ON THE OFFENSIVE
The church of Jesus Christ was never meant to hide behind walls of fear. The Lord did not build His kingdom to be a fortress under siege, but an advancing army under the banner of His truth. When Jesus declared, “Upon this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18), He was not describing a retreating people defending the last outpost of holiness. Gates do not move. Gates do not attack. Gates stand still to resist invasion.
Christ was saying that we are the ones advancing. The powers of darkness are the ones trembling. Hell has its gates shut tight, but they will not stand against the living church of the risen Christ. The kingdom of God is not hiding in fear—it is marching forward with the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17).
We are not called to defend God as though He were a fragile idea needing protection from the critics of this age. God does not need a press secretary. He does not answer to men. He is the Almighty, the Maker of heaven and earth, who sits upon the circle of the world, and before whom “the nations are as a drop in the bucket” (Isaiah 40:15, 22).
We do not have to explain away every mystery or tie every knot of human reasoning. Our task is not to defend God’s ways but to declare them. The Lord Himself says, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways” (Isaiah 55:8). We can rest in that. We point to Him, not as one needing vindication, but as the eternal Truth who needs no defender.
The church must remember who she is. We are not victims of the times; we are vessels of His triumph. “Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ” (2 Corinthians 2:14). We do not cower in the shadows of a decaying world—we walk in the light of the Lamb. “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden” (Matthew 5:14).
Our message is not uncertainty, but assurance. We do not whisper apologies for believing the Bible; we proclaim it with holy confidence. The gospel is not a theory—it is the truth. “Your word is truth” (John 17:17). We do not need to act as if truth were on trial. Truth sits enthroned in Christ, and “He must reign till He has put all enemies under His feet” (1 Corinthians 15:25).
It is time for the people of God to stop living on the defensive. The apostles did not tiptoe through the Roman Empire trying not to offend Caesar. They preached Jesus as Lord, even when it meant their lives. When the Spirit fell at Pentecost, they went out—not to argue—but to announce. “We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20).
The church today needs that same fire, that same unashamed conviction. We are not here to hide our light but to lift it high. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven” (Matthew 5:16). The world does not need a cautious church; it needs a courageous one.
We carry the truth, and the truth carries authority. The world sits in darkness, but we walk in the light of Christ. “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light” (Ephesians 5:8). If we truly believe this, then our task is clear. We move forward—not with arrogance, but with assurance; not with pride, but with power; not defending, but declaring.
The gates of hell will not stand. The light of Christ will pierce every shadow. The Word of God will accomplish what He pleases (Isaiah 55:11). So let us rise, not as fearful defenders, but as faithful witnesses. The world cannot silence what heaven has spoken. Christ is Lord, and His church is marching on.
Bryan Dewayne Dunaway
