Merriam-Webster defines hate as “an intense hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of injury; dislike or disgust.” Hatred comes in two basic forms: righteous and unrighteous. Righteous hatred is what drove Jesus to send the money-changers running from the temple. His indignation operated within a framework of truth and morality. Unrighteous hatred operates within a framework of pride and personal autonomy.

So, let’s be clear on why Charlie Kirk was murdered. His killer accused him of spreading hate. If pressed for a definition of the “hate” Charlie publicly proclaimed, it would better understood as truth. Make no mistake, Charlie died because of truth. The very same reason Jesus was killed, the same reason Stephen was stoned, the same reason the martyrs were all slain. And it’s convenient these days to label something you disagree with as hate. Calling it hate is just a step away from justifying whatever you have to do to silence it.

Truth is such a powerful force that Scripture counsels us to express it with compassion and love. Charlie was adept at balancing truth and love. Because apart from love, truth can be a hammer blow to one’s pride, and injured egos often react with violence. The crowd that stoned the apostle Paul in Lystra or the mob that tried to kill him in Jerusalem simply could not handle the truth he spoke. As it was said of the first martyr Stephen, “they could not withstand the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking.” (Acts 6:10)

It's disturbing to witness how biblical beliefs and values are becoming more unpalatable in secular society. For example, a person who believes one’s sexual identity is a mere social construct created by an extreme patriarchy will resent the truth of God’s created order of binary gender. A person who believes the unborn are just clumps of cells, a mass of unviable tissue, will despise the belief that all human life is sacred regardless of the stage of development.

Truth has the power to expose falsehood. The world hated our Lord because He exposed their sin and hypocrisy. Anyone familiar with Charlie Kirk’s message knows he did the same. “People love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil.” (John 3:19) As Christians, we are called to be light in this dark world. That means that by life and lip we proclaim truth in love. We must not allow the darkness to silence or intimidate us. Because the light of truth not only exposes the world’s lies, it also leads to Him who is the Light of the world.