Joshua Hawk

On September 10th, 2025, Charlie Kirk was brutally assassinated on a college campus in Utah. This assassination was rooted in a deep-seated hatred for values that Charlie Kirk stood for; values that aren’t in alignment with a side that is growing ever more intolerant and hostile towards those with diametrically opposed views. When I learned of Charlie Kirk’s assassination, I was deeply troubled and wept. A wife is now a widow and two children will now grow up without a daddy because the perpetrator wanted to silence a man who was bold and effective. I must admit that I was also angry which was only fueled by the schadenfreude coming from people filled with so much hatred. The events that have unfolded this week is proof that we are in fact living in the last days.

“And then many will be offended, will betray one another, and will hate one another. And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold.” Matthew 24:10, 12 NKJV

Offense is a manifestation of unforgiveness which is one of the signs of the last days. As we draw ever so close to the Lord’s return, I am convinced that forgiveness is a lost art. In fact, our society celebrates unforgiveness and makes no room for forgiveness. We make heroes out of revenge ridden characters like John Wick and the Punisher. Disagreements and infractions are countered with public outrage, canceling, doxing, and murder which has disturbingly become a trend in our country. What is also disturbing is forgiveness is seldom found in many churches today even though the Christian faith teaches us to forgive one another. Unforgiveness is the reason why churches split and pastors are forced out. I’m not referring to pastors who are forced to step down because of sin (which has become prevalent in American church culture). Sin at the leadership level must always be taken seriously but what I am referring to are pastors who are mistreated or placed under intense scrutiny for facilitating change. Change is a threat to culture and tradition, disrupting the established norms and the status quo. I’ve heard too many stories of pastors being ran out their local churches for permitting the use of new songs or for something trivial like moving the piano, changing the color of the carpet, or replacing the furniture. In other words, someone got offended!

It is as if Christians have forgotten that our faith REQUIRES us to forgive one another.

“And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” Ephesians 4:32 NKJV

Unforgiveness is a danger to our society and to the church. It keeps people in bondage, stirs up bitterness, and will rob you of God’s forgiveness. The scriptures teaches that there is NO forgiveness for unforgiveness.

“For if you forgive men their trespasses, you heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Matthew 6:14-15 NKJV

Jesus taught a parable about unforgiveness which can be found in Matthew 18:21-35. The parable teaches of a man who owed a king 10,000 talents. The bible doesn’t tell us if it’s 10,000 talents of silver or gold but we’ll take the conservative estimate for the sake of the point. 10,000 talents of silver today is the equivalent of 161 million US dollars. Essentially, this man was in so much debt that it couldn’t be paid in his lifetime. The man begged the king to forgive his debt and the benevolent king was merciful and forgave the debt in full. But later, the same man who was forgiven of such a large debt refused to forgive someone who owed him 100 Denarii which is the equivalent of $18,000 US dollars. In fact, the man was cruel and threw the debtor in jail until he was able to pay off the debt. When the king heard what happened, the king was furious and ordered the unforgiving man to be tortured.

This parable represents our relationship with God and with one another. In this parable, the king is God and each of us is the man who owed the large debt. Our sins against God is so severe that it could never be paid in this lifetime or the next. The Bible teaches that the wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Sin is so costly that it cost the blood of Jesus in order for sin to be pardoned. On the other hand, our offenses against one another pales in comparison to our sins against God. Because God forgave us of such a large debt, we should also forgive others when we’re offended or mistreated.

Forgiving also requires us to FORGET. We as humans struggle with holding on to past offenses which is often rehashed or brought up in arguments. God doesn’t do this because when He forgives; He forgets.

“For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Hebrews 8:12 NKJV

If we say, “I forgive them but I will NEVER forget what they did to me,” we haven’t truly forgiven that person. If our aim is to be more like Jesus, the son of God, shouldn’t we also strive to forget offenses committed by others? The answer is Yes!

The strange thing about unforgiveness is we erroneously believe we’re exacting revenge on the wrong doer by not forgiving them. But unforgiveness doesn’t hurt anyone but the person holding onto the unforgiveness. Augustine of Hippo said it best when he said, “Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die.”

Anyone can hold onto bitterness and resentment but it takes character to forgive. Jesus, the greatest Man who ever lived, modeled forgiveness even in death when he uttered the words, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34).

This might be hard to believe but even Charlie Kirk’s killer can find forgiveness with God should he choose to ask for it; barring that the killer is not harboring unforgiveness in his heart. The blood of Jesus covers and washes away our sins and no sin is too great for God to forgive. These are indeed perilous times. Let it not be said of Christians that we didn’t follow Christ’s basic tenet to forgive one another.