A friend and a family member both remarked to me that the memorial service for conservative activist Charlie Kirk, on Sept. 21 in Glendale, Ariz., was a good demonstration of the gos­-
pel and could possibly lead to a Christian revival. 

Their comments led me to reflect on Erika Kirk’s remarkably gracious response to her husband’s killer. She forgave him, she said, because that is “what Christ did.” 

She continued: “The answer to hate is not hate. The answer we know from the gospel is love and always love. Love for our enemies and love for those who persecute us.” 

Her words are a model for reconciliation in a polarized nation. They’re a challenge to all of us who want to make peace as Jesus taught. They’re a message to take to heart, one we hope those inclined toward vengeance will internalize. 

I’ll admit I was surprised to hear those words from Erika Kirk. As the successor to her husband, CEO of Turning Point USA, she leads a right-wing movement that I consider a political opponent. 

She has challenged me, and everyone who heard her, to follow one of Jesus’ hardest commands: Love your enemies. In the spirit of humility, I am striving to heed her words. I hope the people in her political camp will do the same.

But I wonder how many will, because Donald Trump said he wouldn’t. 

“I hate my opponent, and I don’t want the best for them,” the president said. “I’m sorry, Erika.”

Trump’s words not only contradicted Erika Kirk (and Jesus). They demonstrated the opposite of the attitude we need to live together in a diverse country. Christians belong at the forefront of showing a better way by loving our enemies.

When taken seriously, Erika Kirk’s words remind us that a gospel of hate is no gospel at all.

What is a Christian to do in the face of Trump’s hatred, which he couldn’t suppress even in a worship service? We can respond like God did when Amos prophesied to the Northern Kingdom of Israel before its fall. Here’s how Amos channeled God’s judgment of false worship:

“I hate, I reject your festivals; I don’t enjoy your joyous assemblies. If you bring me your entirely burned offerings and gifts of food — I won’t be pleased; I won’t even look at your offerings of well-fed animals. Take away the noise of your songs; I won’t listen to the melody of your harps. But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream” (Amos 5:21-24, Common English Bible).

God saw Israel worshiping with empty rituals. The people were afflicting the poor and oppressed in their nation. They were violating God’s laws while pretending to worship God. 

To put it like Jesus did, they “filter out an ant but swallow a camel” (Matthew 23:24). Jesus was fed up with the religious leaders’ hypocrisy. He told them that they forsook the weightier matters of the law — justice, peace and faith — while making sure they tithed a “tenth of mint, dill and cumin.”

Their worship was empty.

Our worship is empty when it doesn’t bear the fruit of the gospel’s heart: loving our enemies, caring for the poor, liberating the oppressed. 

Charlie Kirk’s Christianity did the opposite of what his widow called Americans to do: It furthered the oppression of the afflicted. He was critical of LGBTQ+ rights, opposed racial diversity and inclusion initiatives, promoted religious intolerance and Christian nationalism, said the solution to gun violence was more guns.

I join my friend and my family member in hoping for a revival. For a clue of what real revival looks like, let’s look to Amos’ vision of justice and righteousness. 

I believe many Christians are awakening to this reality, both within our Anabaptist tradition and outside of it. You don’t need to look far to see it. 

Mennonite Church USA’s resolution on immigration, passed at last summer’s convention, shows our commitment to the people that Immigration and Customs Enforcement harasses and kidnaps. 

The Brethren Mennonite Council for LGBT Interests sets a prophetic example by calling churches to accept and affirm queer and trans people. 

The Coalition to Dismantle the Doctrine of Discovery moves us to repent of the sins of colonialism and conquest. 

Mennonite Action, an advocacy organization rooted in the Anabaptist tradition, mobilizes people to resist Israel’s genocide against Gazans and the mass deportation of migrants in the United States.

In these efforts I see the possibility of an authentic Christian revival, inspired by the words of Jesus that Erika Kirk quoted.