As some Americans openly celebrate the death of a Christian martyr, Christians must remember that repentance and redemption through Jesus Christ is the only remedy to hatred and evil — and no one is beyond His saving grace.
We as Christians weren’t ready to learn how many of our neighbors, coworkers, and countrymen deeply despise us.
I’m not talking about hate in the same way we might say, I hate winter or I hate some sports team.
What most Christians in America were confronted with over the last several days is that scores of people in this nation detest the biblical message of truth and hope with such vehemence that they are not only enraptured by the murder of Charlie Kirk and the taking of a father from his children but that they deeply desire the same for all who share similar beliefs.
Many of us are tempted to draw a line and decide that such people are beyond reach, hopelessly ensconced in vitriol seemingly fueled by demons from Hell.
But as Scripture is very clear, those very same people who hate us could still be redeemed from their sin and their hatred by the blood of Jesus Christ.
It’s a message that Charlie Kirk often relayed when speaking in front of hostile crowds.
It’s also the message echoed by Forrest Frank in a post that went viral earlier this week.
Frank is a Christian singer and producer known for blending genres like hip hop, pop, and rock to create his own style. Since the independent artist burst onto the scene just a few years ago, his popularity has soared, garnering more than one billion plays of his songs on the music streaming service Spotify.
But his popularity took a hit after Frank posted a video on Tik Tok discussing Charlie Kirk’s murder.
In it, Frank showed footage of Kirk discussing the increase in Gen Z listening to Christian music such as Frank’s, whose lyrics Kirk described as “biblically pretty good,” going on to describe them as “legit, like submitting to God’s will and His path.”
Kirk’s comments were related to what he saw as a growing revival among younger people.
Frank responded by saying that since Kirk’s assassination, people are feeling a “heaviness.”
“And I think if I can summarize it, whether you know it or not, it is an angst for the return of Jesus, for the return of justice,” Frank said.
“Charlie was so bold with his message, and I just don’t feel comfortable using this platform to share music without stripping everything away and, like Charlie did, speak my mind to the core. And the reality is that Jesus Christ is the only way and He’s coming back soon. And when He does, every single knee will bow, and it’s time to repent and get your life right. Because we don’t know if today is our last day.”
Frank ended the video by praying for believers and young people to be bold in proclaiming the Gospel.
He also invited everyone who doesn’t know Jesus to “just say, ‘Jesus, would you come into my life? Would you resurrect me? Make me a new person, I’m so sorry. I repent for the old ways that I’ve been, I want to be a new creation. Your Word says that if we confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that He was resurrected, we will be saved.’”
According to Frank, after the video went out, he lost 30,000 of his social media followers.
Music Metrics Vault also showed a steep drop in monthly listeners around the same time that Frank posted the video.
So what was Frank’s message to those who unfollowed him?
He doesn’t really care if people follow him — only that they follow Jesus.
Maybe you’re thinking, Wait, Forrest Frank is a Christian artist and he’s losing tens of thousands of followers for saying something nice about Charlie Kirk and preaching repentance?
Yes, that’s right. And the reason why is found in John 16:2-3, which states, “They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God. These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me.”
There are many people, many claiming to be Christians, who are spiritually blind and think that their hatred for biblical Christianity and sound doctrine is actually righteousness.
Don’t misunderstand. I don’t mean that people unfollowing Forrest Frank is on the same level as murdering someone or rejoicing in murder, but there are many people who believe that the Gospel and the teachings of Scripture are hateful.
Their response to that can range from simple disagreement to slander to rejoicing at our pain to actively calling for or participating in violence against us.
We rightly are horrified by this but wrongly may believe this means they are beyond reach.
We may respond in anger, disgust, or even feel hate welling up towards those who hate us.
Yet while there is room for righteous anger, and a need for shrewd action to halt more violence, the true answer to that hatred is the same as Frank and Charlie Kirk’s: the Gospel.
In the first century A.D. there was a Pharisee, a man not unlike many of those we have been discussing.
He was highly educated, zealous for his religion, and intensely passionate about stomping out a growing threat to his beliefs.
That man was Saul, and he persecuted Christians with fervor.
Saul was present at the first recorded martyrdom of a Christian, Stephen, whose belief and proclamation of the Gospel led some of the Jews in Jerusalem to respond much like those we see today — with rage and a refusal to listen.
When Stephen confronted them with their failure to follow the Law and their crucifixion of Christ, the members of the mob “were cut to the quick and they began gnashing their teeth at him” (Acts 7:54, NASB1995).
After Stephen said he saw Christ sitting at the right hand of God, they “cried out with a loud voice, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one impulse. When they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and the witnesses laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul” (Acts 7:55-57).
Acts 8 tells us that Saul “was in hearty agreement” with putting Stephen to death.
Scripture says, “And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Some devout men buried Stephen, and made loud lamentation over him. But Saul began ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison.”
Saul didn’t care how Stephen’s friends felt. He hated Stephen and he hated them too. Saul wanted them, and any who believed like them, dead or in prison.
We may look at that and say, “Wow, Saul was evil.”
That’s correct. Saul was evil, but he was also blind, first spiritually and then physically.
When Saul was on the road to Damascus, on his way to persecute more Christians, Jesus appeared and spoke to him. Saul suddenly couldn’t see anything and was helpless.
God called a Christian named Ananias to go and lay his hands on Saul that he might regain his sight.
Ananias responded like many of us would. Why in the world would he help someone as mean and hateful as Saul? He reasoned, “‘Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.’”
But God told him that Saul was God’s chosen instrument to carry His name to the Gentiles.
Ananias went to Saul and did as he had been told. Something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes and he could see again. It wasn’t just his physical blindness that was healed, though, it was his spiritual blindness.
Saul became a follower of Christ and his name was changed to Paul. He went on to carry the Gospel across what we know as the Middle East and Europe and wrote much of the New Testament.
Once Saul rejoiced at the death of Christians, but then in one supernatural moment, he became one.
Should we recognize the hate coming from many? Absolutely.
Should steps be taken to make sure these horrors don’t happen again? Without a doubt.
But the only real remedy for evil and hate is the Gospel, which has the power to give sight to the blind, turn a heart of hate into one of love, and to make the dead alive again.
Charlie Kirk knew that and he preached the same Gospel that saved Paul.
Forrest Frank knows that, and he’s also preaching it to those who may hate him for his beliefs.
While we are working to make changes in our nation, let’s start by praying for those who hate us the most and working to spread the Gospel to all.
It is no less a miracle that God saved me than that He saved Paul.
And it would not be any more of a miracle if He saves any of those cheering Charlie Kirk’s death.
If you like this article and other content that helps you apply a biblical worldview to today’s politics and culture, consider making a donation here.
