October 1st, 2025
by Pastor Matt
by Pastor Matt
In light of the Charlie Kirk situation, I wanted to give some brief pastoral thoughts for The Vine. There is much being said, and there is much that will continue to be said, but I want to address a growing concern, and end with a simple encouragement.
A Concern
As I watch the Charlie Kirk Effect, especially in conjunction with the alarming surge of Gen Z into Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, wisdom would dictate we be silent and observe before concluding these are the seeds of revival springing from the blood of a martyr. Only time will determine that. Wokism is dead, and the pendulum is now swinging. Yet, I see a movement brewing that is perhaps more deceptive and dangerous to the church than the woke social justice gospel. Biblically and historically, true revival comes from biblical repentance— people broken over their sin and crying out for mercy. It is not the result of a cultural reaction to leftist ideology. A movement toward the traditional family, going to church, praying, and finding spiritual meaning isn’t necessarily a movement toward Christ. The devil is deceptive and unbelievably shrewd. He baits the hook of his lies with truth, then drags the snagged down into his pit. I am watching with concern for how many are now moving toward religion, political conservatism, and a new found ethic that generally resembles what Scripture teaches. Is that bad on the surface? By no means. It is far better than body mutilation, race-baiting, and telling boys they can be girls. But void of a repentant heart, it is just as much a damning religion as the social gospel.
Charlie Kirk was married to a Catholic. And while he often encouraged his audiences to get into a Bible believing church, he would also encourage them to attend mass— a blasphemous idolatry. Indeed, he himself would attend Catholic mass. I am not here to judge whether Charlie was a regenerate Christian or not. That would be unbiblical, but nor is it my point. Yet, “inviting Jesus into your life as Lord and Savior,” as Charlie would often call people to do, is the kind of language used of the moral majority that dominated cultural Christianity in the latter half of the previous century. Encouraging people to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior is a call that lacks explanatory power in terms of what is required for true salvation— not the least of which must include true repentance, flowing from sorrow for sin. Catholics and Eastern Orthodoxers both confess Jesus as Lord and Savior. They also fight for biblical ethics in the home and culture. However, among other things, they partake in the idolatry of the Roman Catholic Mass, climaxing in the blasphemous act of the Eucharist, and Eastern Orthodoxers engage in the demonic idolatry of Eastern iconoclasm. They are damning false religions, leading billions to Hell.
Having said that, I’ve seen clips, like many of you, where I think Charlie spoke the true Gospel. He also took exception, it seemed, with some of the critical tenants of Roman Catholic dogma. So again, let me repeat, my concern is not Charlie himself. Rather, I am concerned with what is now being called the “Charlie Kirk Effect,” and especially in conjunction with Gen Z’s growing infatuation with Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. To be sure, I don’t blame them. A move toward historic religion is the natural response to decades of vapid, cotton-cady preaching, and the superficiality that has become Evangelicalism. But in view of such a move, there is a real muddying of the Gospel waters with biblical ethics and a conservative worldview. If the ethics and politics don’t flow from a converted heart, it is moralism, spiritualism, and religionism, but not biblical repentance. The failure to make that critical distinction is the difference between heaven and hell.
I saw a recent photo of Kirk’s memorial service, where roughly 100,000 people gathered. Laced over the photo was a popular Christian influencer, who wrote, “The devil made a huge mistake.” It gave me pause, and mostly because I am not so sure we give the devil enough credit. He is far craftier than any beast of the field, and ever lives to deceive people from the true Gospel. To be sure, he took some down with the social justice gospel. But now that the mask has come off, it seems necessary for him to be more covert. The hook of his lie may now be baited with everything that looks Christian, moral, and biblical—and all without even needing to redefine a biblical term—such as, “justice.”
People are charged up right now to call out the proverbial Herod of leftist dogma. They’ve been emboldened to stand firm, refuse to cower in fear, and call this nation to a biblical standard. That is certainly refreshing, and a welcomed change, especially for many reformed evangelicals who have had to endure the leftward drift from high-profile voices within its own tribe over the past ten years. The challenge, though, is that Jesus-rejecting Ben Shapiro, for example, will be shouting just as loud, if not louder, for the country to pursue a biblical ethic. Afterall, Catholic Matt Walsh helped us understand what a woman is. But this is what makes this new movement potentially more deceptive. The woke social justice gospel was clear. The externals gave it away. This current change is more difficult. For the externals look very good. But the path that leads to life is still narrow, and few will still be on it. Jesus words have not changed.
We are in a shifting cultural moment, and the pendulum will eventually swing the other way. In the meantime, the many pastors platform-grabbing to fill up their churches, as they capitalize on the Kirk situation, will do their thing. I will be honest and say I am disheartened by how many pastors, especially in our reformed tribe, are working hard to figure out how they might ride this wave to a larger church. I am not a prophet, nor the son of one, but when the emotions neutralize in the culture, I will not be surprised if those churches experience an outflow. Why? Because the current inflow is not the result of converted hearts, but weariness from leftist bullies. This is not to say pastors shouldn’t take advantage of the opportunity. They should. And they should preach the Gospel loudly to their captive audiences. But despite the outcry on the internet against the pastors who said little about Charlie—I hope those pastors will stand firm in their divine charge from the Lord to preach Christ, not Charlie.
Can we learn from Charlie’s willingness to speak out for what he believed was true? Yes. But just as we can learn from Jewish Ben Shapiro, Catholic Candice Owens, and confused Jordan Peterson, who are all doing the same, as they currently walk down the broad path leading to destruction. Fighting for similar temporary outcomes in the culture does not mean we fight with the same motive or reason. This is an important distinction, and an eternal one. There is an ecumenism in the air right now, and it is concerning. It is important for pastors to remember the message you win people with, is the message you win them to. So, if the message is not Christ alone in this current cultural moment, we ought not be surprised if people start to flow out of churches when the cultural moment passes.
I am not advocating for a Gospel-onlyism, where pastors ought not equip their people to approach morality and politics from a biblical perspective. They should and must. For the church is also called to be the salt of the earth. All I am saying is that if you demand the God-hating culture to conform to those morals, and their conformity doesn’t flow from a converted heart, you put people into a perilous position—eternally. I would also say, as matter of pragmatics, to preach biblical morality before you seek to convert the heart, is to get the great commission backwards. We are first to baptized (read: heart conversion), then call people to observe all that Christ commanded. If you want to take to the culture and demand that Herod stop sleeping with his brother’s wife, that is your freedom to do so, but realize that it may get your head cut off, and Herod will keep sleeping with his brother’s wife.
An Encouragement
Having said all this, we are in a unique moment, unquestionably. The time is ripe to preach the true Gospel. Christians would be fools not to take full advantage of the unprecedented opportunity to have Gospel conversations and call people to repentance. If some kind of revival is happening, time will tell. As of right now, I largely see moralism, religionism, and spiritualism being incubated by a broad ecumenism of religions that profess some stripe of Christianity. But very little of it is the Gospel. I am not moved that several politicians stood up at a memorial in front of their constituency and spoke a gospel message. They’re politicians. It is what they must do. They will not waste an opportunity. Paint me a skeptic, but I’ve read Ecclesiastes. There’s nothing new under the sun, and politicians know how to make their gains.
So, my caution is for true Christians to be highly discerning, but my encouragement is to take every opportunity. Your greatest impact will always be with those closest to you. Talk to friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers. Buy them coffee, take them out for meals, invite them for dinner. Do all you can to speak to the true need of the hour— which is the unjustified state of their soul before their Maker and Lord. You must talk about sin, and you must help them see it in their own hearts. You must, then, point them to the only solution— the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ credited to their eternal account by faith alone. Until that has taken root in their heart, any apparent biblical ethic in their life will be superficial, misleading, and blinding. A life that looks like Jesus must flow from a converted heart. This is the order, and to get this backward is to damn the soul. So pray, get out there, and win for yourself more than a cultural friend—win an eternal one. (Luke 16:9).
