Preaching Christ to a Hostile World
Before taking any important decision, we tend to take the advice and find the will of God. The Lord Jesus before choosing his twelve disciples, chose to go to a lonely place to a mountain as he always does and prayed all night, and the next day he called out all the disciples and among them, he chose twelve and ordained them to be His apostles/disciples and they were with Him all the time and they were given the power to heal the sick and preach.
The Lord Jesus Christ had given many instructions when he ordained them as to how to carry out their mission. One among them is“Behold, I am sending you as sheep in midst of the wolves: be ye therefore as wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” Matthew 10.16. The NIV Bible says “Be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.
The world, as it has always as been, was hostile to the Christian. The hostility was on purpose…wolves intentionally inflict harm on sheep. The Lord is teaching us how to advance His kingdom in this kind of a predatory environment without becoming predators ourselves. To be Christ-like in a godless world, he asked us to combine the serpent’s wisdom and the dove’s innocence.
Till today, doves are considered as symbols of peace and snakes as deceptive. We are quite comfortable with Christ comparing us to doves, but we recoil at the thought of a serpent. The evil actions of satan cannot be attached to the creature itself. The creature did not sin and shrewdness is a good quality.
All that Christ is trying to tell us is that when we preach Christ to a hostile world, we must be shrewd (quietly escaping the snares laid for us), at the same time we must be innocent (serving the Lord blamelessly). Remember shrewdness does not mean dishonesty and innocence does not mean vulnerability.Proverbs 22.3 says A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and are punished.
Christ is our perfect example. He was a gentle person, he showed compassion on the sick and needy, he wept with Mary, he felt sorry for the widow whose son passed away, he would not even quench a smoking flax (Matthew 12:20). Yet this same gentle Savior rebuked Peter, calmed the storm, took a whip in his hand and chased out the money changers, he could walk though a violent crowd unharmed. He was assertive and charismatic. He could speak to the pharisee in the most subtle manner, he could answer the most difficult of questions without getting into any kind of controversy and refused to be caught in the traps that his enemies dug for him.
The apostle Paul was also a perfect example. He lived with all good conscience before God (Acts 23:1) and he always ensured that his carnal desires did not affect his ministry (I Cor 9:27). Yet he was very shrewd, he knew he was a Roman by birth and used it in many instances to his advantage. (Acts 16:37; 22:25; 25:11). His speeches were also always very carefully prepared to cater to his audience (Acts 17:22–23; 23:6–8).
“Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us” (1 Peter 2:12).
