My Servant Is Dead: Get Up
Moses my servant is dead. Now therefore arise, go over this Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I am giving to them, to the people of Israel. Joshua 1:2
Watching Charlie Kirk's legacy unravel and lead to idolatry, or whatever is taking shape within Turning Point USA, reminds me of several Bible truths we need to be aware of.
What is going on with Turning Point USA and Charlie Kirk's legacy? I’m reminded of several biblical stories we should all know, for it's for our good. Gideon was a man who emerged at a time when there were no heroes. He himself, found hiding threshing wheat in a winepress, was not a hero until God made him one.
Gideon wasn’t a fool; he apparently had enough influence to convince an army to follow him. But God, knowing the heart of man and its self-destructive power, had Gideon’s mighty army reduced to 300 men with several unusual weapons that I won’t explain here.
Gideon and his army of 300 men won, just as Charlie Kirk and his small army at Turning Point USA were winning a culture war outside the public church and the educational institutions. Both grew as the wind of victory spread.
But then something changed. Near and after each leader's death. Gideon didn’t want to be the leader, but he did ask for tokens of appreciation that led to idolatry after his death. It is easy to want the reward but not the ongoing responsibilities of overseeing people. Many in the body of Christ have cashed out after a public victory, their 15 minutes of fame. I don’t know if Charlie Kirk did this while alive. I do know that after the deaths of Moses, Gideon, and Charlie, they shared something in common.
All three were enshrined. Moses is enshrined to this day.
Moses was a man greatly used by God. People didn’t pay much attention to Moses when he was speaking, but when he died, they tried to enshrine him. God had to be proactive and entrust the task of picking up Moses' body to the archangel Michael. Moses died, but no one knew where his body was entombed. Which was a good thing.
Centuries later, people were still worshiping Moses even though they did not do what Moses had written. They claimed Moses as their spiritual father. Idolizing people seems to be inherited by our fallen nature. Not just Moses but also Gideon.
Gideon, while alive, didn’t want to continue to take the responsibility of leading, but instead cashed out and made a memorial to himself that caused all of Israel to play the harlot. After Gideon died, Israel no longer remembered the Lord. All that remained was a shrine to a past victory. The sword of Gideon was remembered, but not so the sword of the Lord.
When our conquests exceed Jesus's conquest over the power of death and the grave, our conquest is inflated. John the Baptist, another man who was martyred for speaking truth in public, left a right legacy.
John the Baptist came in the spirit of Elijah as one crying in the wilderness. Different and outside the known church. When John was enticed to publish his accomplishments for advancement, he humbled himself and took the position: "I must decrease so he can increase." John refused to be made into something he wasn’t called to be. Jesus did this as well, refusing to be made king.
John the Baptist was martyred. I believe Charlie Kirk followed this path. Charlie worked outside the known church, a cry in the wilderness of education, with an ever-increasing focus on Jesus as the message and less of Charlie.
I get it, being remembered is important for all of us. People are seeking to be known, eternally known. Eternity is in the heart of man, placed there by God with intention. We want to be remembered as someone significant, even if only by those we love. We want to leave a legacy. And God wants us to leave a legacy of sorts. We are to live and leave a good name for 3 generations. Abraham left a good name in his generation, then to Isaac, and finally to Jacob. And in the fourth generation, Joseph was born and created because of Abraham's legacy passed down. Leaving a good name is good if it is according to God’s way.
Passing on a legacy is passing on the eternal truths of God and His ways, so each generation can glean from them and be blessed by God. When we leave a legacy of truth, this is good, but when we leave a legacy of our endeavors apart from God’s glory, it will lead to disaster and a failed next generation.
I must say this: for the true legacy of Charlie to be effective, it must not be enshrined.
CHARLIE IS DEAD!
We ought to take what he did and apply it to our lives, so this generation can walk with God as well and not prostitute ourselves at a shrine of Charlie or anyone else who is dead but alive with the Lord.
This message has been in my heart for 30 days after Charlie was martyred. Moses followers, including Joshua, were given 30 days to mourn, then get up and move forward, at least after the rebuke from the Lord.
Super Bowl Sunday was not a tribute to Charlie Kirk’s memory. I believe if Charlie were raised from the dead for a single message and then returned to God, he would have rebuked Turning Point USA and all those involved. Charlie wanted a movement toward a return to Godly virtue and to Jesus Christ as Lord for all, not a legacy left in the footnotes of history.
Charlie and his legacy will be forgotten not too far from now. It is not possible to keep the public excited over old news and new hype. He will be forgotten, as will Turning Point USA, unless there is a turning point away from idolatry toward truth.
For there to be a Joshua to Moses, or an Elisha to Elijha, or someone to Charlie, there has to be a death to self. Every leader in Christ must start from the same place as everyone else. Mantles are not delegated to the next in line because of talent, skill, or anointing. If you are not exalted by God, be careful of self-exaltation or being exalted by those who flatter you for their own means.
Charlie Kirk didn’t leave his legacy in the hands of Kid Rock, who should have never been on Turning Point USA, and Turning Point USA with Kid Rock should have never been on TBN. Charlie is dead; no amount of hype will keep his legacy alive. God remembers and won’t forget, so do his saints. We must move forward as dusk threatens to extinguish the light Charlie wanted passed on. We can only get brighter in a world that is getting darker.
Kid Rock has a living legacy, and it is not good. I don’t doubt he has heard the gospel. I don’t doubt God gave him a new verse for a song. Everything from above that is good is God. God is always working to save the souls of men.
But I can’t know Kid Rock's fruit because you have to be up and personal for a time to know someone's fruit. From afar, we can only judge his works. And are his works leafy but offer no fruit? I imagine so. It takes time to have lasting fruit, and the leaf doesn’t wither. Jesus said, for those who take his command seriously, 'lose your life, take up your cross, and follow me.”
If Kid Rock is serious about his walk with Jesus, then he needs to do what Saul of Tarsus did. Make the rounds with your newfound belief, then hide yourself away for the next few years as you make sense of this new faith. And shame on those who used Kid Rock for their agenda. How many more Justin Biebers, Snoop Doggs, and Kanye Wests are we going to platform over a confession without fruit? I’ve been around too long and have gone too deep in Christ to be carried off with every new wind of doctrine created by youthful ignorance or aging complacency and duplicity. I am not close enough to know them by their fruit, but their works are seen afar, and it is not good for them or for us to platform them. Charlie is dead. He lived an ever-increasing life for God through Jesus. It is now time to acknowledge that God’s servant is dead, and we must move forward with the life and truth of the gospel.