When Charlie Kirk was shot, another piece was added to the puzzle.
What do I mean by that?
I’m sure that somewhere along the way you have “worked” a jigsaw puzzle in someone else’s home. That is to say, you’ve noticed and then stood over a card table filled with little cut out pieces of cardboard and stared at it. Perhaps part of the puzzle has been solved, but maybe not. On the table or nearby is the box cover with the picture of what the solved puzzle will look like.
A place on the cover picture catches your eye. You glance at the table, looking for the piece that matches. You pick one up and hold it by its edges and look back at the table. Maybe you try to put it in its proper place, and maybe you succeed. If you’re like me, either success or failure can keep you going.
But I won’t stand there long. It’s not my house and, unless I’m invited to help, it is not my puzzle to solve.
On the other hand, the world is my house. Because I live here, the puzzle of humanity is mine to help solve. Yours, too, but the pen is currently in my hand, so I’ll start.
An age old question
From time immemorial, as the saying goes, people have asked: “What’s wrong with the world?”
Allow me a moment philosophical to note that anyone who asks that question is saying, “All is not right with the world,” because the question about what’s wrong is generally rhetorical. A rhetorical question is one that is asked in order to make a statement, or perhaps to create an emotional effect. No real answer is expected. (In just a minute, we’ll give one anyway.)
OK, I’m off the philosophy bus and back to the jigsaw puzzle. Thanks for following along!
Many times I’ve witnessed people who were trying to solve a jigsaw puzzle say, “There is a piece missing.” I’ve said it myself, I’m sure, but what if, instead of too few pieces, there were extra pieces? The jigsaw puzzle called “The World” is like that. New pieces show up. The assassination of Charlie Kirk is one of those, and perhaps has made the puzzle a little more complicated.
Or has it?
In reality, an act of this nature doesn’t complicate the puzzle, it actually makes the picture more clear. If I have to walk to the market to get milk for the baby and it looks like it might rain, I have to decide whether or not to carry an umbrella. If it is raining, the umbrella is coming along.
Nothing says it’s raining like the terrible act of violence visited on Mr. Kirk as he sat in a chair and focused on answering a question.
Good and evil
This event has become a watershed moment for many. There are calls to action from various viewpoints. Some have suggested more violence, or at least they’ve said that violence is an acceptable tool in this kind of ideological battle.
No, it is not. Violence like this is evil, which is the opposite of good.
It was the same with the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. That was an evil act, although John Wilkes Booth believed he was doing a good thing for the South.
And, in fact, it was the same with the murder of Jesus Christ. Those who had him killed — primarily the Pharisees — were convicted by the message that Jesus shared openly and freely. He answered their questions until they finally understood there was no question he couldn’t answer in a way that was obviously true but that they didn’t like.
They feared losing their authority, their control, their traditions, and perhaps even their identity. So they took the spokesperson (Jesus) and had him killed.
The prophet Isaiah wrote these words perhaps 700 years before Christ, and almost 3,000 years before now:
Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter.
Truth
One important piece of the puzzle is that, for some time now, people from Oprah to GenZers have talked about “their truth.” What they really mean to say is “their opinion.” Using the word truth, though, gives their opinion more gravitas. It also makes others wrong, as it did Charlie Kirk for the alleged shooter.
We must have an objective standard for good and evil, and we do: God gave it to us. But even nations without God have a standard of good and evil. Without a moral standard, more and more people will fall prey to those who say you can define your own truth.
So I’ll say that part of what is wrong with the world is that the standard for good and evil is not discussed or not practiced. We have allowed, and in some cases even encouraged, the normalization of evil. We’ve done that often in the name of individual rights and individual freedoms. Both of those are good, until individuals insist on their rights and freedoms at the expense of everyone else. In some instances that has shown up as character assassination. In this case it went further.
There is another “Woe” that follows the one quoted above. It says simply:
Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes
and clever in their own sight.
Perhaps a hundred years ago, as the story goes — and it may be apocryphal — a newspaper sent a letter to many prominent people asking them to give their opinion on the question “What is wrong with the world?”
One answer came from the author and defender of Christianity G. K. Chesterton. He wrote, “Dear Sirs, I am. Sincerely yours, G. K. Chesterton.”
In a sense he was right. We must all stand up for good and stand against evil. We can do that in our homes, we can do it in our jobs, and we can do it in our thoughts. When we do, the world will get better.
Do good. It’s in you.
16 Responses
I was in the mood early this morning to read this first. It is silly to say, “That was good.” No, it was powerful. It is what we need to hear and more importantly, do. There comes a time to stand firm, with gentleness and respect, and boldly declare, “There is a better way that lasts forever. Jesus is that way. I may not be able to convince everyone, but I can convince myself and with the power of the Holy Spirit and God’s will, I may make a difference in my corner of the world. What about you?”
