What Charlie Kirk’s life verse (Isaiah 6:8) means to me

By Jason Williams,
Williams is a writer, researcher and founder of the Taxpayers Association of Oregon

Charlie Kirk’s funeral received as much as 100 million views making a milestone.

One of the central themes of his funeral was Charlie Kirk’s life-defining Bible verse from Isaiah 6:8, “Here I am Lord, send me”.

Charlie felt like a person sent on a mission because he went to places other didn’t.

To everyone’s astonishment he was able to get through barriers set by universities and was able to draw students by the thousands. His life was under constant death threats. On the day of the shooting, Charlie’s mentor, Frank Turek, looked around and cautioned him that there were too many buildings and that it didn’t feel safe.   Yet, outdoor venues were often the only way to speak on a college campus because of the barriers.   Charlie felt he had to reach the thousands before him despite the risks.

The verse, Isaiah 6:8, comes from the Jewish prophet Isaiah. He had a powerful vision of being before heaven’s throne with God making a request and Isaiah replying “Here I am, send me!” Because Isaiah said yes that day, he would go on to write the Bible’s biggest book (measured by number of chapters).  What Isaiah said would dramatically shape our world today.  Isaiah’s words on the virgin birth and the messiah make up much of Christmas carols we sing today. Isaiah’s message of peace, “They shall beat their swords into plowshares, And their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, Neither shall they learn war anymore” is inscribed outside the United Nations and is cited as one of the most common peace quotes used by world leaders of all religions. Isaiah’s poetry has inspired great poets like T.S. Elliot, Walt Witman, WB Yeats, Lord Byron, and even C.S. Lewis’ Narnia world and Bob Dylan’s song “All along the watchtower” which was once rated in the top 50 greatest songs of all time.

Sadly, because Isaiah spoke against the rulers of his age, he was killed — just like Charlie Kirk.

This engaging verse, Isaiah 6:8, has played a role in my life.

When I was preparing to travel to Israel, I had to decide what prayers to bring to place inside the sacred Western Wall in Jerusalem. I called my Portland Jewish friend, Serge D’Rovencourt, and asked if he had a prayer request. He sent me a prayer which asked for safekeeping for his parents in the afterlife. You see, as a young man during WWII, he had Nazi’s storm his house.  He escaped on the roof, but his parents were captured, taken away and killed in the Holocaust.  Some 60 years later, he still grieved over that fateful day. Serge would later leave Europe and change his last name to hide his Jewish identity.  It was another example of what happened in the past continued to bear a burden for today.   My own prayer for the Western Wall was Isaiah 6:8 as it acted as a way of being open to go anywhere and do anything for heaven’s calling. To me, both prayers complimented each other. One prayer illuminated that there is oppression in the world and that people are living with a lifetime of hurt, and the other prayer is a commission to go find the oppressed, heal them and advocate for them.

By pledging to live Isaiah 6:8 and telling God that you are willing to go anywhere, it was not long before a door was opened. Be careful what you ask for. An earthquake hit Haiti and for the first time in my life someone asked me to join a team to help. We visited a girls’ orphanage and delivered them clothes and hygiene supplies. These girls shrieked with excitement over getting a new shirt, shorts and socks. Everything these girls had fit inside a grocery bag. Yet, they did not even have a grocery bag, as they had nothing but the bunk beds they were crammed into. Our team leader saw this and pledged to return the next day with cubbyhole shelves. We built shelves that very afternoon, and upon our return the next day the girls again shrieked in joy for having something as simple as a shelf space to call their own. The ability to completely improve someone’s life with simple gestures was downright stunning and life-changing. This is why we need to heed Isaiah 6:8 and be willing to go anywhere to help others. You have no idea how much you can change someone’s life around the world.

I wasn’t the only person to go Haiti after the earthquake.

The United Nations came to offer help by setting up mass shelters. Tragically, nearly a quarter of all the people in the shelters were people from the rural areas, not impacted by the earthquake at all. These people took up the chance to leave their home and farms in exchange for free food and supplies (and no work). Hillary and Bill Clinton’s Foundation also helped Haiti. They decided the best way to help was to hand out thousands of free cell phones to every Haitian. This destroyed the local phone shops, which sent people into unemployment at the worst possible time. Would you believe, that one of the Clinton Foundation donors is one of the Haitian phone companies that was used for the mass-purchase and consequently ruined their rivals?  Simply put, politicians efforts to help others made things worse in many cases.

These toxic charities examples are not exclusive to just politicians. It happens to everyone. The Haitian camp we worked from was built to help other religious charities have a safe place to operate from. This worked for a few years, but soon these visiting guest charities began to enter into big financial exchanges that changed the nature of the project. The one-on-one relationships between everyday helping Americans and Haitians began to disappear. They were drowned out by the people’s addiction and focus to the charities with the big checks. The people that originally built the camp felt compelled to exit the ministry and left the camp that they built to others.

I share this complicated and compelling story on toxic charities in Haiti to emphasize that it is irreplaceable on the essential need for people to go out to needy places in the world and help others one-on-one and not just leaving the role of helping others to governments, politicians and organizations. We Americans, feel erroneously that sending money can solve every problem. Yet, it cannot replace creating relationships. Even showing up in person to see how other churches and charities are spending money overseas is essential to their accountability.

Since I made myself available to go anywhere under the calling of Isaiah 6:8, I have done charity projects in 18 countries. Every trip I took has dramatically grown my appreciation for America and our widespread blessings and prosperity. Every overseas trip has drawn me closer to people and to God.  I encourage you to adopt the Isaiah 6:8 calling and be willing to go anywhere you are needed.   Be willing to talk to anyone in need.   This calling worked for Charlie Kirk, it worked for me, it will work for you.

POST-SCRIPT: Americans above all other people have the greatest open door to changing our world. First, the entire world has made English their second language by default. After visiting 63 nations, I have yet to find an airport that did not have English signs everywhere. When a native person travels to a foreign country, they often learn English to get around. Second, Americans have incredible purchasing power. Even the average wage of America’s poorest state, Alabama, is still greater than most European nations. Americans can visit needy places in the world on a budget. Their ability to donate is disproportionately in our favor, as just landing in other countries will expand the value of your dollar by four times the value .  Thirdly, Showing up is a tremendous sign of respect and love. Having people travel from far away to help garnishes an incredible amount of attention and admiration. Having someone come from America always garnishes more attention because America dominates the world’s news headlines and our entertainment culture floods the airwaves.  For these reasons, Americans have such a wide open access to the world that most do not have.   You are needed.  Please go.