(Ep22) Non-Linear Defense: Being a Hard Target

In this episode, we introduce the concept of "nonlinear defense," the idea that spiritually mature believers don't just defend themselves within safe spaces like church, but carry their full spiritual toolkit (awareness, love, truth, surrender, and holiness) into every area of daily life, becoming "hard targets" for the enemy. We will look at this closely by challenging listeners to practice one of these five characteristics throughout the week and to invite someone else into that commitment, reinforcing that mature faith multiplies by helping others build their own defenses.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Welcome back and settle in with us as we jump into episode 22 of Joining the Fight, an opening look at our last layer of defense. I'm Kyle Clark from Standing Word Ministries, a Christ-centered ministry dedicated to equipping believers with solid biblical truth and practical training. We create scripture-based curriculum and resources like our workbook Joining the Fight to strengthen discipleship, follow Jesus, and deepen our understanding of God's Word, and help everyone around us live with purpose as we stand firm in truth and carry the message of Christ forward. If you want to explore more teachings or grab this workbook, head over to standingword.com. Now we've spent the last few episodes building our defenses layer by layer side by side. The basic structures that guard our hearts and minds, the perimeter community whose walls maintain our safety, and that beautiful linear shield wall where we lock together in unity against an incoming enemy, against curved balls the enemy likes to throw to us. We've gone from learning how to guard our own hearts to building walls around our family and churches. We've locked shields and formations that keeps the whole body strong, and this progress is important. It shows that we're not just surviving, that we're resisting the enemy and growing stronger. But today we're stepping away from those places of safety and we're going out into the open fields away from that security. Our last layer of defense that we're talking about is about becoming a hard target through what's called nonlinear defense. This isn't about hiding behind a castle or a shield wall. This defense is manifest through spiritual maturity that lets us resist the enemy away from our places of strength. At work, at the dinner table, in the car, on our phones, and still have enough steadiness left to help the people around us build their own defenses. This defense is spiritual maturity. This defense is spiritual leadership. Like soldiers on patrol, we take our full defensive posture and all of our tools with us. We don't get to leave them back at the church building. We walk with all of the defensive tools that we have so far learned. We instill it in others around us. This is what mature leadership looks like in the fight. And before we talk about carrying that fight into open country, into enemy territory, let's pause and look at what we've already built. These layers weren't just theories, but actual ground that we've gained. And I want you to feel the weight of all the things that we've talked about. When we've talked about first putting on that individual armor and those individual tasks that create a basic defense that you can carry with you every single day, has allowed us to stand in peace when we have God on our side, so that our suffering produces perseverance, character, and hope that does not disappoint. Just like Romans 5 says, We've stayed alert because our enemy prowls around like a roaring lion. We have let perfect love cast out fear so that we can live free instead of shrinking away from the conflicts around us. When we've surrendered our plans to the Lord, we've walked in his holiness that the enemy cannot easily penetrate, and we have walked into the battle with weapons of righteousness in both hands, tools that have allowed us to overcome the enemy's schemes. They are a daily rhythm that we've been training in, growing stronger and stronger. And when we've lived like this, it becomes much harder for the enemy to find our weak spots. Next, we built a perimeter around our communities, through encouraging one another so that none of us became hardened by sin's deceitfulness. We meet together and stir one another up in love and good works, refusing to neglect our gathering. The isolated Christian is an easy target. But the one who is surrounded by their brothers and sisters in Christ, who speak truth and carry burdens, becomes remarkably resilient. And it leads to this nonlinear type of defense when we have that strong Christian community building us up, allowing us to grow. But finally, we learned about linear defense, locking shields in truth and love. How we become united in spirit and purpose so those cultural winds, those changing ideas don't shift us and cause us to stumble in our walk with God. Because we've had the same love and we are of the same spirit and of the same mind. We've been able to use our gifts to serve one another as faithful stewards of God's grace. And so, look, on top of all of these defenses, an important aspect of this is leadership. All of these elements, all of these areas that we find ourselves in really need strong leadership, need spiritual maturity. All of these defenses should have been helping you grow closer to God, becoming more Christ-like, and being better equipped at the way you use all of the tools that God has given you. So I've watched leadership in combat run for the bunker, leaving everyone else exposed. But I've also watched the ones who have stayed with their teams and shared the same mud and blood. The difference is everything. That's the picture that we are building here today when it comes to nonlinear defense. You are that leader with boots on the ground. You are that leader pointing out the weaknesses in the wall. You are that leader helping the shield wall remain tight. And so before we dive into what nonlinear defense looks like, take 20 or 30 seconds right now and name out loud or text a friend one of these layers that you've seen God strengthen in your life lately. Now, with that foundation reviewed and solidly secured, we want to take all the tools that we've learned so far and we want to go on patrol. We want to leave that safe zone. Here's the reality we all face once