HOW TO FIGHT LIKE JESUS
We no longer live in a Christian culture. The priests of modern secularism have perfected the art of being shrewd.
- They organize.
- They plan.
- They train.
- They coordinate.
- They infiltrate.
- They attack.
- They lie.
- They intimidate.
- They play dirty.
They are extremely effective.
The question is, can Christians effectively fight the anti-God agenda without compromising God’s standards?
Let me reframe that another way — Can we fight like Jesus?
Yes! It’s been done before and we can do it again—
IF we:
- work together
- are bold,
- are shrewd, as Jesus commanded in Matt 10:16
In any situation you we either rollover, react or reframe.
We can:
- “Surrender”
- say, “Stop it!”
- Or you can say, “Stop me if you can!”
Too many of our troops are on defense. They are saying, “Stop it!”
We need to go on offense, forcing the other side to try to stop us, just like Jesus did.
Sometimes you have to play defense. Sometimes you have to say “Stop it!”
But when you spend the majority of your time saying, “Stop it!” instead of saying, “Stop me if you can,” it is practically impossible to win.
If you are not on offense, you can’t win.
Jesus played offense and defense.
- Offense 90%.
- Defense 10%.
He forced people to try to stop him.
What does it look like for Christians to go on offense? How do we fight like Jesus? How do we launch a counter-offensive?
Let me give you 4 examples of effective Christian counter-offensives that I have seen in my lifetime.
BERKELEY BLITZ
Let’s go back to January, 1967. Berkeley, California. The University of California at Berkeley was ground zero for the radical Marxist movement in America.
It was synonymous with:
- student riots,
- demonstrations,
- and Molotov cocktails.
Sound familiar?
But then something happened.
In a period of one week, the back of the radical movement at Berkeley was shattered and the Jesus Revolution was born.
That week became known as the Berkeley Blitz.
- It was bold.
- It was audacious.
- It was a highly organized.
- It was saturated in prayer.
Prior to that week, the local chapter of Campus Crusade for Christ had struggled to reach students for Jesus at Cal Berkeley. It was hard soil. So, seeking God’s wisdom, they came up with a strategy.
They reserved all the: free speech platforms, auditoriums and amphitheaters on campus for the week.
They lined up Josh McDowell and Billy Graham as speakers.
And then, 600 staff and students from across the nation descended on the campus.
At the time they dubbed it, “Solution—Spiritual Revolution.”
They set up meetings in every dorm. They knocked on door after door asking students if they would like to talk about Jesus.
At the final event on Friday, Billy Graham spoke to 8,000 students in the packed-out Greek Theater.
During that week my dad, Bill Bright, interviewed Bettina Apthecker on camera.
Bettina, an outspoken atheist and communist, was leader of the Berkeley Free Speech Movement. At one point, he asked her the following question, “Who in your opinion is the greatest person who has ever lived?” She paused for a moment and then said, “I guess I would have to say, Jesus of Nazareth.”
By the end of the week, 700 students had committed their lives to Christ, and another 2,000 students had indicated they would like to know how.
But something else happened as well; they changed the conversation on campus from cultural revolution to spiritual revolution. From Marx to Jesus.
They literally hijacked the conversation.
Dr. Hardin Jones, a well-known scientist and professor at Cal Berkeley, later told my dad that the back of the radical movement at Berkeley was broken that week.
But what began as a counter-offensive for Jesus on ONE campus became the SPARK that ignited the Jesus Revolution.
OPERATION ALTERNATIVE
Fast forward three years. May 1970. Kent State. Revolution!
Kent State Massacre
The administration of the University of Texas heard that the Marxist radicals were getting ready to invade the UT campus the following September. They were going to try to provoke another Kent State.
The FBI said they were expecting 35,000 radicals from all around the country. The administration quietly put out an S.O.S.
After much prayer, the local CCC chapter at the University of Texas came up with a counter-offensive which they dubbed “Operation Alternative.”
Like at Berkeley, they reserved the free speech platforms. Mimicking the radicals, they made huge banners and printed thousands of, talking about spiritual revolution.
Bringing in 1,000 CCC and Navigators students from Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas the weekend beforehand, they trained them for 2 days in a church about a block from campus.
And then Monday morning arrived. 1,000 trained students fanned out across the main mall and all of campus sharing the love of Christ with anyone who would listen. They handed out flyers at all the entrances to the campus.
Like Berkeley, Josh McDowell came in and spoke. One night he even talked about sex, saying, “God isn’t against sex. He invented it.” They hijacked every conversation for Christ — from sex, to revolution.
