(This post comes from an op-ed I got published in the Longmont Time-Call September 30, 2025)
I have agonized for days about how to convey my thoughts regarding the assassination of Charlie Kirk and what happened afterwards. What happened to Charlie was horrific. Some of what followed I consider unconscionable. Some celebrated Charlie’s death; some mocked those mourning his passing; some found reasons only to be critical of him.
I have struggled to make sense of both his killing and how some responded. Was Charlie’s murder evidence that our gun laws are lax? Was the way some responded the result of unbridled hatred of the ideology he espoused or the political leaders he supported?
I don’t have answers to the above. But I am certain of this. If the killer had a relationship with Jesus that fixed what was broken inside of him, this killing would not have taken place.
Jesus has the power to change lives. But some find the proclamation that Jesus offers a way out of darkness to be insensitive or offensive.
If Jesus is not the answer, then what is? Something was broken inside this killer. No laws could have kept him from committing this heinous act. What he needed was a change of heart. And that can’t happen without a willingness to expose what is broken within and to seek ways to fix it.
Jesus said many things in response to our brokenness. He identified it as something we all struggle with. He then put a label on it. He called it sin. He also listed ways we fall into sin. He did this not to condemn us but to point out our need for redemption from the worst part of ourselves. He then died in our place so we could be forgiven by God for our sins. Finally, He promised to indwell those who invited Him into their lives. And what comes from inviting Jesus into our lives is a spiritual rebirth, resulting in a new life and a heart changed over time into what Jesus is like.
Without Jesus, we will fall victim to the worst part of ourselves. When Jesus indwells us, we have the ability to overcome our brokenness and become the people Jesus wants us to be. When we are living in partnership with Jesus—when Jesus lives within us—we can experience life in new, fresh, and fulfilling ways.
The one who killed Charlie needed a change of heart. But so do we. Each of us needs to look in the mirror and ask ourselves if our hearts are perfectly aligned with the heart of Jesus. A quick read of Matthew 5 thru 7 will reveal how far we‘ve fallen short of God’s standards of righteousness. But John 3 reveals that Jesus did all that was needed so we could be brought into a relationship with God that is life changing.
Jesus said, “I have come that you may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10). He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12). He also said, “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him ” (John 3:16-17). And the apostle Paul said, “Christ in you [is] the hope of glory” (Colossians 1:27).
The one who killed Charlie Kirk needed Jesus. He needed to come into the Light. And it’s perhaps when more of us are willing to acknowledge that Jesus is the answer to what’s broken inside of us that we will find more people coming into the Light Jesus offers and find fewer living in darkness.
Dick Lentz: As I See It Today 
While I too agonized over the circumstances of Charlie Kirk’s death, I did so based on my reaction to it and what came to me afterwards. Being the imperfect vessel that I am, my initial reaction morphed to the Godly in which I stretched my hands out and said a small prayer, “Dear Lord, take this person into your hands.” While I saw the actions of others, I let them have their due, as for me, I followed the Lord and found peace for myself and those around me.
In making sense of the circumstances many questions were asked, is it right to have gun laws which are lax and could be strengthened? Was the response from those who mourned part of a political or theological that removes the Peace of Jesus from people’s lives? How have we become a country which started from three simple words “We the People”, to one in which we can view the “other” as separate from us as part of God’s creation without redemption?
While I may not have the answers to these questions which fit into everyone’s paradigm, I found the answer in myself and my relationship with God. The God of mercy, justice, love, and hope. In this framework I believe that when we place the killer’s relationship with Jesus as foremost in the equation of “why” we simplify the answer. Thus, I pose this question, “Could it have been the lack of visibility of the Peace of Jesus within the people and community around him that allowed the events to unfold the way they did?” We may never know the answers to this and should search our hearts and the Spirit to find our own answers to this very personal question.
If we are going to say, “Jesus is the answer.” then we must accept Jesus for what he was and can be in our lives. Is it not written that Jesus opened the scroll of Isiah and quoted, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he anointed me to bring Good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” Thus, if I have a broken vase in my home would I not be responsible for repairing it? If my neighbor’s heart was despoiled, would I not be responsible to heal it? How do I reach out so that others may know the Love of God that I experience on a day-to-day basis. And more so, how do I serve in the community around me to bring the Peace of Jesus into others’ lives?
While we can look at the situation of the one who killed Charlie Kirk as one of an individual who failed to be in the Peace of Jesus where is the failure? Is it in the individual who failed to come to God through Jesus; or, is it a failure of a community to show what the Peace of Jesus is and truly can be when we come together in service to each other.
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Good thoughts and well-written. To your last three questions, an individual is always responsible for their own decisions. However, sometimes we as a community fail to point people towards the One who promises to give us a Peace that is beyond our ability to obtain on our own. Being at peace with ourselves is good. Being at peace with others or with our world is better. Having the Peace that comes from having a personal relationship with Jesus is in my mind the most rewarding. What are some ways we can communicate the importance of this to others?
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then I believe you have answered your original question. Go and be in Peace.
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My response,
While I too agonized over the circumstances of Charlie Kirk’s death, I did so based on my reaction to it and what came to me afterwards. Being the imperfect vessel that I am, my initial reaction morphed to the Godly in which I stretched my hands out and said a small prayer, “Dear Lord, take this person into your hands.” While I saw the actions of others, I let them have their due, as for me, I followed the Lord and found peace for myself and those around me.
In making sense of the circumstances many questions were asked, is it right to have gun laws which are lax and could be strengthened? Was the response from those who mourned part of a political or theological that removes the Peace of Jesus from people’s lives? How have we become a country which started from three simple words “We the People”, to one in which we can view the “other” as separate from us as part of God’s creation without redemption?
While I may not have the answers to these questions which fit into everyone’s paradigm, I found the answer in myself and my relationship with God. The God of mercy, justice, love, and hope. In this framework I believe that when we place the killer’s relationship with Jesus as foremost in the equation of “why” we simplify the answer. Thus, I pose this question, “Could it have been the lack of visibility of the Peace of Jesus within the people and community around him that allowed the events to unfold the way they did?” We may never know the answers to this and should search our hearts and the Spirit to find our own answers to this very personal question.
If we are going to say, “Jesus is the answer.” then we must accept Jesus for what he was and can be in our lives. Is it not written that Jesus opened the scroll of Isiah and quoted, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he anointed me to bring Good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim that captives be released, that the blind will see, that the oppressed will be set free, and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.” Thus, if I have a broken vase in my home would I not be responsible for repairing it? If my neighbor’s heart was despoiled, would I not be responsible to heal it? How do I reach out so that others may know the Love of God that I experience on a day-to-day basis. And more so, how do I serve in the community around me to bring the Peace of Jesus into others’ lives?
While we can look at the situation of the one who killed Charlie Kirk as one of an individual who failed to be in the Peace of Jesus where is the failure? Is it in the individual who failed to come to God through Jesus; or, is it a failure of a community to show what the Peace of Jesus is and truly can be when we come together in service to each other.
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