Soli Dei gloria.
Pastor Matt
A Concern
As I watch the Charlie Kirk Effect, especially in conjunction with the alarming surge of Gen Z into Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches, wisdom would dictate we be silent and observe before concluding these are the seeds of revival springing from the blood of a martyr. Only time will determine that. Wokism is dead, and the pendulum is now swinging. Yet, I see a movement brewing that is perhaps more deceptive and dangerous to the church than the woke social justice gospel. Biblically and historically, true revival comes from biblical repentance— people broken over their sin and crying out for mercy. It is not the result of a cultural reaction to leftist ideology. A movement toward the traditional family, going to church, praying, and finding spiritual meaning isn’t necessarily a movement toward Christ. The devil is deceptive and unbelievably shrewd. He baits the hook of his lies with truth, then drags the snagged down into his pit. I am watching with concern for how many are now moving toward religion, political conservatism, and a new found ethic that generally resembles what Scripture teaches. Is that bad on the surface? By no means. It is far better than body mutilation, race-baiting, and telling boys they can be girls. But void of a repentant heart, it is just as much a damning religion as the social gospel.
Charlie Kirk was married to a Catholic. And while he often encouraged his audiences to get into a Bible believing church, he would also encourage them to attend mass— a blasphemous idolatry. Indeed, he himself would attend Catholic mass. I am not here to judge whether Charlie was a regenerate Christian or not. That would be unbiblical, but nor is it my point. Yet, “inviting Jesus into your life as Lord and Savior,” as Charlie would often call people to do, is the kind of language used of the moral majority that dominated cultural Christianity in the latter half of the previous century. Encouraging people to receive Jesus as Lord and Savior is a call that lacks explanatory power in terms of what is required for true salvation— not the least of which must include true repentance, flowing from sorrow for sin. Catholics and Eastern Orthodoxers both confess Jesus as Lord and Savior. They also fight for biblical ethics in the home and culture. However, among other things, they partake in the idolatry of the Roman Catholic Mass, climaxing in the blasphemous act of the Eucharist, and Eastern Orthodoxers engage in the demonic idolatry of Eastern iconoclasm. They are damning false religions, leading billions to Hell.
Having said that, I’ve seen clips, like many of you, where I think Charlie spoke the true Gospel. He also took exception, it seemed, with some of the critical tenants of Roman Catholic dogma. So again, let me repeat, my concern is not Charlie himself. Rather, I am concerned with what is now being called the “Charlie Kirk Effect,” and especially in conjunction with Gen Z’s growing infatuation with Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy. To be sure, I don’t blame them. A move toward historic religion is the natural response to decades of vapid, cotton-cady preaching, and the superficiality that has become Evangelicalism. But in view of such a move, there is a real muddying of the Gospel waters with biblical ethics and a conservative worldview. If the ethics and politics don’t flow from a converted heart, it is moralism, spiritualism, and religionism, but not biblical repentance. The failure to make that critical distinction is the difference between heaven and hell.
I saw a recent photo of Kirk’s memorial service, where roughly 100,000 people gathered. Laced over the photo was a popular Christian influencer, who wrote, “The devil made a huge mistake.” It gave me pause, and mostly because I am not so sure we give the devil enough credit. He is far craftier than any beast of the field, and ever lives to deceive people from the true Gospel. To be sure, he took some down with the social justice gospel. But now that the mask has come off, it seems necessary for him to be more covert. The hook of his lie may now be baited with everything that looks Christian, moral, and biblical—and all without even needing to redefine a biblical term—such as, “justice.”
People are charged up right now to call out the proverbial Herod of leftist dogma. They’ve been emboldened to stand firm, refuse to cower in fear, and call this nation to a biblical standard. That is certainly refreshing, and a welcomed change, especially for many reformed evangelicals who have had to endure the leftward drift from high-profile voices within its own tribe over the past ten years. The challenge, though, is that Jesus-rejecting Ben Shapiro, for example, will be shouting just as loud, if not louder, for the country to pursue a biblical ethic. Afterall, Catholic Matt Walsh helped us understand what a woman is. But this is what makes this new movement potentially more deceptive. The woke social justice gospel was clear. The externals gave it away. This current change is more difficult. For the externals look very good. But the path that leads to life is still narrow, and few will still be on it. Jesus words have not changed.
