Don’t Forget the Shoes: The Best Defense Is a Good Offense!

Feb 15

One of my volunteers called me on the phone the other day, saying she wanted to take a break from serving with the evangelism team.

She said she was going through a season of doubting herself and wanted to get her confidence back first so she could serve more effectively.

I was not surprised by what I heard. The enemy loves to attack our minds - in fact, our minds are his main target - and discouragement and doubt are two of his big weapons.

The only way not to be a mark of Satan is to live a safe life devoid of impact. The minute we take our faith out of the church pew and into the world, we step into a spiritual minefield.

I don't remember experiencing much spiritual opposition during the years I was pursuing acting or building a career in marketing. Today, I believe I know why. I was a half-hearted Christian at the time, mainly focusing on making money and gaining recognition. I wasn't involved in ministry, rarely shared my faith, and had no zing in my prayer life. I think the devil must have been delighted. He may have lost the battle for my soul, but in many ways, he still had my life.

When I decided to live all-out for Jesus, however, I suddenly found myself dealing with an invisible opponent that, up until that point, I had very little awareness of. And, to be honest, I had no clue how to defend myself.

I didn't realize it back then, but today, I know that God has already given us Christians all the weapons and defense tactics we need. We need never feel intimidated by the enemy. All we are to concern ourselves with is being obedient to our King. We can safely leave the consequences of our obedience to Him: He has, after all, pledged to protect us!

In Ephesians 6:14-17 we find a fascinating illustration. The passage reads:

Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Paul, the writer of the letter to the Ephesians, uses the physical armor of the Roman soldier of his day to describe the believer's spiritual armor. Paul says our faith works as a shield against the devil's attacks, our salvation as a helmet protecting our thought life, and God's Word as a sword that cuts through Satan's lies.

All the different pieces of the armor make up an impenetrable whole. As long as we Christians are properly dressed for battle, we'll emerge victorious.

We may get assaulted…but defeated? Never!

Now, when reading those verses, have you ever wondered what is meant by the phrase "having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace"?

I get how the other pieces of the armor help us in our fight against the devil and his minions, but shoes? The analogy sure had me at a loss for a while.

To understand why Paul writes about shoes, we need to know a few things about the Roman fighters of the first century - facts that Paul's contemporary readers would have been familiar with.

Roman soldiers wore sturdy sandals (think semi-boots) covered with hobnails, which allowed them to grip the ground. Thanks to these sandals, the soldiers' feet were securely planted, and the men could keep their balance when opposing armies struck.

Just imagine if the soldiers had lost their footing: they would have collapsed on the ground and been overpowered by the enemy, even if all the other pieces of the armor were doing what they were designed for!

But the footgear didn’t serve only as an important defensive objective. The shoes were also for offensive purposes.

Roman armies would set out on hazardous, long, and very demanding marches. They would pursue their adversary by foot at great speed and through hostile landscapes, ready to attack and conquer. For this, they had to be properly shod.

You and I, as warriors for Jesus, must stand firm with the gospel as our foundation. This "gospel of peace" - which is simply another term for the gospel of salvation - gives us a secure foothold, assuring us we've been made right with the Father through His Son. Because we're right with Him, God protects us against Satan, the enemy of our soul.

But as with the Roman soldiers, our shoes aren’t only for standing our ground. With the proper footgear, we can press on into the devil's territory, taking the Good News to the ends of the earth as Jesus commanded us to (Matthew 28:18-20).

Like my team member, have you ever experienced feelings of uselessness - those doubting thoughts that the enemy loves to put in our heads?

If so, let me share a helpful little nugget of glorious truth.

Although no two believers have identical callings, we're united in our mission. This mission is twofold: 1) make the Lord known to the unbelieving world and 2) help equip other Jesus-followers to do God's work…

And when you and I participate in this mission and witness God working through us despite our sins, flaws, and failures, Satan's lies lose their power over us. Our faith is strengthened.

Be it through sharing our faith with nonbelievers, discipling new Christians, teaching Sunday school at our churches, or biblical leadership principles in the marketplace…whenever we work to build the Kingdom, we prove the enemy's accusations null and void.

For me, it's writing, speaking, teaching, and evangelizing. Those are my spiritual shoes. When I've got my footwear on, I'm full of Christ-centered confidence, joy, focus, and energy. My life has direction and purpose, and I feel incredibly close to the Lord.

But there are also times when I feel spiritually weak… This is when, as I look down at my feet, I notice I'm not wearing shoes...

I completely forgot to put them on! Duh. No wonder I'm struggling!

So, I do as I'm commanded: I quickly slip on my gospel pumps. This might mean I reach for my laptop and jot down some new blog ideas. Or I call up a sister who needs help applying biblical truth. Or I ask God to lead me to someone I can share my faith with.

When I take action this way, I'm not only going on the offensive by doing something concrete to fulfill the Great Commission; I'm at the same time defending myself against Satan's accusations that I'm unworthy!

See how that works?

This is what I said to my team member who contacted me. I told her the way to deal with her doubts was to go on the offensive against the one who was placing the doubts in her head. Put your shoes on, girl, I told her.

And she did, bless her heart. The following week, she was back serving with us, sharing the Lord with our neighbors. And she felt so, so much better because of it, she said to me afterward.

Again, I was not surprised. You can't harbor feelings of insignificance for very long when you're spreading the light and love of Jesus.

So, friend, let’s not forget the shoes… It's only when our feet are shod with the gospel of peace that we’ll be able both to stand our ground and march fearlessly forward.

L.B.

What are your “gospel shoes” - the specific strengths and talents God has given you? Share below in the comments section!

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