By Mona Austin
(TSN): A Virginia pastor has amassed millions of views online for a sermon condeming the spiritual ambivalence around the death of MAGA activist Charlie Kirk. On the Sunday after Kirk was slain, Rev. Dr. Howard-John Wesley of Alfred St. Baptist Chuch told congregants he was overwhelmed by thebpolitical climate and the c respomse to the dearth of the conswrvative pundit. The sermon titles "Lead Me to the Rock" (Psalm 61) sparked intense national debate and viral attention due to its bold critique of what Wesley called “selective rage” and “selective compassion” in America.
Wesley delivered the sermon shortly after Charlie Kirk, a conservative activist and founder of Turning Point USA, was assassinated during an event at Utah Valley University. While Wesley clearly stated that Kirk did not deserve to be killed, he was deeply disturbed by the national response—especially the decision to fly U.S. flags at half-staff and the widespread veneration of Kirk by political leaders, including President Donald Trump.
Wesley called that Kirk out for being “an unapologetic racist” who “spent all of his life sowing seeds of division and hate”.
He extrapolated that honoring Kirk in death ignored the harm he caused in life:
“How you die does not redeem how you lived. You do not become a hero in your death when you are a weapon of the enemy in your life”.
The sermon also highlighted hypocrisy in public mourning, contrasting the outrage over Kirk’s death with silence around the politically motivated killing of Minnesota Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband. He higkighted the doubke standar in how right-wingers lamented the death of one of the own versus everyone else. White evangelical pastors, with some exceptions have largely praised Kirk and revered him as a martyr.
Reaction to the message was widely shared and rractions were polarized aling ra ial abd political lines. There was a clear kine in thebfaith-based respobse among Blacks and Whites.
Supporters praised Wesley’s courage and honesty, calling the sermon “powerful” and “necessary” for confronting racial double standards.
Critics, especially Kirk’s fans and conservative commentators, accused Wesley of being disrespectful and divisive.
The viral sermon ignited conversations about race, political violence, and the public mourning of Christians.
The message was especially poignant for attendees. Wesley's bold rebuke, followed the remarks of the first Black governor of Virginia, Douglas Wilder. The 94-year-old testified that his grandparents had been slaves. He spoke about race, history and cotinhe to particilate in democracy. As the Republican Party has seized the teaching of Black History, in this moment his presence was both symbolic and illustrative of civil advocacy.
Numerous people whi publicly denounced Xharlue Kirk's ideology after his passing have been fireed from their jobs, hjglightinf the irony of the rejection of the First Anendment that Kirk so deeply embraced in select cases.