The Significance of a Moment

We find ourselves in unprecedented times. That’s the reality and challenge of living in the present. We can learn from the past, but the cultural currents of the present are always unique. We process information, form opinions, and make informed decisions rooted in God’s Word. But what makes the present moment so unprecedented is our exposure to information and the speed at which information travels. There is even a term for the exposure to and speed of information: going viral. Something can be captured on video and transmitted around the world in a matter of minutes. That’s certainly a unique aspect of our time.   

We are exposed to so much information that we can miss, or worse, become numb to, the information that we truly need to process. Some information is unbearably weighty. I’ve felt this weight processing the death of Charlie Kirk. 

I wasn’t familiar with Charlie Kirk before his death, but what I’ve discovered over the recent weeks is a man of conviction. He was a flawed man, but one committed to his core beliefs, and he spoke about them boldly. He was even so bold as to step into the gospel resistant environment of many college campuses. His conviction cost him his life. That is the epitome of courage.   

My response to the Charlie Kirk assassination has been intentionally slow because I’m still processing the information. His death grieves me on so many levels that it is difficult to know how to begin. A young man was murdered (the same week as a Ukrainian refugee), and the video (of both) went viral. I regret seeing the death of Charlie Kirk before I realized what I was consuming. A murder was captured on video and spread for anyone to see. These are unprecedented times. 

There was such a push to form opinions and render judgment that it was difficult to sit in the significance of what had occurred. Regardless of one’s perspective, the fact remains that a young man was murdered because of his beliefs. We are losing the ability to mourn with those who mourn because we are conditioned to fixate on opinions and render judgment. That time does come, but after we process and yield the information before the Lord. I sometimes fear that I’m forgetting how to process information removed from opinion and judgment. I rarely have time to sit in the significance of a moment. Tomorrow, something else will go viral. I will be fixed on something new. I guess that’s why it’s called the news. 

This is the world in which we live. What is projected as informative is usually opinionative. It’s detrimental on many levels for Jesus followers to get swept up in this current. Why? We lose our ability to empathize through sitting in the significance of the moment. 

What happened recently, through the murder of Charlie Kirk and Iryna Zarutska, was a significant moment. It continues to be a lot to process. We grieve the loss of life. We grieve the brokenness and confusion of our world that would lead someone to conduct such a horrendous act. 

Forgiveness and hope swim in the same sea. Hope leading to forgiveness will ultimately prevail. God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven.