There is a saying in football that "the best defense is a good offense." Of course, that is usually said by coaches of teams whose defense isn’t very good. Or it is said by coaches who are just so offensive minded that they give little thought to the defense. Think Steve Spurrier here, if you know your football. The image that comes to my mind is of the Buffalo Bills in the 90’s, those years when Buffalo would make it to the Super Bowl but never win. You may recall that Buffalo team was quarterbacked by Jim Kelly, now in the Hall of Fame. One of the tendencies of those Buffalo teams was to run their offense without a huddle, relying on Kelly to call the play from the line of scrimmage. The intent was to control the pace of the game and not allow the defense to rest or to bring in "situational substitutes." The image I have is from NFL Films of Jim Kelly urging his offense to hurry up, get to the line of scrimmage and get the next play off. As he does so, he’s waving his arms forward and shouting, "Attack, attack, attack!"

That is something like the good offense the church is to use in going out and sharing the good news of Jesus Christ. "Attacking" is probably not the exact word, but an energy and a passion for the task—a going out and getting it done, being pro-active, not reactive—is a good image for the Pigskin Church on the offensive. There’s irony in that word, "offensive," also. The Church is to be "on the offensive" in reaching out into the world with the good news of the Gospel…but, we are not to be "offensive" about it. I Peter 3:15 is a good game plan, "Always be prepared to give an answer," or a "defense"…there’s the defensive part of the Pigskin Church which we’ll look at in a few weeks, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." And as we go on the offensive to tell the good news we remember the last part of that verse, "But do this with gentleness and respect." That’s our game plan, and it includes a good offense that is going out into the community—"attack, attack, attack," in the best sense of the word—to proclaim by words and deeds the good news of the Gospel…the hope that we have in Jesus Christ.

Jesus models this offense for us as he calls his first disciples to follow him. "Come," Jesus says, "follow me and I will make you fishers of men…I will make you fishers of people." Like Jim Kelly leading the Buffalo Bills on the offensive, Jesus leads us to follow him with the result being we will fish for people.

In the early 80’s, I spent a week in South Central Los Angeles at the World Christian Training Center, a school of evangelism that was part of the ministry of Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church…whose pastor, Dr. E.V. Hill, was one of my heroes. I know I’ve mentioned that several times! That’s the church with the great game plan, by the way, of being a "conservative, liberal, militant congregation!" They have a sign on the church that actually says that. Dr. Hill would say, "We are conservative in that we believe the Bible to be the word of God. We are liberal in that we will give our coat to anyone who needs it. And we are militant in that we’re not waiting for a fight from Satan, we’re pickin’ on him!" Now, that’s a good game plan! Conservative in that we believe the Bible to be the word of God—that’s a pretty good defense! Liberal in that we will give our coat to anyone who needs it—that’s a good offense! And militant in that we’re not waiting for a fight from Satan, we’re pickin’ on him—that’s being pro-active, not reactive! Attack, attack, attack!

Anyway, during my week at the World Christian Training Center, Dr. Hill called me over to his table one evening after dinner. "Brother Greeley" he called me because that was where I was from. "Brother Greeley," he said, "how are you doing?" And we proceeded to talk about my experience there and the need for more evangelism in our churches. During that conversation, he said something to me I will never forget. "Brother Greeley, Jesus says, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ Then, in that wonderful sing-song style of good African-American preachers, he went on to say, "Jesus does not say, ‘Follow me, and I might make you fishers of men.’ He does not say, ‘Follow me, and I will make some of you fishers of men.’ Jesus says, ‘Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ Now, the question I have to ask is, If you’re not fishing men, are you following him?" Now, there’s some food for thought! Jesus says if we follow him, he will make us fishers of people. If we’re not fishing people, are we following him?

Jesus calls us to a game plan of action that includes, first of all, following him, then, secondly and naturally, fishing for people. There’s not a lot of room for negotiation here. In order for the church to utilize a good offense, we must follow Jesus and, if we do that, it will lead to fishing people into the Kingdom.

More than that, Jesus’ call to follow him is a call that lasts a lifetime. The "follow me" in the Greek is in a form that literally says, "follow me, and continually follow me." In today’s slang, we might say, "Follow me, and keep on following me, and keep on keepin’ on following me." In other words, there’s no "killing the clock" in this offense, no simple kneel down to run out the last moments of the game. It is a lifetime of following Jesus in such a way that results in fishing for people.

