Charlie Kirk Explains How the Sabbath Saved His Life and Transformed His Faith

[00:00] So, Charlie Kirk, little bit of your

[00:02] background, religious background.

[00:04] >> Yeah. So, honor honor to be here and

[00:06] thank you. The Sabbath is one of my

[00:09] favorite topics to talk about, honestly,

[00:11] cuz I'm so sick of talking about

[00:12] politics all day long. It's all I do.

[00:14] So, it drives me crazy. This is actually

[00:17] way more important than that. And I

[00:18] could tie the two together if necessary,

[00:20] but we don't have to. Uh, it's more

[00:23] important than that. I I grew up in a

[00:25] Presbyterian background. I then uh we

[00:28] left that church. We went to what could

[00:29] be best called as a bibleelving

[00:32] evangelical church. So not quite

[00:34] Calvinist, not Pentecostal, somewhere in

[00:38] the middle. Look, we we believe many of

[00:40] the same stuff, guys. I believe in the

[00:41] inherency of scripture. I believe you

[00:43] need Jesus Christ. I believe in grace,

[00:45] not works. I believe that there is

[00:47] heaven awaiting us. I believe in an

[00:49] afterlife. I believe in a God that

[00:50] created the heavens and the earth.

[00:52] However, I grew up in a church

[00:54] environment that at the very best would

[00:57] deemphasize the Shabbat, at the very

[01:00] worst say that the Sabbath doesn't

[01:02] really matter. The Sabbath is in your

[01:03] heart. You don't need to observe it.

[01:05] >> Yeah.

[01:05] >> And

[01:07] the the story is quite long. I'm

[01:10] actually writing my next book on the

[01:12] Sabbath. It's called Stop in the Name of

[01:14] God. Uh because Shabbat means stop or

[01:16] Ceasing. So, I'm not here to sell you a

[01:18] book. It's not even for sale yet. It's

[01:20] just something to think about. And it's

[01:22] honestly how the the Sabbath saved my

[01:24] life and helped preserve my family and

[01:27] helped preserve my career.

[01:30] And so, two things. Number one, a pastor

[01:32] that I really care about, Pastor David

[01:34] Angelhart, he's one of our board members

[01:35] at Turning Point USA. I was exhausted.

[01:37] It was the summer of 2021. I sat down

[01:40] with him. I said, "I'm not sleeping

[01:41] well. I'm fatigued." And he asked me

[01:43] very bluntly, "Are you honoring the

[01:45] Sabbath?" And I gave him very weak

[01:48] theological arguments. honestly, oh, I'm

[01:51] not bound to that or no, I I'm not

[01:54] really interested in that. Uh, I don't

[01:56] have to do that. And he really

[01:57] challenged me and I didn't have good

[01:59] responses to be perfectly honest with

[02:00] you. And pairing that with my very good

[02:02] friend who is Jewish, who right now is

[02:05] going through a very difficult health

[02:06] trial, Dennis Prager, who I believe is

[02:09] the premier Torah teacher of this

[02:11] generation. He's amazing. He's a

[02:14] phenomenal mind. And if you don't know

[02:15] Dennis Prager on the Sabbath, you guys

[02:17] would really appreciate Dennis Prager

[02:19] because he has brought the teachings of

[02:20] the Sabbath to more millions of people

[02:22] than almost anybody alive. And I hope to

[02:24] carry that tradition. And he would

[02:26] always talk about the Shabbat, always

[02:28] talking about the Sabbath. And I found

[02:30] myself after a couple years of hearing

[02:33] this getting really jealous of him,

[02:36] being like, "Wait a second. You're able

[02:37] to just unplug for one day and not work

[02:40] and be with friends and family and

[02:42] worship God? I want that." And and I

[02:45] would start to get really jealous in the

[02:47] worst possible way. And then I realized

[02:50] it's not something you go and purchase

[02:51] at the store.

[02:53] >> It's not something that you have to take

[02:54] out a loan for. It's simply the

[02:57] prioritization

[02:59] of the question of who's in charge. It's

[03:01] that simple. And if you believe God is

[03:04] in charge, and if you believe Genesis

[03:06] 1:1, because the Shabbat is a question

[03:08] of whether or not you believe Genesis

[03:10] 1:1. And if you believe Genesis 1:1,

[03:12] then you honor the Sabbath. If you have

[03:14] questions about Genesis 1:1, in the

[03:16] beginning, God created the heavens and

[03:17] the earth, which is bearish sheath,

[03:18] right? Is the first um truth claim of

[03:21] the scriptures, then on the seventh day,

[03:23] you rest because God created the heavens

[03:26] and the earth. It is the longest

[03:27] standing celebration of time of the

[03:30] creation of the heavens and the earth.

[03:32] And so that realization changed my life.

[03:36] I could talk about this from many

[03:38] different dimensions. What it's meant

[03:39] for me personally, what what it means on

[03:41] the macro. I also go to churches across

[03:45] the country. I speak at hundreds of

[03:47] churches of all different denominations.

[03:50] And I will challenge the Christian

[03:52] church because I believe this is the

[03:54] most ignored commandment of the

[03:57] decalogue to our own detriment.

[04:00] And I will go a step further and then

[04:02] I'll stop talking because I know we have

[04:03] a whole program. No,

[04:04] >> it's fine. uh which is that I believe

[04:07] that honoring the Sabbath is the

[04:10] commandment that allows you to honor the

[04:12] other nine commandments.

[04:14] >> And that the enemy has gone after the

[04:16] honoring the Sabbath because then it is

[04:19] easier to weaken the other nine.

[04:21] >> And I'll prove it to you. If you're

[04:22] honoring the Sabbath, it's

[04:24] definitionally easier to honor your

[04:26] mother and father because you're not

[04:28] working that day and you're with family.

[04:30] If you're honoring the Sabbath, it's

[04:32] easier not to covet your neighbor's wife

[04:35] because you're not around your

[04:36] neighbor's wife. You're with your family

[04:39] and you're filled with gratitude that

[04:41] day. When you're honoring the Sabbath,

[04:43] it's easier to have no other gods before

[04:45] God because that day is built in time as

[04:48] a temple, as a sanctuary, to put God

[04:51] first, to not have idols, to not take

[04:53] the Lord's name in vain. The other nine

[04:55] commandments are made easier are made

[04:58] more accessible for our broken, fleshly,

[05:01] depraved nature if we prioritize the

[05:04] Shabbat.

[05:05] >> Amen.