Defeatism

The topic for our lesson this morning is defeatism. Now, you may be wondering, “What in the world is defeatism?” Defeatism is the belief that failure is inevitable; it is an acceptance of defeat before even trying. Defeatism has taken hold of an athlete when he says to himself that he has lost and there is no hope for victory before he has ever even stepped out onto the playing field. Defeatism is throwing up the white flag of surrender before the first shot is fired. Defeatism is also when a congregation tells itself it will “never grow,” it is “dieing,” “no one cares about the church anymore.” When this happens to a congregation, it is surrendering itself to Satan without even going out onto the battlefield against him. It is giving up without a fight; it is a way of defeating ourselves before the enemy has ever even been given the opportunity; it is a refusal to fight as a good soldier in the Lord’s army!

When we convince ourselves that it is no use even trying, it probably isn’t. Once we have accepted defeat and put on this attitude of defeatism, we are already defeated. How many battles are won after the white flag has gone up and a surrender has been declared? None! How many games are won after a forfeit? None! Once a congregation has declared defeat it has lost the battle!  Proverbs 23 and verse 7 says, “For as he [a man] thinketh within himself, so is he” (ASV, 1901). Once we have accepted defeat, unless we have a change in our thinking, we are defeated!

This spirit of defeatism is a problem in the church today. How many times have we heard that young people just aren’t interested in the church today? I have heard that so many times, but I’m still pretty young and I can tell you with a certainty, I’m interested! The preacher up the road here in Lewisburg is younger than I am and I can tell you that he and his wife are both very interested. If we were to go to Freed-Hardeman University, Faulkner University, Regions University, Harding University, as well as others, we would find literally thousands of young people who are interested in the church today who are our brethren. There are preaching schools across the country with young men who are so interested in the church that they want to go to school and preach the gospel on a full-time basis, and are willing to make big sacrifices in order to do it! When I look over at our religious neighbors, many times I see young people. When I look at other religions, such as Islam, I see young people. It is true that we live in a very liberal society, and many of today’s youth are not interested, but is it really fair to say that all young people today are just not interested in spiritual matters? Can it really be true that if there are no young people in a congregation it is because there are just no young people who will convert, or is it more likely that we have just told ourselves that and accepted it as fact without actually fighting for the souls of our young people? If we tell ourselves that we cannot convert young people today, then we are guaranteed not to, and there will be no new young people in the church just as we already decided that there wouldn’t be before even trying.

This same principle works all the way across the board; any place where Satan is trying to defeat us, we can defeat ourselves by simply deciding that we are defeated. If we tell ourselves that we can’t make a difference in our congregation, or as a congregation, in our community, we won’t. If we tell ourselves we can’t be better Christians, we won’t be. If we tell ourselves we can’t understand the Bible, we won’t.

This very same thing happened to the Israelites after they had come out of Egypt and were about to go into the Promised Land. When the 12 spies came back from spying out the land, 10 of them had already decided that they could not defeat its inhabitants. Before long, this spirit of defeatism overcame almost all of the Israelites! It was not that they could not have gone in and taken the land, it had already been promised to them! All they had to do is trust God and do as they were told and the land would have been theirs, but they would not do it. They accepted defeat before they even went over and fought the first battle! They took one look and said within themselves, “we can’t do it!” What a shame!

And they returned from searching of the land after forty days. And they went and came to Moses, and to Aaron, and to all the congregation of the children of Israel, unto the wilderness of Paran, to Kadesh; and brought back word unto them, and unto all the congregation, and shewed them the fruit of the land. And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there. The Amalekites dwell in the land of the south: and the Hittites, and the Jebusites, and the Amorites, dwell in the mountains: and the Canaanites dwell by the sea, and by the coast of Jordan. And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we. And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched unto the children of Israel, saying, The land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof; and all the people that we saw in it are men of a great stature. And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants: and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight. (Numbers 13:25-33).

Let’s look at a couple of other examples of defeatism from the Bible. What about the one-talent man? “But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money” (Mt. 25:18).

Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine. His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed: Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. (Mt. 25:24-30)

If he had at least tried to do something with the one piece of money that he was given and lost it, I can understand that. We don’t always win. But, this person didn’t even try! He accepted defeat before he had made any attempt what so ever. He decided that he was going to lose the money, so instead of even putting it somewhere where he could at least get interest off of it he just buried in the ground and did nothing with it what so ever.

