day no. 16,566: retreat as an offense

Acts 14:5-7

And when there was an assault made both of the Gentiles, and also of the Jews with their rulers, to use them despitefully, and to stone them, they were ware of it, and fled unto Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and unto the region that lieth round about: and there they preached the gospel.

Retreat is permissible as a strategy, but not as a reaction to someone else's. You cannot retreat in obedience to your enemy's designs, but you can pull back in obedience to your own. Chesty Puller refused to call falling back a "retreat," preferring rather to call it an “attack in a different direction." All that to say, there are such things as strategic withdrawals.

In this instance from the books of Acts, the show was taken on the road. Note that they did not retreat in order to stop preaching. The strategy was to spread the Gospel. They did not look for somewhere safe or somewhere already evangelized. They redirected the main effort to another theater. 

It's not that it would have been wrong to seek security in Christian community, it's that their particular mission was to spread the Word, which required them to huddle up with Christian communities in order to say, "Break!" You cannot live in the huddle if you want to play the game. Since their mission was to put points on the board for Christendom, they ran to where the tacklers weren't. Not because they were too scared of being tackled to play the game, but because they were playing the game, which is trying to advance the ball without being tackled. In other words, they were not trying to avoid death, but they were trying to keep the play alive.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

The weapons of the world cannot affect the outcome. They cannot keep points off the board. Christ is scoring on them over and over. They can tackle, they can rack up penalties, they can pay off referees to have the calls go in their direction, but they cannot keep Christ's offense off the field; and He is running up the score. Don't worry about the plays the adversary is running. They can huddle up and scheme all they like, but the defense of the devil will not prevail against the offense of the Lord.

The remainder of human history is merely a victory lap. The outcome is not at stake. The victory parade may feature a few floats with flat tires, but that doesn't make it a funeral procession. The only hearse hoists an empty coffin as a reminder of the victory won. There is no reason to fear the enemy's attempts to jeer. They cannot be heard over the cheers.