I thought it would be important to say something about a Direct Message (DM) Charlie Kirk sent to Van Jones on the social platform of X just a day or so before Charlie’s assassination. As you would guess, Charlie’s words would carry heightened significance and weight, as Jones did not know it was sent to him until after he learned of Charlie’s death. Van Jones’ web bio titles him a political analyst, civil rights advocate, and one who served as President Obama’s Special Advisor which makes him a regular on CNN and explains his guest appearance with Anderson Cooper on Anderson Cooper360 Van Jones – Wikipedia.  There Jones recounted how Charlie’s last note was an appeal for them to meet up privately to discuss their issues of disagreement. Specifically, I perceive Charlie sending his message as some version of him extending an olive branch for peace despite their disagreements. 

Charlie’s DM was then reposted by Van Jones. 

Hey Van, I mean it, I’d love to have you on my show to have a respectful conversation about crime and race. I would be a gentleman as I know you would be as well. We can disagree about the issues agreeably. [Sep 9, 2025, 1:25 PM] https://www.instagram.com/p/DOzoib6jJTE/

The key phrase from Charlie’s DM that catches my attention is for them to meet so, we can disagree about the issues agreeably. Jones in his interview with Cooper expressed the weight behind this offer to meet in terms of how Charlie’s conservative positions would make Jones his sworn enemy. However, Jones wanted to make it patently clear that their sharp points of disagreement should have never led to Charlie being killed. Jones decried against acting in violence, stating: “We need to use words not weapons” and then affirming how their use of words was their mode of battle and that this was where he and Charlie intersected. 

Certainly, Jones was offering his full respect to Charlie as a formidable debater and someone he would have gladly met on the debate floor, and perhaps him conveying this sentiment is to be expected in the immediate aftermath of Charlie’s murder. Still, two things struck me about what Jones stated. First, from my perspective, this seems like something Jones felt he had to give public voice to in view of the ironic manner in which Charlie reached out. If for no other reason than to defend him from the mainstream vitriol spewing out from whispering leftists who, under their breath, are claiming Charlie had this coming. In this strategic moment Jones is arguing that someone like Charlie, who was boldly espousing conservative positions and battling others with words, was not someone who deserved to be shot. Second, I think Jones’ evaluation on Charlie runs deeper in terms of him being affected by Charlie’s Christian testimony. 

I understand that there is debate on the use of the term Christian martyr as a true title for Charlie being assassinated. And though this is the case, what I do not hear being drawn into question is whether Charlie’s testimony for being a Christian brother is genuine. Being known as a Christian, whether martyr is attached to Charlie or not, is satisfying enough.  And I, yet again, see Charlie’s testimony shining through, by the way he reached out to Jones. Even through a quick DM, in a word, Charlie was taking on the role of a peacemaker. 

Clearly, the Bible calls every Christian to practice peacemaking in the community of faith, especially in local church settings. Peacemaking with other believers applies Jesus’ teaching in his sermon on the mount (blessed are the peacemakers in Matthew 5:9) followed by Paul’s reaffirmation that as far as it is possible on them, Christians are to live at peace with all men (Romans 12:18). That said, the question remains whether Charlie reaching out to Jones for peace in the context of secular debate qualifies him by Jesus’ definition as a peacemaker. In short, from my perspective, I believe it does and especially when comparing this to Jesus’ method of evangelism as portrayed in the gospels. The late John MacArthur used to attribute to Christ the persona when engaging the masses for evangelism as one who was imperturbable. And this often in the context of debate, where under intense duress, Christ always remained unflappable. When attacked, Christ remained focused on the mission his heavenly Father had given him to accomplish.

As recorded in the Gospels, this mission often seemed to be unfolding before his eyes as Jesus did not always express his divine omniscience in his earthly ministry. Instead, the Gospels often depict Jesus in his humanity allowing events to unfold before his eyes and reacting to them in the moment in a manner that remained committed and submitted to accomplishing the Father’s will. Jesus was led and empowered by the Holy Spirit, in sinless perfection, to accomplish his Father’s will and though we are obviously sinners who are not sinless, we are called to follow this exact same pattern as we live our Christian life. Jesus lived out his witness and testimony of the Father in the moment, with followers who were close to him, and out in the public square, where his testimony shined. You could say in terms of the Father’s plan, Jesus chose to submit himself daily to the Father’s will and to rely on the Holy Spirit as a demonstration for us. His earthly life is a model for how we ought to operate in our lives, laying down our wills to do the will of the one who redeemed us in reliance on the indwelling Holy Spirit as he conforms us to the image of Christ (Romans 8:29; 2 Corinthians 3:18). Jesus, just like all believers, had everything he needed to carry out his mission, knowing why he was on earth, what he was supposed to say, and with discerning eyes to read the issues beneath the issues as he offered the kingdom of God to any who would follow him.

I love the phrases from Psalm 119: that the unfolding of God’s Word gives light and how God’s Word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path, which serve as inspired word pictures that depict the experience every believer shares when he or she is yielded to the moving work of the Holy Spirit through God’s Word. Illumined Scripture informs a Christian’s mind to instruct them what to do and how to live moment by moment. Analogous to this is the driving on a foggy road, say the Seward Highway coming through the Turnagain Arm, where all you see on that two laned drive is a mountain face on one side with the Cook inlet on the other and about twenty feet in front of each twist in the road. 

Returning to Charlie’s DM to Jones, was this true peacemaking in terms of his witness? In my mind, when you see this in the light of Charlie’s gospel-driven, imperturbable character, I think it was. In fact, what is remarkable is how Charlie’s witness in this case without gospel words sets the stage for Jones to consider the gospel Charlie was known for and connected to in death. I know from playing sports fellow competitive athletes who are known as unbelievers, who likewise know I am a believer, evaluate everything about what I confess to believe by how I conduct myself in the heat of the moment. Especially when pushed to the limits. Do you react with joy and a gleam in your eye or crestfallen with low-key anger? It was noticeable that at the end of Jones interview with Cooper that Jones really had nowhere to go (in terms of a deeper response) concerning Charlie’s posthumous soundbite. All Jones mustered as an application to Charlie’s personal outreach in light of him being killed was to say, “we need to calm this down” which seems to fall woefully short as a response to the gravity of Charlie being assassinated. Calm down? Charlie’s posthumous message says more than just a superficial call to disagree agreeably as gentlemen and not enemies. It was a call to meet on the ground of truth for the sake of giving truth a hearing. Jones knew this was Charlie’s heart and so to receive it at face value would place him at a disadvantage based on how liberal positions will not stand under the scrutiny of truth. To quote John MacArthur again, he regularly called Christians to fight, yet “Not fight people, but fight for truth,” and this was the very message beneath the message for Van Jones.         

^ESV  1 Peter 3:15 “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect”

Van Jones shows the message Charlie Kirk sent him one day before he was killed – YouTube