Charlie Kirk’s death prompts me to ask, “What is a godly life?”

With the murder of the conservative political activist Charlie Kirk earlier this week my social media feed has been full of comments about what a godly man he was and what an ungodly man he was. I think this is a good opportunity to pause and take a moment to ask what a godly person would look like.

Let’s begin by looking at the characteristics of a godly person and for that I turn first to the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount and the characteristics of someone seeking to live a flourishing life. “Blessed are the poor in spirit … those who mourn … the meek … those who hunger and thirst for righteousness … the merciful … the pure in heart … the peacemakers … the persecuted … .” And then we turn to Paul as he tells us that if we have the Spirit of God our lives will demonstrate the characteristics of, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.”

That’s a start, but the internals have to become external. They have to be demonstrated in a new quality of life. Scripture is quite clear as to what that should look like, even if we don’t always want to hear it. When asked what the greatest commandment was, Jesus gave us the answer and then some, “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

That’s a broad picture he paints, I suppose that’s why a theologian asked Jesus to define who is your neighbor. A question that Jesus doesn’t answer, but rather uses an enemy of the people to show what it means to be a neighbour to others. We dare not miss that the enemy was the neighbour.

If you’ve read the Sermon on the Mount or the end of Romans 12, then you’d know that loving your enemy is part of what it means to be a godly person.

A godly person will be a person who loves as God calls us to love. Paul reminds us that it doesn’t matter how good our words are, or how big we think our faith is, if we aren't driven by love then it doesn’t matter. Paul tells us what that love looks like and it echoes a lot of what he says the fruit of the Spirit looks like, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). Of course that love is practical as John tells us, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:16-18).

Godly people perform good works, we were created for that purpose, let’s get away from the idea that God only cares about what we say we believe for belief will always be evident in practice. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” ‭‭(Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭8‬-‭10). Also, as James explains, “You see that a person is considered righteous by what they do and not by faith alone” (James 2:24).

Jesus is also very clear on this point. The only time he gives any criteria on the final judgment it is all about what we have done for others, “‬Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me’” ‭‭(Matthew‬ ‭25‬:‭34‬-‭36‬).

It should surprise no one that Jesus’ teaching is in line with what we find throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. The prophet Jeremiah tells the people about to go into exile that “If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever” (Jeremiah 7:5-7).

Taking care of the vulnerable, the oppressed, and the marginalised is a consistent theme throughout Scripture and one that God’s people are called to address. They are also called to ask why the oppression occurs in the first place and are often reminded that it is their fault because they have forgotten who they were supposed to be, “Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow” (Isaiah 1:16,17).

The way of Jesus doesn’t fit into left and right political divisions. Jesus said his kingdom was not of this world. Living a godly life requires realigning every part of who we are to his way. 

I hope this is helpful in assessing your own life and whether you are living in line with God’s passion for humanity. It is a lens that we can hold up to anyone to see how they’re doing, but let’s make sure we examine our own lives first.

Feel free to judge me and my life by what I’ve written above. In fact I hope you do and I hope you will call me out, with love, kindness, and gentleness, when I fall short.