Have you ever listened to a symphony warming up? Get there early enough, and you’ll experience the chaos. Horns squawking, violins screeching, with random percussionists loosening up. The sound is anything but pleasing—it’s loud, random, and scattered.
But then something happens.
Everyone pipes down and listens as one person plays a single note. Maybe it’s an oboist. Maybe the first chair violinist. They play an “A” and then everyone else works to tune their instrument to that one pitch. One by one, what once sounded like a kindergarten music class starts to sound like cohesion! Unified. Beautiful. Whole.
This is an eye-opening illustration for God’s Church.
We were never called to play the same part. We’re not all going to play the same instrument. BUT, we are called to play the same song in the same key. It takes a beautiful diversity of instruments and harmonies to produce the sounds that you hear once the performance starts—with the exception of those middle school performances (those are painful, right?). Likewise, the church will never hold the same opinion on every cultural issue. But when we tune our hearts to the same standard—the “key” of Jesus and His Word—the chaos of competing perspectives becomes a unified witness to the Gospel.
Last night, the people of Arundel Christian Church had an opportunity to put this into practice. Our 2025 Elephant Room tackled a very touchy—and often divisive—topic: Charlie Kirk.
We don’t do Elephant Room to win arguments.
We don’t do Elephant Room to be “spicy.”
We do Elephant Room because believers need to learn how to approach hard conversations with the respect and honor that all image bearers of God deserve.
We do Elephant Room to celebrate our different instruments and parts by ensuring we’re playing in the same unified key.
Simultaneously, we also acknowledge that truth is not subjective: Not every viewpoint is right.
But, when we listen well, one of these things will happen:
- We’ll discover where we were wrong, or
- We’ll be sharpened in areas where we’re walking in truth.
Either way, we grow.
The Foundation: In Essentials, Unity. In Non-essentials, Liberty. And, in All Things, Love.
Before we talk about any divisive topic, we must start here:
Unity, liberty, and love are not defined by our culture—these words have already been defined by God.
Unity
Jesus prayed for it (John 17:20–23).
Paul commanded it (Ephesians 4:2–6).
And God’s church needs it.
Remember… unity is not “everyone agrees with me.”
Unity is making sure we’re all playing the same song and teaching the same Gospel. It’s an alignment under Christ and His Word. In spite of our hundreds of differences, it’s making sure that we are walking in lockstep with the core essentials of the Christian faith—unwilling to bend in these areas.
Liberty
Romans 14 recognizes that not everything that is important to one person is necessarily essential. God, through Paul, gives believers the freedom to disagree on non-essentials.
When considering certain convictions…
- Should I wear a hat in church?
- Has the spiritual gift of tongues ceased?
- Should we baptize forward or backwards?
- Is there going to be a literal rapture?
- Should “How He Loves Us” use “unforeseen kiss” or “sloppy wet kiss” in the lyrics? Lol.
Romans 14 highlights the importance of not judging other people’s convictions in these non-essential matters in order to make a more unified stand around what really matters!
But liberty has its limits.
“Christian liberty” is not a blank check to live in rebellion to Scripture. If we say the Bible is the inerrant Word of God (which is an essential of the faith), then:
- God gets to call the shots on what is good.
- God also gets to decide what is evil.
- And “my preference” never outranks either of those.
Liberty is not a magic trick that makes the necessity of obedience disappear.
Love
The word “love” has been hijacked by our culture. As God is Love, only He gets to define it.
And biblically, love and truth are inseparable.
It is not loving to let someone believe a lie.
It is not kind to hold back a hard truth that could save a person from harm—or Hell.
Love calls us to speak the Truth gently—but clearly.
Now, with all that being said…
Charlie Kirk: My Perspective
I have followed Charlie Kirk’s work closely since the early days of TPUSA until his assassination. Here are my thoughts:
What I Appreciate:
- His knowledge base was incredible… His ability to quote statistics, policy, and cultural trends was nearly unmatched.
- He was willing to say hard things—things that most people were afraid to say. Not caring if they were politically incorrect, Charlie would break the silence when the alternative would have kept people from hearing the truth.
- He seemed to consistently share the gospel in his conversations, especially later in his career as he expanded his apologetics skills.
- He regularly adjusted his tone to match those he debated. In letting his critics speak first, his goal was persuasion, not applause.
- My research shows that he regularly platformed and elevated Black voices… mentoring, supporting, and even giving opportunities to people based on character, not race.
- He practiced character over color. This is why he opposed DEI initiatives that undermined equality instead of supporting it.
What I learned last night is that the word “Black” (or even conversation about race in general)—when used casually or without clear context—can land in dramatically different ways depending on a person’s background and experiences. For some, it sounds like a simple descriptor. For others, it carries a long, painful history, reminding some of how people of color have been mistreated in our history (and even today). Race isn’t a light topic; it’s layered, emotional, and deeply shaped by generations of injustice. That means even well-intentioned words—which I believe is the case with Charlie Kirk—can be heard through very different filters.
Last night, we got to listen to each other’s views based on those different perspectives.
I understand Charlie’s strategy, tone, and approach were not everyone’s cup of tea. But I have never found him to be a racist man. My perspective, which I understand to be true, is that those who disagree with me are either being dishonest (at worst) or have come to different conclusions about his intentions (at best). Often, this is related to him being misquoted or quoted out of context.
Racism ought to be condemned—it is essential that all men were created equally in the image of God. Therefore, racism has no place in the Church (or anywhere else for that matter). So how can two brothers in Christ continue to fellowship together when they disagree about Charlie? It’s simple…
Our disagreement isn’t about the evil of racism. Our disagreement is about whether Charlie participated in this evil.
The first is an essential—we must be unified.
The second? There is room for loving disagreement here.
While I saw him regularly break certain social taboos—saying things that our culture has deemed “unsayable”—I never have viewed his motives as harmful.
But, not everyone will agree with me! This is where liberty and love must come into the equation.
I’m thankful for our panelists (and attendees) who courageously shared their views and perspectives so we could practice this together.
Listening to Different Perspectives Without Losing the Truth
During Elephant Room, I enjoyed hearing Christians express different views on Charlie Kirk and beyond—some supportive, some cautious, some critical. It was good and healthy. We got to see the Church in real time talking through a divisive topic without dividing!
Listening does not mean agreeing.
It means learning.
Disagreement + humility = growth.
Disagreement + pride = division.
Essentials vs. Non-Essentials
Throughout our Elephant Room event, we kept coming back to a framework straight out of Compton… err… the Restoration Movement:
In essentials, unity.
—The Gospel
—The authority of Scripture
—The Lordship of Christ
…to name a few.
In non-essentials, liberty.
—Economic philosophies
—Most cultural concerns
—Secondary theological issues
In all things, love.
—Love that tells the truth
—Love that listens
—Love that hopes
—Love that fights for restoration and unity in the midst of disagreement.
—Love that keeps Christ at the center
The Takeaway
We’re not that different from the first century church… the church today still needs to demonstrate a unity deeper than political identity, personality type, or social preference.
We don’t need more Christians who agree on everything.
We don’t need everyone holding the same instrument and playing the same notes.
We need more Christians who stay tethered to Christ when they disagree—all playing in the “key” of Jesus.
When we tune our hearts to Christ—
His Word,
His Truth,
His Love—
the noise fades, the chaos resolves, and the Church becomes a symphony of grace in a divided world.
We really are not that different.
And when we tune to Jesus, we discover that’s a beautiful thing.
Last modified: November 13, 2025
