Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Shrewd as Snakes, Pure as Pigeons

“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” (Matthew 10:16 NIV)

“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” (Matthew 10:16 NKJV)

sheep and wolf

This was part of the instructions that Jesus gave to His twelve apostles on the day He was sending them out to minister. In our times this can be equated with the graduation speech given in theological seminaries to the graduating seminarians. Before giving them a detailed instruction, Jesus gave them AIM.

1. Authority – He called His twelve disciples to Him and gave them authority…… (Matthew 10:1)

2. Instructions – These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions…… (Matthew 10:5,6)

3. Message – As you go, preach this message……. (Matthew 10:7)

These days many are commissioned (either by the seminaries or by their churches or by themselves) to conduct programs rather than changing people. So ministers are also interested in programs rather than people. Because, they either lack AIM or are unaware of its proper usage or it is misused.

I am not going to go into the details of the AIM in this post, but I will focus on one, but a major instruction that Jesus gave to His apostles, which is very much applicable to all who minister. The reason why this instruction occupies the major portion of Jesus’ instructions here is, He does not want us to be thoroughly occupied with this, but whenever we face it we need to deal with it as a minor (that is not spending much time & energy) and go on concentrating on the major – the work of the gospel.

What did Jesus mean when He said that we should be shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves? Jesus said this in the context of dealing with difficult people. Even as we would go on ministering for the Lord in a far away mission field or in the confines of our office, we will face such people. And most of the time instead of fighting the infernal & invisible enemy, Satan we will be fighting our own people. Instead of focusing on our ministries, we will be spending all our time, energy and thoughts in fuming against and battling our co-labourers. But if we know how to face such people & situations and have a healthy Biblical perspective, our time & resources would be properly utilized and we will be able to accomplish much & all that God wants to do through us.

1. People who do not welcome us or listen to us

Matthew 10:11-15

When someone does not welcome us, we feel bad and when he/she does not listen to us, we might contend with him/her. We might try to prove our point by arguing. But here Jesus does not say “if they do not welcome you or listen to you, argue with them and try to prove your point”. He just says, “walk off”. Many a times we might win the argument, but will lose the person. Contention only brings irritation. The Lord does not want us to carry any irritation against anyone when he/she does not welcome us or listen to us. We need to keep going where He sends us and keep saying what He says to us.

When others do not welcome us or listen to us we are not to contend with them, but to just calm down and come away.

2. People who accuse us

Matthew 10: 17-20

Here the verse does not say that we are accused because we did something wrong. But we are accused on the account of being true to God and His commission. When people accuse us, the natural outcome would be to try prove ourselves. Because we never want others to think bad of us, we would always like to be in the “good books” of others. That is not possible. People WILL accuse us. But we are not to react to such accusations and think it over and over again in our minds and find ways to answer the accusations. Jesus only says, “Do nor worry about what to say or how to say it”.

While answering accusations we should not be self-motivated, but Spirit-motivated.

3. People who hate us

Matthew 10:21-23

We will not only be hated by others but also by our own family members. People hate us because they do not like what we say and what we do. So we might try to change ourselves for them. It might mean, disobeying God and His call, to please people. Jesus says, “but he who stands firm to the end will be saved”. We need to stand firm in obeying God and in decisions that we made for God, until the end.

When we are hated & persecuted we are not supposed to retaliate, but only retire from that place.

4. People who do not value us

Matthew 10:24-31

Here Jesus quotes Himself as an example. If people called Jesus himself as Beelzebub (the prince of demons), how much more will they call us! When we get caught up in the trap of I-need-to-know-what-he-thinks-of-me, we lose focus and purpose. Because instead of trying to spend time in listening from the Lord and hearing His whispers (Matt 10:27), we start listening to gossips & whispers of others about us. But we need to fear God and not men. (Matt 10:28)

We might also get into yet another trap of do-they-value-me-? Jesus says that when we try to value us by others appreciations/depreciations, we consider ourselves less than sparrows! Our value and worth comes from Above and that happens only when our thoughts and actions are God-centred and not self-centred. And only when we are concerned about glorifying God and not us; when we do not worry for ourselves but for God’s reputation and His glory. (Matthew 10:32-33)

Our mental make-up is like that we seek to be counted worthy by others. And that determines our actions & reactions to people. But Jesus says that we need to be “worthy of Him”. (Matthew 10:37-38). The writer of the Hebrews resonates this truth while talking about the heroes of faith, “of whom the world was not worthy” (Hebrews 11:38) For us too to be part of the list of heroes of faith, we need to seek to live a life worthy of Him, not seeking the worth of the world.

And this can happen only when,

1. We take up our cross and follow Jesus (Matt 10:38)

2. We are ready to lose our life for His sake (Matt 10:39)

Having difficult people in our lives is one of the cross that we need to carry. When we are concerned about our life, our reputation, our value, we will lose it. But when we would be willing to lose it all for Christ’s sake we will find it – in Him and we will be able to declare with Paul,

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20 (ESV)

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