“If the world hates you, keep in mind it hated Me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed My teaching, they will obey yours also. They will treat you this way because of My name, for they do not know the One who sent me.” – John 15:18-21
These verses resonated with me after learning of Charlie Kirk’s passing. I’ve read them many times, but Kirk’s murder pried my eyes wide open to this biblical truth: the world hates me and my Christian brethren. It will never love us, never accept us; it will seek to destroy us, because the unrepentant refuse to acknowledge and submit to the omnipotent God who created all of us.
William Bennett wrote an insightful article last Sunday, stating that Kirk may have been the last American who truly believed someone’s mind could be changed through civil discourse and rigorous debate. Sadly, Bennett’s son told his father that he, too, used to be like Kirk, thinking that facts could persuade people to change irrational ideologies. In 2016, he engaged with peers concerning the presidential election. Due to his support for Donald Trump, many of his peers called him a Nazi. Friends cut him loose. He told his father it was one of the hardest times of his life.
Bennett’s son did something that many young adults his age do – he disengaged from politics. He no longer sought to engage in civil debate with friends or peers. He turned off the news. The hatefulness had drained him.
According to a Daily Signal article by Sarah Holliday, Generation Z (1997-2012) is trending toward conservatism and Christ. It seems that the left’s constant accusations of being a fascist, racist, sexist, homophobic, transphobic, horrible human being have caused Gen Z young adult men to run to conservative principles, as well as back to church. Tired of being villainized, these men have touched grass and found that conservative values call them to be the men God designed them to be. In discovering that, many have also repented of their sins, submitted their lives to Jesus Christ, and now call him Savior. They have found that in Jesus, they have laid hold of the hope that surpasses this temporary world with its fickle favor.
Holliday cites John Della Volpe, director of Polling at the Institute of Politics at Harvard University, who explained that Gen Z weathered pandemic isolation during their foundational years, entering an unstable economy, staring down untenable housing prices, education costs, and inflation – while being told they’re not resilient. It is not unreasonable to think that many in Gen Z going back to church and finding Christ is due to their very clear understanding that this world is shaky ground at best. They’ve already experienced it.
That may be why their generation is ripe for revival. In recent years, we have witnessed an unprecedented hatefulness toward truth. In 2025, it seems people can see something right before their very eyes and still dare to deny it.
In “1984,” the narrator states, “In the end, the Party would announce that two and two made five, and you would have to believe it.” Kirk questioned “the Party” on his college campus tours. His “Prove Me Wrong” debates sought to engage university students on a variety of fronts – life, liberty, sexuality, morality, government, religion – anything on their minds. There was no topic off limits to discuss. He wanted to engage their minds and awaken something radical in them: critical thinking. If civil discourse could stir them to question radical liberalism, they might just find their way back to sanity.
His simple desire to engage in reasonable dialogue with university students cost him his life.
And for that reason, I believe we are done living in the age of reason. I think that era ended for us before Covid changed the world. We are now living in an age of deception. The age of deception is chaotic and lawless. People make up their own personal moral rules (if any), subject to change on a whim. It is self-inflicted ignorance. That is what Kirk and Turning Point USA (TPUSA) were seeking to thwart, while proving that truth isn’t relative and civil society cannot survive by lies.
Christians, now is the time for truth. If reason won’t prevail, revival will. We must cry out to God and beg Him for Holy Spirit-led revival across our land. Sincere, God-granted revival, or another Great Awakening, is the only thing that will preserve our way of life. Christ changing the hearts and lives of people across America and the globe has always been our only true north star – it is simply more apparent now as the world descends into madness.
In the movie “Gladiator,” the character Commodus rides onto a battlefield, jumps off his horse, and questions his father, Marcus Aurelius, “Have I missed it? Have I missed the battle?” Aurelius responded, “You have missed the war.”
I fear the Church is missing the war, and that is why God is using even the political realm to proclaim the Gospel. Christ will be proclaimed King – even if the rocks must cry out. He will be glorified. It is well past time the Church stands firm on Scripture, preaches the Gospel, and does its job – so the rocks don’t have to.
Kristin Landers is a substitute teacher and freelance writer. Landers’ previous work includes serving as Communications Director for the Alabama Policy Institute and working for Citizens Against a Legalized Lottery (CALL) to defeat legalized gambling in the state of Alabama.
The views and opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of 1819 News. To comment, please send an email with your name and contact information to [email protected].
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