[Tuesday's Devotional] - Like sheep among wolves

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

As Christians today, mission is difficult.  Society will judge us, either as bigoted because of our belief, intolerant because we claim to know an absolute truth or simply ignorant and dangerous for our apparent lack of ability to grow with society, stuck with what may seem like archaic laws and beliefs.  So, what should we make of it all?

 
First of all, we should not be surprised, the bible makes clear we are being sent out as a sheep among wolves, this spells out a rough ride, ask any sheep.  We are being sent into a world that we are told will be hostile towards us, not only hostile but a world which is dangerous because as Christians there is a vulnerability to us.  We are vulnerable because we are sheep, this may sound very strange but as Christians we are sheep because we follow the shepherd, this means we are vulnerable to being snatched away.  However the chapter continues:

 

“But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the spirit of your father speaking through you.” Matthew 10: 19-20 [NIV]

 

The great commission is clear, we are being sent out but not alone, when the sheep is sent among the wolves, what hope can it have, only that the shepherd goes with it?  Among the wolves our only protection, our strength to protect our vulnerability, is that the shepherd goes with us and that as sheep we stay close to him.

But there is a second verse, we are advised to be both shrewd and innocent, something we maybe rarely consider when involved in mission.  We are told to be clever, tactical even.  We should think about who we are reaching and think about how best to reach them, where to start, how to pitch it, maybe even who to send within the mission given to us as his church, his body.  But we also must be innocent as doves, we cannot change the message or water it down, we cannot deceive or lie.  We are to reach the world as best as we can, but we are in the world not of the world.

 

Tim Holt