When the day arrived for the Marxist revolutionaries to march from campus to the Capitol, only 2,500 students showed up.
Members of the administration later told some of the students that they had prevented another Kent State.
They had talked about revolution — spiritual revolution. They had talked about the greatest revolutionary in all of history — Jesus of Nazareth.
EXPLO ‘72
Fast forward 2 years. 1972. Dallas, Texas. The Jesus Revolution probably hit its zenith during the summer of 1972 with the advent of Explo ’72 in Dallas. CCC brought in Billy Graham & Johnny Cash to speak and sing, along with many other Christian artists. They filled the Cotton Bowl every evening.
But the real game changer was training 90,000 Christian young people for an entire week, equipping them to go back to their hometowns and campuses to ignite spiritual revolution.
CCC became so effective at hijacking the platform for Jesus Christ, that one radical traveled across the country to our headquarters in Southern California to assassinate my dad. However, when he arrived at our headquarters one of our staff members led him to Christ.
Afterward, he came and told my dad what he had come to do, but that he was now a brother in Christ.
In all three cases they were
- shrewd,
- bold,
- well-trained,
- well-organized,
- they worked together,
- and they went on offense.
They did not say, “Stop it!” They said, “Stop us if you can!”
I have only summarized these 3 events. If you would like to read more about any of them, go to BrightMedia.org.
One more story that is current.
SATANCON 2023
Recently, the city of Boston hosted SatanCon 2023. It was probably the largest group of Satan worshippers ever gathered in one place in U.S. history.
Some Christian groups arrived at the event with their huge reactionary posters and their fingers in the air.
They were saying “Stop it!” They were on defense.
However, a few groups like Intercessors for America went up to pray & engage attendees in conversation.
In the process they introduced an estimated 100-120 people to Christ.
They didn’t react.
The didn’t get defensive.
They went into the middle of the enemy’s camp And had conversations about Jesus.
It wasn’t as high profile as the movements at Berkeley and UT but they stayed on message, making God the issue.
That’s how you do a counter-offensive.
COUNTER-OFFENSIVE
A counter-offensive never tries to stop the other side. It never plays defense. It never says, “Stop it!”
A counter-offensive always DRIVES an alternative message. It says, “Stop me if you can!”
That’s why the Apostle Paul never told pagans to change their behavior. He always challenged them to change their God.
That’s offense. I’m not saying, “Never play defense.” I’m saying, “Play more offense.”
Everywhere we turn today there is a battle being waged against:
- our values,
- our children,
- our families,
- our country
- and even God, Himself.
It is impossible for you to engage on every battle front.
But here are a few questions we must each ask ourselves:
- Do I want to play on defense or offense?
- Most Christians are playing defense.
- Who can I link arms with?
- Jesus always sent out his disciples in pairs….
- Never go alone. Go together.
- What’s our plan?
- Don’t do “Ready, Fire, Aim”
- Invade Townhalls—Love Your Neighbor?
- Invade School board mtgs – Love Your Neighbor?
- Have we saturated it with prayer?
- Do you think you are stronger than God?
A COUNTER-REVOLUTION OF LOVE
Before my dad passed away, he said he believed there was one more revival coming to America, and that it would be characterized by love.
It will be another Jesus Revolution.
It will be a Counter-Offensive of Love— sharing the love of Christ, both in word and deed.
Given the HATE AND ANGER that permeates our culture today, the Love of Christ is radically counter-culture.
Will you join the next Jesus Revolution of Love? Will you come help change the world? Or will you stay in the safety of the bleachers and watch it happen?
The choice is yours. It will require sacrifice. But the God stories you will be able to tell your children and grandchildren one day — will be priceless.
The doctors tell me I am dying of cancer. But until my final day comes— I am going to work to stay in the saddle. Will you join me? Not in my cancer, But in saying, “Stop me if you can!”?
And will you challenge others to join you? That’s what Jesus did, so we should probably do it to.
Let’s make the next Jesus Revolution, a true counter-offensive of love!
If you want to be a part of the next Jesus Revolution, I’m going to ask you to do 3 things.
1) like, share and subscribe to this podcast. That helps us get the message out because of the algarithims.
2) get on your knees tonight and ask God to show how you can go on offense. If you’re serious, He will.
3) recruit others to come with you. This is absolutely critical. Jesus always brought others with him.
So, Fight like Jesus— first on your knees and then Together.
If you have any questions, or you just want to tell me what God is telling you to do, go to BrightMedia.org and send me a message.
I’ll do my best to get back to you in a timely fashion.
God IS the issue—in EVERY issue. So, let’s go out make Him the issue—TOGETHER
