Episode 282: I’m Takin. . .Defense

I’m talking episode 282 for September 10th, 2023.

This is Joel from the I’m talking microcast, where I share my thoughts on a topic that has piqued my interest this past week.

This week, we’re talking defense.

So there’s an interesting word.

Some may call it defense, some may say defense, and probably in the term that I’m using it today, defense is more appropriate, but potato, potato, I guess.

But in reality, when we think of the word defense or defense, we often think of a sports term where the defense of a team is either performing or underperforming.

And then you hear defense wins championships and those kind of things.

Maybe it’s on my mind because the NFL season started this week.

But either way, that’s one way that we use the word.

The other is maybe a law term, and that’s more of the defense, where we are offering something that approves our, or proves our position on a certain subject or something like that.

And then I was trying to think of others ways that we use that word and nothing really came to mind.

But when I think of defense, it’s often slanted to my own point of view.

It’s slanted to my own beliefs.

It’s slanted to my worldview.

And so, you see a lot of people in the world defending a position that is incorrect, that is not true, that is totally against what many people might believe or think.

And therein lies the challenge for those of us who call ourselves Christians.

If you are a Christian, you cannot not have an opinion, or you must have an opinion.

Maybe that’s the easier way to say it.

Why do you believe what you believe?

Why do you think God is who he says he is?

Why do you think the Bible is true?

There are lots of questions that the world is going to throw at us.

And if we are to be successful, we must have a defense for what we believe.

We must know why it is that we believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.

We must know beyond a shadow of a doubt why we believe that God created the universe.

We must know that salvation comes only through faith, not through works.

Those are the basics of what it means to be a Christian.

And we must have a defense for that belief.

And there’s two places in the Bible that I think of when I think of the word defense.

And the first one is from 1 Peter 3.15, where, in my paraphrase, it says, Honor Jesus Christ as holy.

That’s where it starts, that we know Jesus Christ is the Son of God and he’s holy.

And then it follows up with this command, as it were, where it says, Be ready with a defense of your hope, which is salvation.

Be ready with a defense of your hope.

But then it adds another little phrase that we might leave out that is super important.

It says, with gentleness and respect.

So our defense is not one of shoving it down people’s throat, of hitting people over the head.

I’m going to read my paraphrase without interruption so you can hear it one more time.

Honor Jesus Christ as holy.

Be ready with a defense of your hope slash salvation with gentleness and respect.

What an awesome verse that God has provided us.

And then you say, but what is my defense?

How do I know what to say?

Well, Jesus answers that too in the same Bible, in the word of God.

And it says that we must leave room for the working of the Holy Spirit.

And in Luke 12, 11 and 12, again, my paraphrase, it says, when you are called to defend, don’t worry about what you will say.

The Holy Spirit will teach you in that moment.

What a promise that we have that not only do we need to be ready with a defense, we need to study the word of God, we need to understand the word of God, but we are not left on our own.

We are indwelt with the Holy Spirit.

And we don’t have to worry about what we say, because in those moments, the Holy Spirit will teach us what to say.

What an awesome God we serve.

I don’t know if I can say any more than that.

What an awesome God we serve.

Until next week, this is Joel from the I’m Talking microcast.