Have you ever watched a football game and felt like your favorite team just couldn’t keep the other team from scoring? Probably so. Often when this happens we say, “My team just needs to play better defense.” That may be true, but is it always the only solution to keep the other team from scoring? What do I mean? Sometimes the best defense is a good offense!
Think about it, if your favorite team has the ball and is consistently driving it down the field, the other team’s offense doesn’t have the ball and can’t score. When they do get the ball, your team defense is well rested and playing with a lead so it is much easier to stop the opponent from scoring.
At this point, you may be asking, Pastor Brian, this is supposed to be a Christian blog. What does football have to do with spirituality? I’m glad you asked. Living the Christian life is a lot like the football metaphor I just shared. Many Christians spend the majority of their time defending against the attacks of the devil instead of being on offense and advancing God’s kingdom.
When we are on defense and trying not to sin or live in defeat, we have a passive mentality that is just trying to hang on. That mentality positions us for defeat because we never get the ball. It also depletes our energy because we are always fighting against another attack.
On the other hand, when we have a positive mentality and know that we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus and we are called to do the same works that Jesus did, we go hunt for problems because we know we have the redemptive solutions needed to bring change. When we are sharing the gospel, casting out devils, healing the sick, and believing for the miraculous we don’t have a whole lot of time to consider sin and defeat. Being offense minded for the kingdom takes the ball away from the devil and puts him back on his heels. Look at Matthew 16:18:
18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
Jesus said the gates of hell are not supposed to prevail against the church. Think about this statement for a minute. Gates aren’t used to attack, they are used to defend. When a military attacked a walled city in Jesus’s day, it would try to storm its gates. This means that from Jesus’s perspective, the church is supposed to be on offense and Satan is supposed to be on the defensive. Does that sound radical? Probably so because that isn’t how most Christians live, but from Jesus’s perspective the church being on the offensive is normal Christianity.
We shouldn’t be stressed out about Satan taking territory in our lives. Satan should be stressed out we are setting up Jesus’s kingdom on earth and storming the gates of cities where he is trespassing. These cities represent sin, sickness, poverty, depression, confusion, and much more.
The best defense is a good offense! Jesus has given you the ball and He wants you to do something with it. When you do, don’t be surprised if you knock Satan back on his heels and find him pointing up less points on the scoreboard of your life!