One other example of defeatism that we might look at is John Mark. He was a nephew of Barnabas who came down to Antioch from Jerusalem with he and Paul (Col. 4:10; Acts 12:25f). He went with Paul and Barnabas on Paul’s first missionary journey, but he ended up leaving early and did not complete the journey with them. “And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to their minister” (Acts 13:5). “Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem” (Acts 13:13). The Bible does not say why Mark did not continue with them, but it appears that he was simply unwilling to. Over in the 15^th chapter of Acts, verses 37 and 38, the Bible says, “And Barnabas determined to take with them John, whose surname was Mark. But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work.” Barnabas wanted to take Mark with them on their second missionary journey, but Paul did not want to. If Mark was unable to complete the first journey because of something he could not have helped, then I see no reason why Paul would have objected to his coming with them on their second journey, but Paul seems to be afraid that he would leave them again, which would suggest that Mark had turned back the first time, not because he had to, but because was unwilling to go any further with them.

What would we think if we put our money together and made an effort to send someone into the mission field in Africa or some place, and after we had paid for his ticket over there and went through all of the planning, and made all of this effort for the people of Africa to hear the gospel, he got homesick, gave up, and returned home early without completing the task? I don’t think he would be my first choice to send back to Africa if we ever decided to try it again.

Well, we’ve looked at some examples from the Bible of defeatism. Someone might wonder now, if that is not the attitude that we, or the people in these biblical examples should have had, what would be the right attitude? Let’s look at some examples of the opposite kind of attitude. What would the correct attitude look like in these cases? Let’s go back again to Numbers chapter 13. Even though 10 out of the 12 spies that went into the Cannon land to spy it out were afraid to go in and take it, two of them were not. In verses 30 and 31 of Numbers 13 we see Caleb trying to persuade the people to go into the land to posses it. “And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it. But the men that went up with him said, We be not able to go up against the people; for they are stronger than we.” While the others had already decided that they couldn’t, he had made up his mind that they could! How could he be so sure? He had faith in, and trusted, God. Look at verses 6-10 in chapter 14: 

And Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, which were of them that searched the land, rent their clothes. And they spake unto all the company of the children of Israel, saying, The land, which we passed through to search it, is an exceeding good land. If the LORD delight in us, then he will bring us into this land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey. Only rebel not ye against the LORD, neither fear ye the people of the land; for they are bread for us: their defence is departed from them, and the LORD is with us: fear them not. But all the congregation bade stone them with stones. And the glory of the LORD appeared in the tabernacle of the congregation before all the children of Israel.” Because of this Caleb and Joshua were allowed to enter into the Promised Land 40 years later. Caleb and Joshua did not have the same spirit of defeatism that the others had. “Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it: But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land where into he went; and his seed shall possess it. (Num.14:23-24; cf. 14:30) (emphasis added)

What about Abraham and Sarah?

Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all, (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were. Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be. And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification. (Ro. 4:16-25)

Was there any reason there why Abraham might have been tempted by this defeatism spirit? Sure! They were old. Sarah was beyond being able to having children! But, Abraham believed and trusted in the power of God to do as He wills and has promised us. Just as God fulfilled His promise to Abraham and did not leave him disappointed, He will not leave us disappointed either. Abraham believed and hoped “against hope” (v. 18).

What about the apostles? Look at the charge given them in Acts 1:8: “But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” Can you imagine what it must have been like for them during all of that? He Jesus had just been beaten, crucified, and killed 40 days earlier, and now He is telling them that they are going to bear witness of Him in the very place where He had been murdered? I don’t know about you, but that would have made me a little bit uneasy, to say the least. But that wasn’t all, they were also going to be His witnesses in “Judea, Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” (emphasis added). Never mind what they were facing at that time, how would we feel if we were given such a charge today? Would we feel a little overwhelmed? What if we were to go to the Middle East, Africa, or the South American rainforests with the gospel? What if we were responsible for taking the gospel into “the uttermost part of the world?” We are to take the gospel into the world! If we don’t, who will? “Go ye into all the world…” (Mk. 16:15).

Our charge is not the same as what was given to the apostles in Acts 1:8; we aren’t apostles, we won’t receive power of the Holy Spirit, and we have not witnessed the things that they were to bear witness of, but the extent to which we should go with the gospel message is the same: “into all the world,” and our determination to do it should be the same. They were not willing to stop and give up, and neither should we be. In Acts 4:19-20 we see the determination of Peter and John before the Council there in Jerusalem: “And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.” In the next chapter, and verse 29 we find this, “Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.” Over in the famous verse of Philippians 4:13 we see the confidence that Paul had in the Lord when he said, “I can do all things in him that strengtheneth me.”

