Queensland pastor Craig Ireland has defended the late conservative commentator Charlie Kirk’s ministry in a viral post that has garnered nearly 3 million views in less than 24 hours.
Ireland, pastor of Ascension Church in Tingalpa, addressed criticisms of Kirk in a Facebook post, responding to claims that Kirk’s speaking engagements were offensive. He argued that many Christians, including pastors, were wrongly judging Kirk’s ministry by the offence it caused rather than by its faithfulness to truth.
“Too many Christians, including pastors, are judging Charlie Kirk’s ministry by offence, not truth,” Ireland wrote. “They’re distancing themselves because his campus talks unsettle people, as if controversy negates Gospel impact and value. This is backwards. Truth offends. Always has.”
Ireland compared the reaction to Kirk’s ministry with the opposition faced by Jesus and the Apostles, saying, “Why was Jesus crucified? He offended people. Why were the apostles martyred? They offended people. If we’re unwilling to cause offence, we’ve chosen the wrong worldview. Scripture itself is offensive to fallen minds.”
The pastor said Kirk displayed what modern Christians lacked most: courage. While acknowledging Kirk’s efforts to be relevant and culturally engaged, he insisted that Kirk’s effectiveness stemmed not from polish but from conviction.
“We’ve been drowning in talk about ‘winsomeness.’ Endless chatter about ‘contextualisation.’ Constant demands for ‘relevance.’ But courage? Crickets.
“Yet courage is what makes effective ministry possible. Real cultural engagement. Real evangelism. Real apologetics. Without it, winsomeness becomes cowardice dressed up in theological verbiage. Contextualisation becomes compromise with a seminary diploma.”
Ireland continued: “Kirk strove for winsome. Kirk was relevant. Kirk was the most culturally engaged Christian of our generation. But what made him effective wasn’t his polish. It was his backbone. He had the spine to speak complete truth in a culture that demands partial lies.” Ireland wrote.
Citing John 15:18—”If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you”—Ireland concluded that hatred and offence were the natural responses of the world to uncompromising truth.
“That’s not just ministry. That’s New Testament Christianity,” Ireland said.
