Charlie Kirk was a guest on Bill Maher’s Club Random podcast. These days, civil dialog between people with opposing views is rare.
In one four-minute span, Kirk asked eight questions. He urged Maher’s candor saying, “You can’t offend me.” (Later he explained, “I honestly wanted to get to know Bill Maher.”) Maher said, “I want to find out a lot about you because obviously you’re a super bright guy.” They explored drugs, politics, immigration, the Bible, and God. Maher said, “I’m always happy to learn new information.” After Kirk died, Maher was stunned. “Charlie Kirk and I certainly don’t agree on much politically,” he said, “but he sat here, he’s a human being, he’s not a monster! I liked him!”
We can learn much from their dialog. It was confident, inquiring, and respectful. In fact, Kirk is known for open dialog on college campuses. He would sit under a banner saying, “Prove me wrong.” He explained his purpose. “When people stop talking, that’s when you get violence…you start to think the other side is so evil, and they lose their humanity.” How prophetic.
The Apostle Paul experienced this on a missionary journey to dialog about Jesus Christ. People listened, until they didn’t. In Lystra, they stoned him. In Phillippi, they beat and imprisoned him. He fled violence in Thessalonica under cover of night. He risked violence not to win an argument, but to offer life-changing truth with eternal implications. He spoke to people loved by God and made in His image. To Paul, they were worth the risk.
Jesus prioritized conversations with people who did not yet understand who He is. After a dinner once, the religious leaders grumbled, “Why do you eat and drink with the tax collectors and sinners?” He said, “It is not those who are well who need a physician, but those who are sick” (Luke 5:29ff). Jesus didn’t avoid controversy.
It is normal for Jesus’ followers to dialog with others. People matter. The truth matters. Paul wrote, “Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person” (Col. 4:5-6).
Even so, people may not receive what you say. Reasoned dialog doesn’t insulate the speaker. Know that the truth of the gospel stands on its own regardless of your ability to defend it. To shut down dialog about Jesus is not to reject you, but Him. “If they persecuted Me,” Jesus said, “they will also persecute you” (John 15:20).
Nevertheless, we engage. We love. We dialog. We invite people to know Christ and receive a new life fit for eternity with Him. That’s the dialog that matters.