we leave our safe zones. Attacks don't wait for us to be in position. They come in routine moments, after hard days, from unexpected angles, and sometimes even from inside our own circles. I remember one deployment in Iraq. I had just come back from a particularly stressful mission down a red route. It had also been a very hot day, and we thought we were finally safe inside the fob, safe inside the wire. I had finally gotten settled, it was around 9 p.m., and all of a sudden the rocket attack alarms go off all over base. The alarms are sounding. My chew mate and I grab our gear and run for the bunkers. And as we round the corner, we see that the leadership closest to us, the higher ranking officers who lived in our area, had pushed everyone else out of the bunker. Some of them had even run towards the bunker with none of their gear, none of their weaponry, and were huddled inside the bunker and had pushed all of the junior soldiers out. Junior soldiers were left to just stand out in an open field during the rocket attack. And I'll never forget my immediate boss was actually storming away from the bunker, cursing and waving us to go back to our living quarters because at least there we'd have better cover than being out in the open. And that moment taught me something that I never forget. The danger doesn't respect walls, it doesn't respect leadership. But sometimes the people who are supposed to have your back are the first ones to look out for themselves. Spiritually, it's the same in our lives. We can have a strong church walls and still get hit hard at the dinner table and a tense work meeting, or when we're scrolling on our phones at night and old lies start whispering again. We can also have that church leader let us down. And this is why nonlinear defense matters. It means that we're no longer having to rely on the walls that were built for us. We are the wall builders. We take the posture of awareness, truth, love, and surrender and holiness with us into every part of our life. We become a moving hard target. Scripture keeps saying the same thing to us over and over again. Stay alert, watch out for your great enemy, the devil, he prowls around like a roaring lion, 1 Peter 5.8. Solid food is for the mature, who, because of practice, have their senses trained to discern good from evil, Hebrews 5.14. Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. For Proverbs 4.23. And so this week, as you think about this concept of being a hard target, name one patrol zone that you are carried into this week. A work meeting, at the dinner table, your scrolling time, your driving home, one of those places where you tend to drop your guard. Name it honestly. Just say it out loud. Tell the Lord right now. That's the honest ground you're standing on. Now let's talk about the actual gear we carry when we step into open country. We must realize that everywhere we go, we must carry that full kit with us on patrol. Unlike if you've ever seen the movie Black Hawk Down, where there were in the opening scenes, a lot of soldiers were foregoing taking certain equipment because they thought that it was just going to be a milk run, that it was going to be an easy mission. They didn't have to worry about anything. And instead, it was the exact opposite. And so every time we step away from our defensive positions, we must take all of those basic characteristics with us to be hard targets. These five characteristics turn us into hard targets because they help strengthen everyone else around when we are looking for them and looking for ways to apply them in other people's lives. We don't leave our defensive layers back at the church building. We wear them into every situation. First, when we talk about awareness and discernment, that empathy we talked about in earlier episodes. On patrol, we learn to read the ground for IED indicators when I was in the army, a pile of trash that didn't belong, a wire that looked out of place, a kid standing too still. Spiritually, we are trained the same way. We notice when a conversation suddenly feels off. When a thought keeps circling back to accusation or fear, when something in our spirit says, pay attention here. Discernment isn't suspicion, it's wisdom that keeps us from walking into traps we could have avoided. The more you study God's Word, the more you'll start to compare the rest of your life with God's Word. And God's word will be wedged within your gut, and your gut will start telling you things are off and suspicious and weird and not right and not in line with God's word. And you will know those situations and you will know when to act in those situations because of that spiritual maturity. Secondly, we must guard our heart with clarity. We're no longer letting the people around us or the defenses that we have built guard our hearts. We are actively looking for ways for our heart to become more pure. We're constantly reevaluating our lives to make sure that our hearts are in line with God. Proverbs 423 isn't a suggestion. It's our command center. When everything around us is moving fast and emotions are high, we keep coming back to what God has said, has said so our minds stay steady. A hard target doesn't let the battlefield indicate his thoughts. He lets the word of God set the pace. And third, we must live out love and speak the truth in love. As leadership, we must be discerning. Ephesians 4 15, we must speak truth, but we do it in love. That combination steadies the entire battlefield around us. It steadies all of the Christians around us instead of escalating the fight amongst us. A hard target doesn't just win arguments, doesn't seek to win arguments, doesn't seek to put themselves above others or lord over authority. They keep people from getting wounded. They look out for their soldiers, they care for the people around them. They want to see them in the same position they are, spiritually mature, strong, and ready for the fight. We've all seen what happens when truth is spoken without love. We've all experienced it. It becomes another weapon the enemy can use, but we as leadership must refuse to play that game. Fourth, we must surrender in unpredictable moments. We must know when to apply God's surrender. Just like James 4, 13 through 17 reminds us, we don't know what tomorrow will bring. Plans change on patrol. Things don't work out, things go sideways. Mature believers flex