or align itself with a particular political party, it does not mean that the church should be apolitical, i.e. having nothing to do with politics. The most important Christian affirmation, “Jesus is Lord” (John 20:28; Acts 2:36; Rom 10:9; 1 Cor 12:3; Phil 2:11), is a political statement. Because many Christians in the early church refused to acknowledge Caesar as Lord over all of life they gained the crown of martyrdom.

Politics refer to the principles according to which a society or country ought to be governed. The Collins Dictionary provides the following definition: “Politics are the actions or activities concerned with achieving and using power in a country or society.” The English term stems from the Greek word polis which means “city” and relates to issues around how a society should operate. Necessarily, therefore, politics involve questions of worldview, religion and morality. Today many Christians want to avoid or silence political discussion by citing Paul’s teaching on adiaphora or indifferent matters (cf. Rom 14; 1 Cor 8). However, to apply Paul’s teaching on adiaphora to some of our current social challenges is a gross confusion of categories. Our choice between different political parties at election time is no longer a matter of indifference. Whether or not to eat meat does not relate to moral issues. Whether or not a Christian may consume alcohol is totally different from the question of whether or not we should endorse homosexuality, abort our babies, or euthanise those who are elderly or sick. Within the context of Western civilisation, which was founded on the values of Christendom, and freedom of speech, the belief that there are only two genders, that young children should not be exposed to sexually explicit material, and that mass Muslim immigration will fundamentally undermine social cohesion, do not belong to the category of adiaphora (matters of indifference). The gulf between “the left” and “the right”, or those who are “progressive” and those who are “conservative”, has become enormous. Unlike a few decades ago, today there are major differences in worldview and morality between these two camps.

When we turn to the Bible, we note that the Old Testament prophets were deeply engaged with the political and ethical issues of the day. Nathan confronted David with his sin (2 Sam 12:1-15), Amos addressed injustice (Amos 5:11-12), Isaiah called out inappropriate political alliances (Isa 7-9), Jeremiah warned against political corruption and wickedness (Jer 22:1-9; 23:1), Micah exposed unscrupulous landlords, wicked rulers and immoral prophets (Micah 1-3). The books of Jonah, Obadiah, Nahum and Daniel also demonstrate that God holds Gentile nations accountable. In the New Testament, Jesus and Paul, although advocating that Christians should live quiet and submissive lives, likewise expressed clear political views  (Mark 11:15-19; 12:13-17; Luke 13:4; 13:32; John 18:33-37; Rom 13:1-7; Gal 3:22-25; Eph 6:5-9; 1 Tim 1:8-11; 2:1-2).

Unfortunately, throughout history, some branches of the church have erred by going down the path of two extremes, viz. spiritual escapism or political activism. For example, during the Middle Ages many opted to join the monastic movement to escape the corruption of the church and the world. In the modern period pietism turned its back on the world through separation and introspection. And more recently extreme dispensationalism became fixated on the rapture, abandoning any hope for the world. At other times and places, sections of the church became obsessed with transforming the world into the kingdom of God in the here and now. During the Middle Ages the church was equated with the kingdom of God and then with the rise of nineteenth century liberalism, social justice became the essence of the Christian message. Currently, we basically have a demarcation between liberal churches which emphasise political activism (embracing the media and government agenda of DEI) and evangelical churches which have again retreated into pietism (but without the emphasis on holiness!). Evangelical churches rarely ever speak out on current political, social or ethical issues, resulting in an emasculated Christianity that has become irrelevant for society at large. Very few churches are prepared to steer a pathway between these two extremes. (The Chinese diaspora in general have stayed out of politics and have established their own insular and independent communities, somewhat like the Jewish diaspora. Most Chinese churches today in the western world rarely address social or political issues even though Chinese like most citizens are very much affected by these issues.)

Historically, the Reformed tradition has encouraged political engagement by Christians, believing that Christ is Lord and King over every realm of the universe. Christ’s lordship extends to all spheres of life, including politics, economics and civic life. This view was championed by prominent theologians like Martin Luther, John Calvin, Martin Bucer, Francis Turretin, Abraham Kuyper, Charles Hodge and Benjamin Warfield to name a few. This sentiment is rooted in the Great Commission, which is the task to make disciples of all nations (Matt 28:19; cf. Ps 149:5-9; Micah 4:1-4). The Greek term ethnē (nations) does not just refer to individuals but to nations. People must become disciples of the Lord Jesus, but in addition all the nations (πάντα τὰ ἔθνη) need to be influenced by the gospel or need to be Christianised. This task inevitably involves the realm of politics. In this way, God’s promise to Abraham, viz. “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed”, will be fulfilled (Gen 12:3). Indeed, Christians are to pray that God’s kingdom will come and that His will may be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matt 6:10).

Christians should be politically aware, and the church needs to be a prophetic voice in the public square addressing the major issues and challenges within society. Of course, the church’s main task in the public square should be to proclaim the gospel. But if we neglect and remain silent on issues such as freedom of speech and religious liberty, we will soon no longer have the opportunity to speak in the public square. If all Christians in Australia vote according to the biblical worldview and Christian moral values, we will have a much more conservative government; and corruption, decadence and social disintegration will be much less. Sometimes, silence does not just imply consent but is in fact sin (see Lev 5:1; Esther 4:14; Ezek 3:18-19; 9:4-5; Prov 31:8-9; Mark 8:38; Eph 5:11; Gal 6:1). According to Elie Wiesel, a holocaust survivor, “Indifference is the most insidious danger of all.” The silence of many pastors regarding pressing political issues betrays an intellectual laziness and spiritual cowardice that relegate the church to irrelevance and lead the sheep into consternation. Unfortunately, our MDivs do not come with a backbone! When the church is silent it not only ceases to be light and salt, but its lack of moral vision also exposes the sheep to ravenous wolves that have an insatiable appetite to devour them with their children. People are looking for moral authority; if the church does not provide the moral compass for society, ungodly politicians and the media will fill the gap.

Finally, the martyrdom of Charlie Kirk does not only bring sadness but hope. It is interesting to observe that while the early church suffered many persecutions, the persecution under the Roman Emperor Diocletian was the most severe (AD 303–311). This was the final official persecution of the church by the Roman Empire before Christianity gained legal status and freedom with Constantine’s Edict of Milan in AD 313. It is always darkest just before dawn. We do not know if it is still going to get worse before it gets better, but we know that the darkness is passing away and that the true light is already shining (John 1:5; 1 John 2:8). Just a few days before his murder, Kirk wrote on X, “Jesus defeated death so you can live.” Let us indeed follow Kirk’s advice, let us read the Bible, believe in Jesus, go to church and love our families.