Focus on Offense... Less Defense by Jayden Scott

After church on Sunday, my oldest son Jayden said to me on the walk to the car, "Mom, I have a sermon illustration idea".  He then explained how something our pastor said made him start thinking.  I encouraged him to write it down.  So today, my blog contributor is my very wise and articulate 17 year old son. I kinda love him a lot.  Blessings - Rachel Scott

So anybody that knows me should be aware that I am a huge Green Bay Packer fan. I could make an argument to anyone on why Aaron Rodgers is the greatest QB of all time. On that note, anybody who follows NFL football has a general summary of every team. For example, the New England Patriots are arguably the most balanced team on either side of the ball. They can run, pass, and their defense is top 5 in the NFL. The Cleveland Browns are, ....well, they're a train wreck. The Dallas Cowboy's bread and butter is to run the ball down their opponents throats, then, throw the ball over top with play action pass. Then.....we have, the Green Bay Packers.

The Green Bay Packers have the best offense in the league. They are best known for their air raid attack on offense. On the other hand, they have one of the worst defenses in the league. Last year, the Packers started 4-6. During that stretch, their defense had given up around 28 points a game. And yet, the offense thrived scoring around 30 points a game over the whole season. So, no matter how bad the defense was, the offense always stayed strong and came back harder. We see this evident as of last season, where after starting 4-6, they ended the season 10-6, ending the regular season on a 6 game win streak.

So Jayden, you've listed off all these facts about football, what does this have to do with Jesus and His purposes on the earth again?

I think we can take a great lesson from this as followers of Christ. It is my belief that in order to preach the good news of Jesus to every nation, we have to be willing to risk it all. Meaning, no matter what attacks are thrown our way by the world, we have to let it roll off our shoulders and keep pressing forward on the offensive side of things.

The enemy wants us to get caught up in these attacks. The more we are too worried about defending Christ and getting into arguments with others relating to non essential things etc., the more Satan can torment spiritually weak people on earth. Getting humanity (more specifically Christians) to turn on each other is one of his greatest weapons. It allows him to disguise himself and make us think the person we are arguing with is the enemy, when in reality, it is him.

Now, we still have to have defense. But, the difference is just how we go about it. Our defense needs to be discernment, and love. Meaning, love towards humanity and discernment towards the devil. If we make other people the enemy, it goes right back to what I was saying, and our offense can never bounce back. On another note, we must be able to discern when the enemy is trying to trick us.

I don't believe we need to "defend" God. I heard it once said by the rapper Propaganda, that " Defending God is like defending a Lion. You don't need to. Just unlock the cage." Enough said.

In other words, God is our defense. The offense is up to us. As I said earlier, The Green Bay Packers offense is known for its air raid passing attack. They love to risk it all. And God wants us to do the same. We can't get complacent with just converting people in nations. We have to fight for entire nations. Risk it all.

In order to risk it all on Jesus, we have to be all in on his team. When the Packers went on that 6-0 run towards the later half of the regular season, everyone had to buy in. If one player decided not to, then it would ruin the win streak for good.  We need to fully trust Jesus in order to buy in for the win.

Why doesn't God just control the offense Jayden?

Because love is a choice. Obviously, if He did control us then everyone would be saved. But He chooses to give us free will. He wants people to choose to love Him and wants restoration of those who choose him.

In conclusion, we need to focus on more offense; less defense. Otherwise, we will get too caught up in ourselves, instead of others that need saving. We need to know when to use defense, and we must know how to play defense. Combating a hardened heart with love is WAY more effective then using anger and fighting back.  Lastly, we need to be willing to risk it all on Him. Trust in Him fully. Buy into the system.

Risk it All. More Offense. Less Defense.

- Jayden Scott

love wastes nothing