Why Charlie Kirk *Is* An Evangelical Saint

Welcome to Masala Chai Theology with Father Joash P. Thomas: a space to spice up our spiritual journeys with ancient, Empire-resisting, and precolonial Christian ways of understanding God and neighbour - in ways that risk upsetting our Empire-shaped religious palate. This space builds on Fr. Joash’s bestselling book, The Justice of Jesus, which you can buy here for 30% off plus free shipping (US only) or wherever you get your books / audiobooks globally. Paid Subscribers are Fr. Joash’s inner circle of chai conversation partners who generously support his ministry as a priest and public theologian. If you’d like a Paid Subscription to Masala Chai Theology but are unable to afford one in this season, just reach out and we’re happy to arrange one for you.

“Who cares about the problematic things he said? Charlie Kirk believed in Jesus and publicly preached Christ as his Lord and Savior to thousands. He’s a hero of the Christian faith and the Billy Graham of our age!”

Many of us have heard this defense of Charlie Kirk from an evangelical friend or family member. I’ve heard this from evangelical family members during visits to India too!

I know many folks who left their evangelical churches in the US or Canada because their pastors said this from the pulpit or privately shamed them for critiquing Charlie Kirk. Some of these folks started deconstructing and decolonizing their Christian faith because of this. Others I know left Christianity and the Church altogether over this.

Conversely, I also know evangelical pastors who lost church members (big tithers especially) when they said nothing about Charlie Kirk or even if they said, “Let’s mourn the death of children in Gaza just as much as we mourn the death of Charlie Kirk” - unifying, Empire-resisting wisdom that ancient Celtic Christian ancestors would be inclined to agree with.

Just recently, the flagship American evangelical publication, Christianity Today (CT) published a highly problematic, full length review of Charlie Kirk’s final book - published three months after his death. You can read this review here and see its synopsis in this screenshot from CT’s Facebook account below.

What’s astounding to me is how CT book reviewers throw up the red flag for books from Jared Stacy, PhD (who had his excellent book dissed by the same CT editor / reviewer), Rev. Cara Meredith, and Amar D. Peterman (all way better role models for young men than Charlie Kirk) but would heartily recommend an AI-generated book posthumously attributed to a renowned racist, xenophobic, Islamophobic, homophobic misogynist like Charlie Kirk.

Which makes one wonder: Why on earth does this vile, hateful man (who was no doubt unjustly executed before he had the chance to mature) keep getting sainthood treatment in the evangelical ecosystem?

I’m the same age as Charlie Kirk. In fact, when I was Chairman of the College Republicans at Georgia State University (some of you will do a double take at this disclosure), I came into contact regularly with senior leaders at Kirk’s organization who were too extreme even for us College Republicans!

I was truly heartbroken when Charlie Kirk’s life was unjustly and violently cut short - for the sake of his family but also for the sake of the poor and oppressed who were robbed of a future apology from Charlie as he continued to mature in his life and faith.

Full disclosure: I’ve been told by someone who offered to review my book (The Justice of Jesus) for CT around a year ago that their offer was turned down under the pretext that they were an acquaintance and that CT already had plans to review my book. As of today, I’m unaware of any published or forthcoming CT reviews of The Justice of Jesus - even though top evangelical publications in Canada and the UK have already offered thoughtful reviews.

As I share in my book, I’m a Republican political consultant turned international human rights leader turned priest & public theologian who has devoted his life to serving Jesus and his Church - especially by retrieving the ancient, Global South St. Thomas Indian Christian wisdom of my ancestors who were Christians for 1500 years before the first western missionaries showed up. And increasingly now, by positioning that wisdom in conversation with the lost, Empire-offending wisdom of an ancient, pre-colonial Global North Christianity - Celtic Christianity.

Now to be clear: I’m perfectly okay with CT ignoring my book and the impact it seems to be having across the US, UK, and Canadian Church. I stopped caring about the approval of evangelical gatekeepers who (sadly) see me as a threat a long time ago. By God’s grace, my book has done just fine in directly reaching evangelical readers and churches across the west without these gatekeepers’ seals of approval.

But one has to question the wisdom and integrity of CT’s editorial leadership if well-researched, bestselling books like mine having an impact on the Church are being ignored while a lazy, AI-generated book (without a ‘Works Cited’ section apparently) by a world-famous bigot gets a glowing full-length review (something that even Amar D. Peterman’s excellent book didn’t get) - with Charlie Kirk being held up as a “role model” for young men in the Church.

This is especially jarring when a recent Barna study shows that Charlie Kirk’s MAGA brand of politics is keeping half of Gen Z from showing up to church! At this point, regardless of political or theological affiliation, one has to wonder - is Christianity Today even serving the local church?

Or, much like the direction of many US-based evangelical organizations right now, are they being beholden to the political agenda of a conservative evangelical donor class that prioritizes the American Empire’s status quo over the well being of all of the poor and the oppressed (the people Jesus’ Gospel is for according to Jesus in Luke 4)? In other words, are they letting the voices of their donors become louder than the voices of those they claim to serve (the local church)? And what happens the voices of those supposed to be served by the local church (the poor and the oppressed) in all of this?

These aren’t statements of fact; these are merely good-faith questions that I hope the good folks on CT’s staff and editorial team wrestle with in the days ahead. And to be clear - I’d love for nothing but to be proven wrong - not with empty words and promises but with reparative action that prioritizes those that CT is supposed to be serving right now - the local church but also especially the poor and the oppressed who have been undeniably harmed by the life and legacy of Charlie Kirk.

For those of you who find yourselves wondering, “What in the evangelical hell is going on at Christianity Today?”, Kristin Du Mez has an excellent piece on the unraveling of this legendary evangelical institution (founded by evangelical stalwarts like Billy Graham and Carl F.H. Henry) here.

Side note for ministry / organizational leaders reading this: If you’d like to avoid your ministry / organization taking a similar downward spiral, I highly recommend checking out our MA / Certificate in Transformative Leadership program at St. Stephen’s University. If you’re curious, you can even test this out by taking my Decolonized & Kenotic Leadership course this Fall for graduate level credit / audit. Come study and wrestle with us! The people and missions we serve deserve our very best.

Back to Charlie Kirk: As a theologian who was raised in the evangelical tradition and who studied under the best of teachers the evangelical tradition had to offer, one who still maintains close personal and ministerial relationships with key evangelical leaders across the world, I want to take on the larger question at play here:

Why is evangelicalism (the ecosystem, not the people)1 as a whole unraveling in ways that are driving people (especially younger Christians) away from Jesus?

I will do this by having us closely examine a related question:

Why does Charlie Kirk receive sainthood status in the evangelical Christian tradition (as evidenced by the way CT is treating him)?

I know that was a spicier than usual intro but as is custom, I will keep these spicier, masala chai thoughts for my Paid Subscribers - my inner circle of chai conversation and ministry partners.

Here are three reasons why Charlie Kirk is being venerated as an evangelical saint:

1. Because just like Franklin Graham, Charlie Kirk is the inevitable (even if unintended) outcome of Billy Graham’s theology.