WASHINGTON — The pastor who inspired Charlie Kirk’s final book on the Sabbath opened up about how he managed to persuade the late conservative icon to practice the Christian tradition.
David Engelhardt, pastor of Kings Church in New York City, met up with Kirk for lunch in the summer of 2021 when the Turning Point USA founder was visibly worn down from his demanding work regimen.
“Charlie was under duress, stressed out and said he was having a hard time sleeping,” Engelhardt recounted to The Post of their meeting. “I just said, you need to start observing the Sabbath, you need to start taking 24 hours — block it out and just hang out with God, hang out with your family.”
“We kind of squabbled back and forth lightly,” he added. “A couple of months later, he told me he had fully incorporated it.”
Kirk’s final tome, “Stop, in the Name of God: Why Honoring the Sabbath Will Transform Your Life” hit bookshelves on Tuesday. The book has become an instant bestseller.
The late conservative grassroots leader used his final book to urge people to practice the biblical tradition of honoring the Sabbath by dedicating one day a week to rest.
“It is by far, in my estimation, the best thing he’s ever written ever before,” Engelhardt said of Kirk’s book, of which he’s about a third of the way through. “I didn’t expect it to be philosophically deep. It’s philosophically deep. It’s rich. It reads really well. I’m sure he was immensely proud of it.”
“I talked to him when he was still working on the manuscript for it, and he was excited about it,” he added. “I think it is an incredible last piece, kind of a memorial to his life.”
Both Kirk and Engelhardt practiced Sabbath from Friday to Saturday.
Before he died, Kirk had been open about the conversation with Engelhardt that inspired his book.
“I gave him very weak theological arguments, honestly,” the sharp debater recalled shortly before he died about the conversation with Engelhardt. “He really challenged me, and I didn’t have good responses to be perfectly honest with you.”
In his book, Kirk explained that he told Engelhardt that practicing Sabbath wasn’t practical for him because he had to raise $50 million a year, manage three different companies, and do a three-hour show each day, among other responsibilities.
“I will honor God by working harder, not resting a day,” Kirk recalled saying.
“I continued to argue with him, but deep down I felt a strong conviction of the Holy Spirit. I knew he had struck a chord,” he admitted in his book.
Kirk later revisited the descriptions of the Sabbath in the bible and consulted his friend, talk show host Dennis Prager, before ultimately committing to the practice.
Engelhardt explained that his practice of Sabbath means eschewing “things that are hard and stressful and strenuous” one day a week, but caveated that “fun, creative projects” are allowed.
“For Christians, the practice of the Sabbath fundamentally says, do I trust God or do I not trust God?” he added. “If you’re not a Christian. I mean, the argument would be the Earth itself has cycles and seasons of rest. Creatures have cycles and seasons of rest, and we as humans need cycles and seasons of rest.”
Engelhardt met Charlie through the latter’s now-widowed wife, Erika, whom he met in 2019 when she was living in New York City.
Erika connected the two after hearing Engelhardt rail against Black Lives Matter protests that swept the country in the aftermath of George Floyd’s death.
The two promptly hit it off.
She has been on a media tour promoting Charlie’s final book.
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