“In Defense Of Playing Defense”

Okay, I might as well admit it.  I’m the guy (or one of the guys) who’s always talking about playing offense, not defense, in the ministry of the church. “I love playing offense,” some of you have heard me say, “I don’t like playing defense, and I hate punting.”  I’m not really talking about football, of course – though I will in a minute – I’m talking about being proactive instead of reactive, acting on instead of being acted on, advance planning instead of “winging it” and teaching the whole Bible instead of teaching the topic that corresponds to last week’s crisis.  I’m talking about doing more discipling and less counseling, more pre-marital counseling and less marriage counseling, more leadership and less management, having a program (as a leadership team) instead of reacting to the “program” that some folks in the pew have for us. 

I’m also talking about regular days off, vacations and retreat days instead of emergency stays at “Camp Burnout” and training anyone and everyone in our churches for ministry instead of scolding them for their bumbling missteps.  That’s not all. I’m also talking about having a deliberate strategy for evangelism, a comprehensive ministry plan, putting fear in the heart of our Enemy instead of being gripped by fear ourselves, and, in general, storming the gates of hell – as in Matthew 16:18 – instead of cringing behind the gates of the Museum of Christianity (which pretty well describes too many churches). 

I still believe in this stuff.  All of it, as a matter of fact.  Give me half a chance and I’ll preach, teach, write or do seminars on it.  But I have to admit that my circumstances and “my” Packers have been opening my eyes to the other side of the story.  The Packers won the Superbowl – and a few other games this past season – with their defense, not their offense.  Their offense is pretty impressive too, and you can guess that that’s where my main interest lies (sorry, defensive players).  But in games like the Superbowl, when their offense was stymied by a very impressive Steeler defense, it was the turnovers turned into points-off-turnovers that saved the day.

Pastors who are not so driven, Type-A, task-oriented, group-oriented and long-term oriented as I am have known the value of playing defense for a long time.  It takes guys like me a little longer to catch on.  I’ve also discovered that I don’t have to give up my overall “offensive strategy” in order to play some good defense; great defense can be built into a “storm the gates of hell,” offensive strategy.

Here’s what I mean.  The redevelopment pastor rolls into town and starts teaching the board about the importance of standing together as one, keeping confidences and leading carefully but boldly. “Leaders should lead and followers should follow, and in that order,” they hear me say, over and over.  Some folks get it right away.  One good teaching session on these topics and they’re good to go, onward, upward and forward. 

Others however, don’t catch on so quickly.  They usually give their assent to such concepts, but in their hearts they don’t understand and neither do they cooperate.  They “leak” sensitive information out of board meetings and equivocate when cornered by church bullies. Proactive (and, let’s face it, impatient) guys like me can get frustrated and cranky at that point, or we can catch on to the fact that we are being given an opportunity to play some good defense, a “teachable moment” some would call it. We have been praying and praying that God would really, dramatically change the church.  At times like this we need to open our eyes and see that God is giving us a great opportunity to help make that happen. 

In most cases these slower learners are not “bad” people who need to be driven out of their roles, they’re just good people who take a little longer before they “get it.” After some gentle confrontation and instruction many of them become terrific team players.  A “defensive moment” has been turned into “points off turnovers;” God be praised!  I am learning to view these “tests” as God-given opportunities to teach the board (or staff, or both) in a way that really “sticks” – that is, at a far deeper learning level than they had reached after reading a book or hearing me teach from an outline.

Here’s another example.  I teach backwards and forwards about the effort and courage it takes to guard the unity of a church.  “God has given authority to church leaders which He expects them to use to deal with deviant behavior from good people and impossible behavior from impossible people.” The preceding is almost a mantra on my lips. “Some churches are virtually junk churches,” I shock leaders by adding, “because the leaders will not stand up to bullies and control freaks who won’t allow the church to move forward.”  Again, most good people in most churches will agree (at least after recovering from the shock), theoretically at least.  The “rub” comes when I expect leaders to start acting like we really believe these things.  I’m learning that the old bully or melodramatic suicide threatener (for there’s more than one way to control a church) can be my teaching partner at such times.  His or her attempt to reign in the newly deviant behavior of the church’s leaders (I mean that they actually start leading and expecting folks to follow!) becomes my opportunity (though never a pleasant one) to help the leaders to practice what I’d been preaching. Bingo!  Points off turnover again.

I could cite more examples, but I’m guessing that you get the point.  God’s plan for the transformation of His churches is not neat, clean, classroom cognition. It’s messy.  It’s more like potty training than classroom education.  But if playing defense is what it takes to really change a church, I’m all for it and I’m working on my attitude.  So while I’d love to win with nothing but offense, in the real world, playing defense matters too.