This writing is not about Charlie Kirk’s viewpoints. No matter where you stand on those, I hope you can hear the deeper promptings.

I seem to be the only person who didn’t know who Charlie Kirk was. Actually it’s quite embarrassing. I’m educated, well read, and keep current with the news. I even go out of my way to follow news coverage from multiple sources different than my views so that I am aware of the hearts of my fellow life journeyers. Yet I was unaware of Charlie Kirk until yesterday.

A very public, cold blooded, pre-meditated murder of a high profile person. . . The loss of one of God’s creations, a husband, a father. . . What a worrisome state of our world. Is such an atrocity yet another harbinger of what is to come? More evil? Or revival? Mankind has choices.

I was trying to figure out why I was so ignorant of this well known influential person, especially as I’ve learned more about him over the past 24 hours. In so doing I was reminded that I am very disconnected from social media. I’m not on FaceBook nor on any similar virtual social networks. I don’t watch YouTubes or podcasts regularly though the ones I have experienced have been well worth watching. Perhaps the lack of these media activities in my life may explain my lack of familiarity with Charlie Kirk.

So in ferreting out my lack of knowledge, I was reminded of a conversation I had last week with my doctor. He, a young man of 38, was discussing the role of influencers in our society, his examples having nothing to do with Charlie Kirk at the time.  My doctor was bemoaning the power that social media and influencers generally have over shaping the minds of our younger generations and that these sources to some extent have taken the place of individual study. That is a concern regardless of the influencer or the topic, whether right or wrong, left or right.

The issue is not what the speaker is or is not saying, but rather, what is the responsibility of the listener. I can tell by the incredible reaction to Charlie Kirk’s death that he had a huge influence especially on the younger generations. Not knowing his views and seeing this impact enabled me to objectively think about what my doctor had just said concerning thought leaders and their influence especially through social media. The phenomenon of such power prompted these reflections.

When people speak, especially if they have the ability through social media to persuade multitudes via engaging formats, it becomes critically important for the listeners to remember to go back to the source, to God’s Word. This is true regardless of what is the topic or who is the speaker. The movie does not take the place of the book, nor the video game of the less flashy board game. We tend to choose the easier way, especially if it is more engaging in format and less time consuming.

The power of social media is irresistible. I am hopeful, and like to believe, that people who rely on social media for information and who follow influencers, good or bad, are not just listening but also are praying regularly, studying the Word, and are part of local communities with others, like minded and not, for their own real life discussion and debate. Listening to influencers cannot replace our own work, our personal journeys, needed to bring each of us closer to God.

No matter how brilliant an influencer, nothing can take the place of our time, one on one, in relationship with God through Yeshua. Nothing can replace study of the Word and its invitation to ponder complex teachings, its prodding of us to dig deeper through multiple avenues of research and endeavor. I may listen to an interesting presentation but hopefully that would not be my main source of knowledge and world view, but rather, it would be a starting point for me to study the information further. My doctor’s concern is that many just listen and that’s where it stops.

Charlie Kirk’s murder is inexcusable, horrific. I pray it will motivate our society to work harder to see the need for God’s guidance in this broken world, that it will spur productive conversations rather than spawn divisiveness. I pray each of us will be drawn closer to Him, to Yeshua. I pray this tragedy can be a catalyst for growth in so many areas – self awareness, personal study, tolerance, and most importantly, growth of our ability to love one another, as individuals and societally, despite our differences.

Shabbat shalom.

Diane