without panic because their trust isn't in the plan, it's in the commander who already knows every twist in the road. Surrender isn't weakness, it is the strongest position that we can take, and leadership always chooses that position first. And finally, holiness that preserves the witness around us. Second Corinthians 6 7, we live set apart in a way that actually protects the entire body around us. I've seen it in combat. After one bad hit on a convoy, the soldier who stayed professional helped each other recover and kept doing their jobs, modeled something the enemy couldn't touch. And the next time that unit came down that route, the enemy would wait for somebody else to attack because they knew their attacks would not be as successful against a unit who responded quickly, who responded forcefully and professionally, and was on their toes. That unit's steady, focused life became protection for the entire unit around them. That's what holiness looks like on patrol. It doesn't just protect yourself, it covers the people next to you. You become that mass effect, that force multiplier on the battlefield when your life is holy and you strive to preserve the witness of the gospel around you. Now, as we wrap up this section, I want you to pick one of these five characteristics and commit to wearing it on patrol this week. Text a friend right now and tell them which of these characteristics you've picked and ask them if they will pray with you and help you raise that shield, live that characteristic throughout your daily life. Everywhere you go, away from your places of safety. Now we're going to get into some of the ways that we are going to help other people build their defenses through being a hard target. True hard target doesn't do this alone. It's not like you've reached another level and you're too good for everyone else around you. Far from it. Being a mature Christian leader means you become the one who helps others lock their shields and stay steady. You are always actively engaged with others. I had a Christian mentor to me one time say that once you reach a certain point in your Christian walk, you must always be mentored by somebody else and mentoring someone else. You must always have somebody else influencing your behavior to improve you. And as a leader, you must be looking for somebody else that you can take under your wing and improve the same way. You must pass on what you're being taught to the next generation. Now I've seen both signs of this in uniform. Leaders who ran for the bunker and left everyone exposed, versus leaders who stayed outside with their team and made sure the whole squad got home safely. But in the spiritual fight, this looks like noticing when your spouse is drifting and gently bringing the truth in prayer instead of criticism. Texting a buddy midweek just to say, I'm thinking about you, how can I pray? Spotting the subtle lie your kid is believing and asking a better question instead of shutting down the conversation, listening instead of trying to always fix something, and being willing to say, I was wrong first, being able to take the forgiving, understanding, relenting path first, so that people may heal, people may give in a fresh perspective, and that people around you may grow. First Peter 4, Hebrews 10, Ephesians 4 all point to the same thing. We use what God has given us to strengthen the body. A hard target multiplies. They don't just hold their ground, they help others hold it too. And so as we look at this idea of becoming a hard target, becoming a spiritual leader, I ask that you identify one person you influence and one concrete way you'll help them strengthen their defense this week. Write it down and act upon it whenever you have the opportunity to. So let's go ahead and wrap things up as we pray this out. Father, thank you that we don't have to stand behind the wall forever. Thank you for every layer that we've built side by side. The basic defense, the spiritual community, the shield wall that we've locked together. But Lord, make us hard targets, sharpen us in awareness, secure us in your word, overflowing in your love, quick to surrender, and always shining your holiness. Teach us to spot every hidden lie, guard every thought, and lead our families and church with grace to strengthen the whole body. We are yours, we are together, and we are moving forward in the name of our commander Jesus. Amen. We're called to be hard targets, spiritually mature enough to resist from the safe places, and mature enough to help others build the defense. Here's a simple daily rhythm that we can grab right now. Reveal your layers every morning. Step into the open with Jesus following his lead. Live one hard target characteristic each day. Do this consistently, and you'll find the enemy has fewer and fewer soft spots in your life. And remember that you're not alone when you do this. You've been equipped, you're growing in Christ, and the enemy is finding it harder and harder to land a blow because we are becoming the kind of people who shine brighter the darker it gets. That's the beauty of nonlinear defense. The light moves with us. And so next episode we'll go deeper on exactly how we operate as hard targets in real life, what that looks like when the pressure is on, and where there's no wall to hide behind. We'll talk through practical scenarios and how these five characteristics actually play out when our life gets chaotic and loud. Before we sign off, we would like to again issue you a challenge. Which layer feels strongest in your life right now, and which one are you asking God to grow this week? In one daily moment this week, practice nonlinear defense through awareness, love, or surrender before you speak or react to a situation. And text one person today and tell them that I am choosing to be a hard target. Will you be that hard target with me? And will you pray over this verse? Pick a verse. And after you pick a verse, text one person today and ask them, are they choosing to be a hard target with you? And then pray over that verse each day. If you have an opportunity, pray with them over that verse. But constantly check in each day this week to see how they're doing about being a hard target with you. Thanks for being with us today. Keep pressing forward. Keep that armor on, and remember, we're in this fight together. See you next time on joining the fight. God bless.