Was Charlie Kirk Racist?

Charlie Kirk was a dear brother in Christ but on issues of race, his understanding of what the Bible teaches ranged from lazy to plain wrong.  His comments on race have been hurtful to many black Christians.  But should we dehumanize him or other believers with similar views by labeling them as racists?

In his letter to Philemon, the Apostle Paul provides us with a model for how we should speak about Charlie and other fellow believers with similar perspectives on race and unity.  Even though Philemon owned slaves, Paul addresses him as a dear friend and fellow worker, acknowledging him as a partner in the faith and Christ follower in good standing, even while recognizing a blind spot that needs to be addressed.  We must remember that Christians who do not see the pursuit of racial unity in the body of Christ as central to the Gospel are still our brothers and sisters in Christ, even though such beliefs don’t align with Scripture and need to be addressed.  In our essay, Unity Requires Civility, we discuss how publicly questioning the faith or motives of fellow believers, or labeling them with terms like racists, Marxists or fascists, undermines God’s work in our own lives and the ministries we lead.

Instead of dehumanizing fellow Christians, let’s respectfully talk about how their beliefs may not align with biblical teaching.  One such belief is that we should talk about race less and not be race conscious.  In our essay Neither Jew Nor Greek we explore what the Apostle Paul teaches on this topic.  And in our essay The Troubling Origins of Colorblind Christianity we highlight how and why evangelicalism sacralized the notion of not being race conscious.