Christians Must Seek Christlike Change in Their Community - In Memory of Charlie Kirk - Part 4

“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used to create them.” Whether or not this quote originated with Albert Einstein, its sentiment rings true. We cannot expect things to change unless a change agent enters the situation. We think this way via common sense all the time. If we want the oven to bake the pizza, we must change the amount of heat the oven will give off. If we want to lose weight, we must change our diet. If we want to read a book, we must change from not reading the book to reading it. All of this is quite obvious.

Yet, at times, when we Christians want to see our community, our neighbors, and our coworkers come to Jesus, are we changing the situation by presenting the Gospel to them, talking to them about the Bible, and pointing them to Jesus? As stated previously, we cannot expect things to change unless a change agent enters the situation. 

Jesus understood and practiced this concept best of all. In Luke 15, Jesus presents the parable of the lost sheep. The catalyst for the parable is the grumbling of the scribes and Pharisees on why Jesus would eat with “tax collectors and sinners.” Jesus responds by illustrating missional work to that of a shepherd who would leave ninety-nine sheep in the field to search out, to find, and to rejoice over one lost sheep. Likewise, joy fills heaven when one sinner comes to salvation in Christ. Notice, Jesus did something about sinners. He went to them for the purpose of changing them, specifically that they would repent of their sins and turn to Him for salvation. And when they made this Spirit-filled change, Jesus rejoiced. Jesus was and is a catalyst for salvific change, and, because of the Great Commission of Matthew 28, he has made us “change agents” responsible for declaring the Gospel to all people.

Charlie Kirk understood this responsibility of being a change agent going out in Christ’s name for Christ’s purposes. But he also understood that some Christians balk when this change involves political participation. He responded to this hesitation when he said, “Our side (Christians) says, ‘I don’t need politics, ‘cause politics is all corrupt.’ You are obligated by God (to be involved). Jeremiah 29:7 demands the welfare of the nation that you are in because your welfare is tied to your nation’s welfare. God is commanding you not to give up and to not surrender. And guess what? If you’re unsuccessful, you were still obedient, and you did the right thing to God. That is the most important thing…your obedience.”  In this context of Jeremiah 29, God is telling the Israelites to be change agents for the better when they are exiled to Babylon under Nebuchadnezzar. What God doesn’t say is to retreat and to have no influence in the community, for how can that zeitgeist increase God’s missional work?

In addition, Charlie encouraged Christians to pray for opportunities to influence their community leaders and to bring Christlike change to community institutions. He stated, “It says in 1 Timothy, ‘Pray for your leaders and authority by name that they might make great decisions…(Also,) Christ called us to be salt and light (Matthew 5:12-16). We as Christians should change the environment that we come in contact with. That’s what salt and light do. So, why should we then not care about changing the government to be more Christlike?” Remember, people make up governments, and people have views about God, and those views determine how they govern. Therefore, it is the responsibility of Christians to pray for and reach out to those in our community’s politics to influence them and witness to them according to Scripture both for 1) their own salvation (or sanctification if they’re already saved)  and 2) the welfare of the community.

In summary, Christlike change will never happen in a community unless Christians, through the grace and power of the Holy Spirit, enter the community as change agents led by Christ. So, let’s be those change agents, not just in memory of Charlie, but, much more importantly, for the glory and praise of Jesus Christ.  

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