And if you’re wondering what following Jesus looks like, Matthew clearly tells us what he thinks it looks like. Immediately after telling this story in his gospel, Matthew gives to us the ethics of Jesus through the Sermon on the Mount. There’s a reason for that. Matthew says, "If you want to follow Jesus, here’s what it looks like: To live as salt and light to the world; To take sin seriously—where anger and lustful thoughts are the same as murder and adultery; To love our enemies; To give to the needy; To pray; To seek treasures in heaven; To take the narrow way; To build on solid rock, not sand." Live like that, truly following Jesus, and you will attract people into the Kingdom.

Once again we see that the focus toward an eventual outcome is on others, something that makes the church very different from a football team. Football teams work for their benefit, to win at all costs. The church works for the benefit of others—to win others to Christ and a lifetime of following him. Last week it was the privilege and responsibility of stewardship with our Owner’s property—a stewardship that, by definition, calls for us to manage the things given to us by God with an eye on the rights and benefits of others. Today, one purpose in our employing a good offense in the church is that others can hear and receive the gospel and be brought into the joy of God’s Kingdom. Do we benefit from living a life that follows Jesus? Absolutely. There’s no better place to be, no better team to be on than God’s. But, an important, essential focus in our running a good offense is to reach others with the good news of Jesus Christ. If I may borrow from the style of E.V. Hill—Jesus did not say, "Follow me, and I will make you great and renowned." Jesus did not say, "Follow me, and I will make you rich and prosperous." Jesus did say, "Follow me, and I will make you a fisher of people." Jesus will give us the resources we need—for the task of fishing for people. If we will live out a lifetime of following Jesus, living out the ethics of Jesus, we will attract others to the Kingdom…who, in turn, following Jesus, will attract others to the Kingdom…who attract others to the Kingdom…and so on. Jesus calls us to a lifetime of following him, a lifetime of bringing people into the Kingdom and a lifetime of helping one another grow in the Kingdom. Jesus’ call to discipleship is not a call to a single act, but a call to a walk of discipleship…with Jesus…and with others in the Kingdom.

One of my experiences during my week at the World Christian Training Center was to go out in teams of two or three, knocking on doors in South Central Los Angeles and sharing with others the good news of the Gospel. Keep in mind, first of all, that South Central Los Angeles is known by another name…Watts. Know also that the other members of my team were mostly young, white kids from a Christian college. E.V. Hill was nothing if not bold about Christian evangelism! During one of our trips into the neighborhood, I had the opportunity to share with an elderly, black man the testimony of my own journey to Christ, and, through using an illustration I had learned through the Navigators—the Bridge Illustration—shared how this man could come to saving faith in Jesus Christ. Amazingly, fantastically, he acknowledged his need for a Savior and his readiness to receive Christ. Our team led him in a prayer of salvation, left him a Bible and some other materials, then moved on to the next house. The other members of my team were talking excitedly about what had just taken place, congratulating me in leading this man to Christ. I was rejoicing too, but I was very concerned about what happened next for that man. Happily, I learned that Mt. Zion Church had an intentional follow up program with any whose names and addresses we brought back from our trips into the neighborhood. E.V. understood his evangelism. Jesus doesn’t call his disciples to just a single act of salvation, but to a walk, a journey, a lifetime of following him, and a lifetime of helping each other grow as disciples.

So, are you on the offensive, running a good offense for our Owner? By the way, there’s no platooning on this team—no defensive players only and offensive players only. Everyone is called to play good defense, and everyone is called to play good offense—remember, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." So, are you following him? Are you running a good offense? Today is our Ministry Fair. Following our worship there will be people at tables scattered throughout the Welcome Center ready to share with you opportunities to go on the offensive. Stop by and see if you might hear Jesus’ call to you to follow him and fish for people. Recently you received a Program Guide in the mail. In essence, this is our playbook, filled with opportunities for a good defense and a good offense, opportunities to live out the ethics of Jesus, opportunities to follow him and, therefore, become a fisher of people. This team, this church cannot function without a good offense. We must be proactive, not reactive in addressing our commission to make disciples. Your own discipleship cannot truly be called discipleship without being on the offensive and fishing for people. Remember, Jesus says, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." Who lives in your lake for whom you might begin casting your nets?