So we can see in Caleb and Joshua, Abraham, and the apostles the kind of attitude that we are supposed to have. They had a determination to succeed in doing the will of God that was characterized by steadfast faith and trust in Him. Also, in each of these cases we see that the strength was not in themselves, but it was found in God and their faith in Him. The success of the Israelites in Canaan was dependent upon God being with them; without God, Sarah could not have given birth to Isaac; and the apostles never could have done all of the things that they did on their own. We avoid defeatism by trusting God and depending on Him to carry us through and supply our needs through His providence. However, when we lack the necessary faith and trust in God, this spirit of defeatism is usually never far behind. When we have only ourselves to depend on, it is easy to see why a person might feel helpless and insufficient to face the difficulties, which never seem too far from any of us.

Well, what are the effects of defeatism? One effect of defeatism is defeat! Those Israelite who were afraid go into Canaan died out in the wilderness.

Surely ye shall not come into the land, concerning which I sware that I would make you dwell therein, save Caleb the son of Jephunneh, and Joshua the son of Nun. But your little ones, that ye said should be a prey, them will I bring in, and they shall know the land which ye have rejected. But as for you, your dead bodies shall fall in this wilderness. And your children shall be wanderers in the wilderness forty years, and shall bear your whoredoms, until your dead bodies be consumed in the wilderness. After the number of the days in which ye spied out the land, even forty days, for every day a year, shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years, and ye shall know my alienation. I, Jehovah, have spoken, surely this will I do unto all this evil congregation, that are gathered together against me: in this wilderness they shall be consumed, and there they shall die. And the men, whom Moses sent to spy out the land, who returned, and made all the congregation to murmur against him, by bringing up an evil report against the land, even those men that did bring up an evil report of the land, died by the plague before Jehovah. But Joshua the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, remained alive of those men that went to spy out the land. (Num. 14:30-38)

That man from the parable of the talents who hid his one talent, had that talent taken away from him and he was cast into “outer darkness.”

Take ye away therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him that hath the ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not, even that which he hath shall be taken away. And cast ye out the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness: there shall be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth. (Mt. 25:28-30)

The next time that Paul went on a missionary journey, he refused to take Mark with him because he had quit and went home on the first one (Acts 15:37-38).

How is this spirit of defeatism manifested in the church today? We find it sometimes when we try to engage in missionary efforts. We hear statements like, “it won’t do any good,” “the people aren’t going to listen,” or “why should we even bother?” Sometimes congregations just give up on themselves and stop planning for the future; they stop expecting growth; they stop setting goals for themselves. When this happens to a congregation, it is merely existing and nothing more. Such a congregation never fully develops. The goal of a congregation is to develop to the point where it is growing and evangelizing the lost, it is helping the needy, it has older members and younger members, it has capable teachers and preachers, it has a healthy and qualified eldership with qualified deacons serving under them. A congregation that does not have these things can not just give up and give in and say to itself, “we’ll never have those things.” That is this defeatist attitude that we are talking about. That congregation is underdeveloped and needs to keep pushing forward. Defeatism hinders and prevents the gospel from reaching those who are yet without it by convincing members that it won’t do any good to bother with it anyway.

Ultimately, if we give into this kind of attitude, and just lay down and give up, we could fail to enter into our eternal rest!

Let us fear therefore, lest haply, a promise being left of entering into his rest, any one of you should seem to have come short of it. For indeed we have had good tidings preached unto us, even as also they: but the word of hearing did not profit them, because it was not united by faith with them that heard. (Heb. 4:1-2)

The “they” that he is talking about there are the Israelites who did not go into the Promised Land; those who were afraid of its inhabitants, overcome by defeatism, who wandered forty years in the wilderness and perished. Just as they were not allowed to enter into Canaan, we will not be allowed into heaven if we make the same mistake that they did. We have to stop saying “we can’t” and say “yes we can!” “If God is for us, who is against us?”

If we have fallen victim to defeatism, the story has not yet been fully told! We can still do something about it. John Mark may have fallen victim to it for a time, but he recovered from it. Over in 2 Timothy 4:11 we find these words: “Take Mark, and bring him with thee; for he is useful to me for ministering.” We can do the same thing. If we are already Christians, and have succumbed to this spirit of defeatism, we can decide to repent and come back from that as Mark did, confess it to God, ask His forgiveness, and then continue on in our service to Him, determined not to fall into this same trap again in the future and instead, do those things that will glorify Him.

If you are not a Christian, you can also fall victim to this same spirit of defeatism by telling yourself, “I’m not good enough, I’m not ready, and I need to wait until I can work out some things in my life.” There is no perfect person, there is no one that can’t be forgiven, and there is no better time than right now! Are you ready to go in a different direction this morning than you have been in the past? Are you ready to confess you faith in Christ? Will you put Him on in baptism this morning?

This lesson was adapted from an outline by the same title in:

One Hundred Sermon Outlines, Vol 1. E. W. Stovall. 28