A Call to Christ-Centered Conservatism
(This was originally written for a Charlie Kirk memorial service in Clinton, IA, on Sunday, September 21st.)
I want to start with a quote from Charlie Kirk:
“Jesus Christ was a real person; He lived a perfect life; he was crucified, died, and rose on the third day; and he is Lord, God of all. Christ is King.”
These were some of the last words Charlie Kirk spoke, under that tent, at Utah Valley University. One of the last things the man said before he was gunned down in front of those college students was the gospel of Jesus Christ.
That will be his legacy. Courage and truth. He will be remembered as the man in the arena. He went down swinging, fighting lies with his words, pushing back evil with the sword of the Spirit.
Charlie Kirk was unashamed of the gospel.
Here was a man with one of the largest platforms in the world. His content reached millions. And he used that platform that God gave him to share the gospel, because he believed what the Apostle Paul said: that the gospel is the power of God for salvation to all who believe.
This was the secret power of his conservatism. It was the energy that animated him. If you watch his content, you will notice the man had laser-sharp vision. He was driven. He was unstoppable. He had one of the most successful podcasts in the world. He organized one of the most successful grassroots political movements of our generation. He is literally responsible for turning an entire generation of young men from cultural liberalism to cultural conservatism. Part of the evidence for this is that statistics now show that there are more Gen Z men than women who say they want to get married and start a family. Charlie Kirk will be remembered for reaching an entire generation of lost boys and inspiring them to take up the responsibility to be men.
And ultimately, that’s why he was a target for the enemy. Satan hates it when a man uses his popularity to make Jesus famous. And he hates it when men are inspired to take responsibility in the family, in the church, and in society, because Satan knows that when you win the men, you win the world.
It is true that Charlie’s primary work was in the realm of politics. The bulk of his labor was spent promoting the conservative principles of fiscal responsibility, free markets, and limited government. He fought hard to recover the Founding Fathers’ vision of traditional values, constitutional order, and American exceptionalism. This was a noble work in its own right.
But Kirk saw these political values as simply the fruit that grew on a larger tree. Kirk believed that once you get people drinking from the streams of liberty, they will want to know its source. Kirk urged his listeners to follow conservatism to its logical root, which is to Christ.
And I can think of no better way to honor the life and legacy of Charlie Kirk than to call you to the source. We can stand around and admire the fruit. We can watch his videos and marvel at his rhetorical abilities, his success, his beautiful family, but the best thing we can do to honor a man like Charlie Kirk is to trace the fruit of his life up the stream, across the branches, down the trunk, and to the root—to the person and work of Christ.
The great need of the hour is to know what we are conserving. We can no longer afford to be lazy about this. We never could. Christless conservatism has no power. Christless conservatism never built anything. And Christless conservatism is actually how we got into this mess in the first place. Christless conservatism is like a workplace where everyone assumes someone else is going to do the work. For too long, too many have been content to assume the schools will teach the children what is true, good, and beautiful. For too long, too many have assumed that youth group or Sunday school will teach their kids everything they need to know about Jesus. For too long to many have assumed somebody else will do the hard work of teaching the next generation how to find the root and the source of life. Charlie was a man who did not assume someone else would do it. The secret to his energy, to his productivity, was that he actually believed that Christ is Lord over all of life, and the job of the Christian is to learn how to live all of life to the glory of Christ.
To honor Charlie Kirk, you must harness the energy that this tragedy has released in you and let it direct you to Christ-centered conservatism.
There is no doubt that there is a conservative resurgence in our culture today. But the question is, will it last? Will the momentum in your heart be a flash in the pan or a long obedience in the same direction? The difference between the two is simple. You either know what you're conserving or you don’t.
So my encouragement to you this evening is to conserve 3 things to ensure you don’t waste this moment.
Conserve the gospel of Jesus Christ. We live in a world of false gospels, false paths to the good life. But there is only one well that provides living water. There is only 1 path to eternal life, and that is through Jesus Christ. That salvation comes by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. As the Apostle Paul said, it is the gospel that saved us, the gospel that we stand in, and the gospel that will preserve us to the end. To see revival in America, we need to preach a hot gospel where we are honest about the depravity of sin, the horrors of hell, the heights of God’s holiness, and the length and breadth of God’s love for us. This is the main thing we need to conserve as conservatives—the right preaching of the gospel.
Conserve the family. As the family goes, so goes the culture. Get married, stay married, have babies, teach those babies to know and love Christ. When you order your household to the glory of God, you will train kids who will be able to order the world to the glory of God.
Conserve joy. As people are rescued from the chaos of secular liberal culture, as people repent and turn from the progressive death cult, may they run to a church that is actually conserving life. May people coming out of their miserable pursuit of false gods find the church full of invincible and indomitable joy. May the lost world actually find that it is better to be a Christian. Because we know that in the presence of Christ is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore.