The Winning Offensive

Blessed are you, Simon, for God has revealed this to you, not man, and upon this rock, I will build my church. And the gates of Hell won't prevail against it.- Matthew 16:17-18

In the Scriptures, we encounter a great little scene in which Jesus asks the disciples, "Hey, what's the word on the street? Who do people say that I am?" They say, "Here's what we're hearing in the market. Some say Elijah; some say you're John the Baptist. Others say this; others say that." And then he asks, "Who do you say that I am?"Of course, everyone falls silent except for good ol' Peter. He fires off, "Well, you're the Son of God. You're the Messiah. You're the Holy One." Jesus says, "Blessed are you, Simon, for God has revealed this to you, not man, and upon this rock, I will build my church. And the gates of Hell won't prevail against it."

This verse (18) has huge implications for the missional posture of Christianity. Gates are not an offensive weapon, are they? Nobody says, "Let's get 'em! Put up the gate!" Nobody does that. Gates are defensive by design. So when Jesus says, "I'm going to build the church, and the gates of hell won't prevail against it," we are being told that evangelism, discipleship, justice, social aid, the engaging of God's people with his plan to renew creation-all of that and more, done in the power of the gospel-slam into the gates of hell. God's plan is to renew and remake, and God does not lose. The gates of hell will not prevail. The missional offensive is the winning offensive. It's the only winning offensive. 

So the fundamental posture of Christianity cannot be defense. Do we need watchmen on the walls? Of course. Do we need people who can guard the church against heresy? Absolutely. Do we need intellectual people with compelling voices to provide strong apologetic defense for the Christian faith? No doubt about it. But the fundamental position, the essential posture of Christ's church and our gospel-capture lives, is one of offense, of mission. We go on the offensive full of gospel confidence, because we see that day coming when what God has inaugurated in Christ he finished in Christ.

-The Explicit Gospel by Matt Chandler