Defense Takes a Back Seat to Offense

By Greg Stier, Op-ed Contributor Friday, May 09, 2008

"The best defense is a good offense."

This statement is true in the sports world. It's true in the military world. And from now on I'm going to make sure it's a reality in my world as well.

For the last several years I have been pushing the "stop the evacuation of our young people from the church" cause. But where does playing this kind of defense get you? At best it gets you a group of young adults who haven't forsaken their faith during the college years. Later on (if these young adults continue to retain their faith) it gets you status quo church goers who live out a status quo Christianity and make a jack squat difference.

No more.

Defense is taking a back seat to offense in my world from now on. You don't win wars against the devil by being defensive. You win by punching him in the throat for Jesus. You punch first. You punch fast. You punch hard with God's power.

Pretty much that's what Jesus promised to do in Matthew 16:18, "I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." The idea here is that Jesus is on the attack against death and the forces of darkness. He is using the people of God as his battering ram to punch through the gates of hell and free Satan's captives through the truth of the gospel.

As Christians we are not called to hunker down and hide. We are called to charge headfirst, headlong and headstrong into the battle against Satan for the souls of those around us.

How does all this tie into Dare 2 Share? Simple. I'm taking a more "offensive" approach as the leader of this organization. Instead of merely "equipping teenagers to know, live, share and own their faith" I want to see God unleash these teenagers to reach every teenager in their world with the message and mission of Jesus.

When I use this warfare analogy I'm not at all talking about how we approach those who don't know Jesus. We approach them with love, service, humility and truth. We don't approach them with a clenched fist but with open hands to wash their feet. But we approach Satan with guns blazing drenched in the power of God and wrapped in the armor of Christ.

I long to see an army of Jesus loving, people serving teenagers who wage war with the underlord of the underworld in their underwear (just making sure you're paying attention) for the souls of all their friends. My goal? Every teenager on this planet hearing the gospel from a teenager they know! I'm not done until every cutter becomes a healer, every sinner becomes a saint, every student becomes a soldier in the army of Jesus!

Let's stop the defensiveness and go on the offense for Jesus! The end result? When teenagers graduate from high school they don't evacuate the church but they do help evacuate lost souls from the kingdom of darkness! They become missionaries at their universities and workplaces. They don't merely retain their faith, they regain lost ground for the kingdom of God by advancing the mission and message of Jesus everywhere they go!

This job is way too big for me to accomplish. But if all of us join together we can see God do something so big, so wonderful, so transformational that the ears of all who hear about it will tingle (I don't know what that means but it sure sounds cool!)

Will you join me is this quest?

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Greg Stier is the President and Founder of Dare 2 Share Ministries in Arvada, Colo., where he works with youth leaders and students, equipping them to be effective in sharing the gospel. With experience as a senior teaching pastor and in youth ministry for almost 20 years, Greg has a reputation of knowing and relating to today's teens. He is widely viewed as an authority and expert teen spirituality. He is known for motivating, mobilizing and equipping teens for positive change. For more information on Dare 2 Share Ministries, and the Invicible 08/09 conference tour, please visit www.dare2share.org.