Offense or Defense (Warning: Long post)

I admit it. I love watching soccer. Yes, football is another favorite sport. So the fall is a time of the year that offers lots of distractions. But some “distractions” are actually beneficial. You see, I tend to see things strategically. That’s just how I’m wired. When I look at the soccer field, I see areas of vulnerability. If they belong to my team, there’s an urgency to shore them up. If they are in the opponent’s defenses, I want to exploit them.

Beyond that, I’d say that there is one strategy that drives me nuts when I see it being played out. I call it the “Don’t Lose Strategy.” Hopefully you know what I’m talking about. It’s the driving strategy behind the soccer team that is up by two goals and all of a sudden they stop attacking the opposing goal and they lock down their defenses. Or, the football team that has been riding the quarterback’s arm and taking advantage of weak defensive backs decides to run the ball to burn the clock. Maybe they even run a Prevent Defense where they willingly give up shorter passes to defend against the deep threat and easy touchdown. Either way, it’s a denial of what earned you the advantage and a crippling fear of losing. And there’s nothing more encouraging to an opponent who has no defenses against serious attack than to see the fear and insecurity of this sort of shift in strategy.

How do you view the church? Is the church designed to be stronger offensively or defensively? (There’s tremendous temptation to make a pun here using the word “offensive” to describe churches that just don’t understand the gospel, but I’ll restrain myself, sorta.) Well, when God created man, He commanded him to “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28). And Jesus indicated that His church would be a people who are assaulting the very gates of Hell (Matthew 16:18). Certainly, there are instructions to leaders to watch over the flock and to protect it from wolves, but they are passages that speak more about the heart of the leader than to the nature of the church. Actually, it’s a good thing that they are stated explicitly since wars are usually fought by Attila the Hun, not Mother Teresa.

So, why is the church functioning under a Don’t Lose Strategy? Frankly, that was not the strategy of the first 300 years of church history, a time when the world saw the explosion of Christian faith sweep across Europe, northern Africa and into the Orient. Ours was a bold, aggressive thrust at the heart of darkness in the world and it changed the very fabric of civilization. Yes, the cost was high and many gave up their lives for the cause of Christ, but they did it with courage and confidence, trusting in the One who had sent them.

But that is not what the American church looks like today, not even remotely. The end of summer doesn’t only mark the time when my favorite sports swing into high gear. It’s also the time when students go back to school. And for some families, maybe they are sending their son or daughter off to college. They have closed one chapter of their life and are entering another. We know lots of people in this category since our oldest daughter graduated high school last spring. And overwhelmingly these parents are concerned that their kids are going to be overcome by a Christ-less world. Is that reasonable fear? Yes! The facts indicate that most of those young people will fall away from the faith during their post-HS season of life. The question is “Why?”

I believe it is a failure of the church concerning children and youth, frankly, concerning families in general. Churches, eager to attract families and keep them happy, throw tremendous resources at Children and Youth programming. They communicate indirectly that parents should not be concerned with the spiritual development of their children because the hired professionals will do that. Rather than to equip parents to raise their children in the faith, they feed into a culture that offers parents lots of surrogate options (teachers, coaches, even entire villages). And the sad truth is that most Children and Youth programming does little to disciple young people. Either the ministries are designed to entertain or, if they do instruct, they don’t partner with parents and build in continuous reinforcement of biblical truth (Deuteronomy 6:4-9). And, tragically, most High School programming has no hint of development in it. Freshmen and seniors experience exactly the same forms, maybe even content. Instead of graduating fully-formed Christians who have been prepared to disciple others, they leave their relevant music, fun activities, and relational atmosphere and are told that they are ready to join their parents and grandparents in a radically different environment. There’s reason to fear for their faith if they are headed into secular academia.

So, what’s the solution? Well, you could send your youth to Christian college and then it just becomes a task of picking the one that matches your flavor of Christianity. Or, the church could start taking discipleship seriously and not be so worried about making everyone feel good so they will stay in the church. There are certainly lots of ways to do that, but let me describe one that I just experienced.

Shawna and I visited a church that has no Children and Youth programming. Families attend service together and children engage the content at the level they are able. The pastor opens the pulpit to the congregation so that they can reflect and expand upon the content of the sermon. This allows those who communicate well with children the opportunity to share the subject material at age-appropriate level for the young. It also models for the parents how you can train up children in the great truths of the faith. Then, the church also has a robust groups approach to living out faith which includes entire families. The big question is not “Who will watch the kids while we focus on Scripture?” Rather, the question is “How can we continue what was begun on Sunday morning and then implement it in ways that further the education of all of us, parents and young alike?” In this church, we saw intentionality toward significant engagement with the Word of God which was highly participatory and gifts-based so as to strategically disciple all generations of the church family.

And the results? Well, that church was sending two young people into the mission field. They gathered around and laid hands on them, praying that they would have a tremendous impact on their mission assignment, that they would be beacons of truth and grace as they went off to college. But the ceremony had to be postponed until the end of the service. Why? Because the young man who was being commissioned as a missionary to his college in Worcester, MA had finished leading us in worship and had left the building. You see, during worship, the Lord had spoken to his heart and had told him to go buy a single pink rose for Carol, one of the congregants. This older gal had shown up that morning with a very short haircut. When asked about it, she shared that she had donated her hair to Locks of Love (www.locksoflove.org/mission.html). And in obedience to the leading of the Lord, this young man left Sunday fellowship and teaching, found a single, long stem, pink rose and returned to present it to this dear saint who had sacrificed so much out of love for the hurting.

So, tell me, parents. Is that how you want to send your kids off to college or would you rather huddle in fear for the four years that they will be in harm’s way? It’s time to take discipleship in the church seriously. It’s time that the church went back on the offensive. It’s time our enemy returned to hopeless fear because we’re advancing with reckless boldness.