Keep going. Our pastor said, “You can’t kill a Christian. You can only change his address.”
Thank you, Randy, for the word “powerful!” One of the very few things we have any power over is our own thoughts and actions, and if we pay attention to those I believe we can and will change the world.
I also loved “standing firm with gentleness and respect” and boldness in our declaration that Jesus is the the way and the truth and the life. In all of the Links Fellowships I was with this past week, that was my message. We must be bold, not with pushiness but with confidence. The truth sets us free to do that.
Love the quote! …you can only change his address. So good!
What a profound and insightful message today, Lewis. Great quote and explanation of Chesterton‘s, he perhaps reflecting on Jesus’s concerning the log in our own eye versus the splinter in our neighbors. Thanks for your help with always removing our own logs, or at least whittling away at them. Thanks for all the good you do.
Thank you, Frank! Yes, a very good point about the log in our own eye! We try to fix things when we need to fix us first, but we can’t even see that log. Golly!
Let’s keep on whittling away at the things which blind us, and keep on doing good — the best way to fight evil — every chance we get! Much appreciated, Sir!!! Let’s do good together!
The pieces of the puzzle have not found their place. It’s as if all the near-fitting pieces have been placed awkwardly into the unfinished puzzle. The ill-fitting pieces, (and there are a lot of them) need to be extracted from their place and the correct puzzle piece placed in its proper spot.
Problem is the scoundrel who keeps wedging the wrong pieces into places they don’t belong, only to make piecing the puzzle take longer and longer to complete. While the puzzle will never be completed, we should work as humans to dismantle the bad pieces and reform the puzzle to God’s intent.
That’s a great addition to the picture, Steve! I’ve tried (and been busted for) trying to put a jigsaw puzzle piece in the wrong place and then hammering it in with my fist. 🙂 Clearly Satan loves putting the pieces in the wrong places, and we should be in the business of rearranging them. In fact I’ve probably helped Satan from time to time by claiming I “knew” what my needs were.
Of course God knew my needs better, and had I let him place me properly….
So yes, let’s get the right pieces in the right places and never accept anything other than God’s perfect design!
Great article Lewis. I believe the current event of Kirk’s death is an opportunity for believers to engage in meaningful conversation with people about truth. Why do people not like Charlie? Was his message incorrect? Was it just his opinion or political views they were against and does he not have the right to express them in a non-violet manner?
I hope and pray his memorial service this Sunday will reach millions of people with the gospel.
Love that prayer, Jim, and I would say (since it is now Monday) that it was answered with a bow on it! That was the most amazing public non-church-setting proclamation of the gospel I’ve ever heard or heard of. Amazing, and millions have seen it already, but millions more will!
God was clearly in it.
As for people who disliked Charlie, I’d say many of them were wrapped up in their own emotions, and those are hard to break through. Perhaps some of what they heard — if they listened to it — at the service will reach their heart!
I loved this article and agree with “I am” 100%.
Thank, Jim! “I am” is the answer. Now let that also be the answer to “Who is helping the world be a better place?” 🙂
The good news we are not of this world. We have eternity with our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen and Amen
Amen to that! But as long as we’re here… we might as well do some good. 🙂 And you do that, Jerry, for sure!
When we are young and before we have accepted the premise that God is in control. We operate under the premise that we are right and in control. It’s foolish, like a monkey reaching into a jar to grab a handful of peanuts only to realize his now full hand can’t get it out of the jar.
We open our hand and let the blessings flow to others is when we can exhale and let go and let God.
I just spent a week and 2 days with a group of tasks so large there is no way I could see how they were ever going to get done.
1. Lay down ground matting 150 feet long X 10 ft wide for a driveway and have a truck full of gravel dumped in a spot to be distributed on the matting with a Bob Cat.
Result: I prayed for God to put the jig saw puzzle together and He did.
2. Fix and fire up a park size Steam Engine that was going to run on an oval 150 feet wide. We had issues like the leak in the roof.
Result: Some how another piece of the jig saw puzzle came together and it worked.
3. Lay down 300 ft of track, bolt it together put matting under it along with ballast.
Result: God showed up again with the right jig saw piece and we got it done,
God is a big God that putting a jig saw puzzle together is so easy, I have no clue why we try to do things on our own. But we do. And it is exhausting until we let God work through us to DO GOOD.
Wow! We all need to save that and remember it… God has it covered. But you are right, we definitely try to do it on our own way too often. Thanks, Jim!
DO GOOD TO DEFEAT EVIL !!!
Isn’t that the truth? And yet so many people think that more evil is the answer to evil.
Well said, Patrick!!!