Erika Kirk decries online 'counterfeit' Christianity in Liberty University speech

By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter Monday, October 26, 2026

Turning Point USA CEO Erika Kirk is calling on Christians to reject the "counterfeit" Christianity offered by the internet, warning against chasing "the fruit of chaos" rather than "the fruit of truth and order."

Kirk, 37, spoke at the Liberty University Convocation on Friday, her first visit to her Evangelical alma mater since the assassination of her husband, Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, in September 2025. 

Kirk, a 2019 Liberty graduate, reflected on conversations she had with her late husband about "what it means to live a biblical life." 

"We kept coming back to this … notion that saying you're a Christian and living your life in obedience to Christ is not necessarily the same thing," Kirk told the crowd. 

"You can go to church every Sunday. You can memorize Scripture. You can have 'child of God' in your Instagram bio. You can proclaim yourself as a discerner and you can believe with your whole heart that you are fighting for something righteous and still be wrong," she continued.

But "the hardest things" for believers to discern, she said, "are usually not things that are obviously evil."

"It gets harder when something looks right when it's wrong or when something feels righteous but it's actually destructive," the mother of two explained. "I've spent the last year watching people act in ways that are cruel, dishonest, sometimes evil, all the while invoking God, Scripture, truth, spiritual warfare and even divine revelation."

Kirk said she has been forced to confront the fact that "two people can both call themselves Christians" who seek the truth and follow God but end up "producing completely different fruit."

"One being the fruit of chaos and the other being the fruit of truth and order," Kirk stated.  
Kirk contends those who produce the fruit of chaos often believe "they're fighting evil or defending the truth or even acting in God's name." But she likened them to the Pharisees in the New Testament.

The Pharisees "believed themselves to be righteous," she noted, yet "Jesus reserved some of His strongest words for them," calling them "a brood of vipers."

"Christianity has always warned us that evil doesn't just walk through the front door and say 'Hi, it's me, evil,'" she maintained. "It's not like that. Sometimes, it tells you it's fighting for truth. Sometimes, it quotes Scripture. And sometimes, it even tells you that God sent it."

Kirk warned that "the enemy is very good at counterfeits."

"The most dangerous counterfeit may be the one that feels so righteous, it convinces you that you are doing God's work while slowly pulling you away from Him," she said. 

She then voiced concern about the dangers of online communities.

"Today, you can have community made up almost entirely of people you've never met," she said, calling this a "counterfeit community."

"The internet has distorted God's design for community" by leading people to believe "you can spend hours every day fighting for a cause without ever leaving your basement" and to "become consumed with figuring out what they think is really happening."

Being "surrounded by people who inflame your pursuit" often creates a "chaos" that "can feel a lot like purpose," Kirk said, but ultimately distracts people "from God's true assignment for you."

"Over time, that work is purposeful and rewarding, that assignment that He has for you," she asserted. "But I'll grant you, it's not always exciting. It's not. Nobody applauds you for putting your phone down and building real relationships with your friend. There's no dopamine hit for keeping your word when it's easier not to. Serving at your church probably won't go viral."

However, she stressed that "God sees all."

"Am I looking for God's truth even though His truth might prove me wrong, or am I looking for evidence for what I want to believe?" she pondered. "Am I questioning something because there is a reason to question it or because I reached the point where the fact that someone denies something becomes evidence to me that it's true?"

Kirk stressed the importance of gaining wisdom, which she believes is best done through God's word, community and discipleship, "not algorithms, not X."

"It's a lot harder to lose your way when you have real people around you who actually know you," she told the students. "How do we discern the true from the counterfeit? God has shown us how. You look at the fruit."

Kirk reasoned that if a person is sowing chaos and destruction, "you will know them by that fruit," describing such a person as an "angry warrior." She said being a "happy warrior" is a better alternative and told the crowd to "make room for the Holy Spirit and remember whose name you carry."

Kirk closed by thanking people for their prayers since her husband's assassination, saying they have been "so sustaining for us."