Wake Up, Look Up

Hey, everyone. Welcome to the Wake Up, Look Up podcast. My name's Deacon. This is usually my dad, Zach Weihrauch's podcast but today I kicked him off because there's a need for a younger voice to speak on this topic. And let me tell you why. If you haven't heard already, Charlie Kirk was shot and killed on September 10th at Utah Valley University while doing a Q and A in the college campus there. And this is a really big deal for my generation and really all generations, because as a young person myself, it's very easy to find that a lot of people from, uh, generations before us try to just tell us how to think, especially about politics, religion, or other important life topics. And Charlie Kirk was different. And I think a lot of people in my generation recognize that. If you don't know who he is, he was the founder of Turning Point USA, a, uh, political organization. He was known for going from a college campus to college campus, explaining to young people his political stance and his religious stance as an evangelical Christian and just doing Q&As and opening dialogues with people my age or college students. And this leaves my generation with a lot of feelings. A lot of people are very mad. A lot of people are upset, frustrated, and those are all very real things to be feeling. But I think the Bible has certain things it tells us and how to deal with those emotions. And today, that's what we're gonna be going over, is how do Christians respond to, uh, intense acts of violence and hatred like this, especially when it hits close to home. It's easy to respond to this act of violence with hatred, but hatred just breeds more hatred. This shooter was motivated by hatred. And if we respond out of motivation by hatred, we're gonna provoke more hatred. And it's an endless cycle that needs to be stopped. And Jesus shows us how. Jesus tells us to, instead of responding with hatred, to respond with love and kindness to our enemies or to people on the opposing political spectrum. And I think Charlie showed us a good example of that. Charlie went from college campus to college campus Hosting Q&As and dialogues with people who actively disagreed with them. He, uh, was hoping to create a conversation where other people would have just shut it down and, uh, hated the opposing force. But Charlie wanted to instead change minds and promote that conversation. And I think that's what me and you need to be doing in our lives rather than responding with hatred to this event. Now, you might be saying, but Deacon, Charlie's enemies just attacked and murdered him. They're not gonna love us in return. And that's true. The Bible speaks on that several times. Jesus tells us that as Christians who follow him, we're going to be persecuted for the majority of our lives. But instead of letting that shut us up and stop us from spreading our faith, we need to instead use that as fuel to talk about our faith more. Use Charlie as an example. He knew the dangers of going to college campuses, surrounded by his enemies and speaking the gospel. He knew that that was what was gonna happen. He knew there was always risks. But that didn't stop him from going college campus to college campus and spreading the gospel. And it shouldn't stop us. Jesus is the ultimate example of this. He went to his enemies, sat with them at their table, knowing they would kill him eventually, but he still spread the gospel and still preached constantly. Let that be an example to us that we'd need to not stop speaking about our faith, but instead speak more. Uh, this cycle of hatred doesn't end when we shut up. It ends when we start promoting the gospel and promoting that love and kindness to other people and not just stop talking about it or promote hatred instead. And now the question is, now that we know we need to not just stop talking, but start talking. The question is, what does that look like for us? And this is where I want to speak to my generation. This is why I felt the need to be the one speaking to you about this today. The reason we all know about Charlie Kirk and my generation knows he was so impactful is because he was a leader. He was a mentor. And I think that there's a call for the generations before us to do that, to be the mentors and leaders to us. But then I also think that for us members of my generation, there's a call to take that baton and run with it. There's a call for us to be seeking mentors and for us to be speaking about our own faith and not just waiting for someone else to do it for us. Charlie Kirk was a great man, but we cannot just be waiting for someone else like him to be our mentor or leader online. We need to find those people in our actual lives, and we need those people to step up to those positions. So if you're, uh, part of the generation before us, that might look like getting coffee with someone my age, getting lunch with someone my age. And if you're my age, that means accepting that invitation or even seeking out those people on your own. And I think that it's those two things that will give us the community we need to stay strong in our faith. Even in times of intense persecutions such as this. And, uh, I guess what I'm really saying is this, that we need to be praying for Charlie's family, but also we need to pick up his microphone that he's left behind. Who's going to college, kids, now that Charlie's gone, who is speaking to the younger generation without him? That's where we come in. Let his death be like Stevens in the Book of Acts and be a catalyst for us. Be a, uh, motivator for us to increase our faith and increase the spread of our faith, not stop us. And maybe, just maybe, uh, this can be a turning point for our country. Hey, thanks for watching this episode of Wake Up, Look Up. If you enjoyed it, please help us get the word out by sharing it with someone you think might benefit from it. And while you're here, make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get further content or even download the CCC app, where you'll find even more resources to help you grow in your faith and relationship with Jesus Christ.

Have an article you’d like Zach to discuss? Email us at wakeup@ccchapel.com!