We are in a shifting cultural moment, and the pendulum will eventually swing the other way. In the meantime, the many pastors platform-grabbing to fill up their churches, as they capitalize on the Kirk situation, will do their thing. I will be honest and say I am disheartened by how many pastors, especially in our reformed tribe, are working hard to figure out how they might ride this wave to a larger church. I am not a prophet, nor the son of one, but when the emotions neutralize in the culture, I will not be surprised if those churches experience an outflow. Why? Because the current inflow is not the result of converted hearts, but weariness from leftist bullies. This is not to say pastors shouldn’t take advantage of the opportunity. They should. And they should preach the Gospel loudly to their captive audiences. But despite the outcry on the internet against the pastors who said little about Charlie—I hope those pastors will stand firm in their divine charge from the Lord to preach Christ, not Charlie.
Can we learn from Charlie’s willingness to speak out for what he believed was true? Yes. But just as we can learn from Jewish Ben Shapiro, Catholic Candice Owens, and confused Jordan Peterson, who are all doing the same, as they currently walk down the broad path leading to destruction. Fighting for similar temporary outcomes in the culture does not mean we fight with the same motive or reason. This is an important distinction, and an eternal one. There is an ecumenism in the air right now, and it is concerning. It is important for pastors to remember the message you win people with, is the message you win them to. So, if the message is not Christ alone in this current cultural moment, we ought not be surprised if people start to flow out of churches when the cultural moment passes.
I am not advocating for a Gospel-onlyism, where pastors ought not equip their people to approach morality and politics from a biblical perspective. They should and must. For the church is also called to be the salt of the earth. All I am saying is that if you demand the God-hating culture to conform to those morals, and their conformity doesn’t flow from a converted heart, you put people into a perilous position—eternally. I would also say, as matter of pragmatics, to preach biblical morality before you seek to convert the heart, is to get the great commission backwards. We are first to baptized (read: heart conversion), then call people to observe all that Christ commanded. If you want to take to the culture and demand that Herod stop sleeping with his brother’s wife, that is your freedom to do so, but realize that it may get your head cut off, and Herod will keep sleeping with his brother’s wife.
An Encouragement
Having said all this, we are in a unique moment, unquestionably. The time is ripe to preach the true Gospel. Christians would be fools not to take full advantage of the unprecedented opportunity to have Gospel conversations and call people to repentance. If some kind of revival is happening, time will tell. As of right now, I largely see moralism, religionism, and spiritualism being incubated by a broad ecumenism of religions that profess some stripe of Christianity. But very little of it is the Gospel. I am not moved that several politicians stood up at a memorial in front of their constituency and spoke a gospel message. They’re politicians. It is what they must do. They will not waste an opportunity. Paint me a skeptic, but I’ve read Ecclesiastes. There’s nothing new under the sun, and politicians know how to make their gains.
So, my caution is for true Christians to be highly discerning, but my encouragement is to take every opportunity. Your greatest impact will always be with those closest to you. Talk to friends, family, neighbors, and co-workers. Buy them coffee, take them out for meals, invite them for dinner. Do all you can to speak to the true need of the hour— which is the unjustified state of their soul before their Maker and Lord. You must talk about sin, and you must help them see it in their own hearts. You must, then, point them to the only solution— the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ credited to their eternal account by faith alone. Until that has taken root in their heart, any apparent biblical ethic in their life will be superficial, misleading, and blinding. A life that looks like Jesus must flow from a converted heart. This is the order, and to get this backward is to damn the soul. So pray, get out there, and win for yourself more than a cultural friend—win an eternal one. (Luke 16:9).
Soli Dei gloria.
Pastor Matt
Posted in Article
No Comments