Defense has always been one of my loves. As a football player, I relished penetrating the line, tackling the runner, and stopping all forward progress.
Now, as a father and grandfather, I will defend my home and my loved ones to the death. No longer is it relevant to the score of a game, but now it is the lives and welfare of those whom I hold most precious. That is why it matters that I defend them with every resource available.
I also enjoy defending something equally as precious to me, my faith. There is nothing better than standing up for your deepest held beliefs and, win or lose, give it your best effort in causing someone to think deeper about what they believe. The goal is to help draw someone into conversation as to who Jesus is and what He has done through His death on the Cross and His glorious resurrection three days later. That is something that can make a difference in eternity and it is something well worth defending. It could make all the difference in a life.
Now, defense is not always necessary for every situation we find ourselves. I know we are to defend our families, our faith, and the weakest and poorest of our world, but do we really have to defend a secular corporation that has nothing but money to make off of the sale of its product?
Yes, I am referring to a Seattle based coffee giant. I have no idea whether or not the red cup idea was somehow supposed to harm Christmas. To be honest, I don't really care whether it does or doesn't. What I do care about is spending time, effort, and resources on defending this multi-million dollar corporation who surely doesn't need or even want the evangelical world coming to their defense. Surely they can take care of themselves. If they don't sell as much coffee, they might change their ways. If they sell as much or more, they probably won't. Does it really matter in eternity? What matters most? No matter which side you fall on (notice that I said "fall"... falling almost always hurts someone), never feel like you have to defend a corporation. They don't need you.
Now, I think I'll go make me some coffee. Now, where did that cup go?