We Are Not Dancing with Wolves

The Christian mission is fraught with danger:

While my headline might lead some to recall a 1990 Kevin Costner film, that is not what I want to discuss here. I am talking about a famous Bible verse. Someone had posted it on the social media recently, and what stood out to me was the first half of the verse, whereas usually it is the second half that we – or I, at least – have tended to focus on.

It is Matthew 10:16 which says: “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” Perhaps others, like me, tend to reflect on what it means to be wise as a serpent and innocent as a dove. And that is well worth reflecting on.

But it is the first part of that sentence that really hit me. Jesus did not waste words nor offer meaningless communication. When he said something, he meant it, and he expected us to take him seriously. Thus when Jesus spoke in terms of sheep and wolves, he was quite serious, and we had better pay attention.

So we must carefully consider the words and imagery he had chosen. The last thing a sheep wants to see is a wolf. A wolf has no good designs for the sheep – he wants to kill it and eat it. That is the picture Jesus used when he sent his disciples out into the world.

Sadly today much of the church has lost that sense of warning and urgency. We think that the world will happily embrace us, and if we are nice, the worldlings will be nice back to us. Jesus clearly said otherwise. Indeed, simply read the verses that immediately follow Matt. 10:16:

Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. “A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign those of his household. (verses 17-25)

Those words say it all. If we are getting along just fine with the world, then we might need to ask ourselves some hard questions? Are we really his disciples? Are we standing up for biblical truth and not living in silence or compromise? Are we too much at home and friends with the world?

Bear in mind further words from Jesus that must be taken seriously: “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you” (John 15:18-9).

Many other texts speak to this. One more is James 4:4: “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.”

To share these passages is NOT to say we go out of our way to become odious and repulsive to the world. We SHOULD try to build relationships with non-believers and so on. But if the most loving, gracious and caring person around – Jesus – continually encountered the wrath of man, how can we his disciples expect any less?

Jesus divides

No one who has actually read the four gospels can fail to see what a divisive figure Jesus was. Wherever he went he caused controversy, turmoil, upheaval and division. See this article for much more on this: https://billmuehlenberg.com/2018/06/22/jesus-and-division/

To heed the warnings of Jesus about a world full of wolves is not to say that no one accepted him and his message. Many people did. But of course many others hated him and rejected his message. It will be the same with us. And it is not hard to see why.

When Jesus said that people must take up their cross and follow him, he was not exactly trying to win friends and influence people, a la Dale Carnegie. When he told people to go and sin no more, he was not trying to win some popularity contest.

When we present the same gospel, we too will be refused and abused. Sure, if we present a fake gospel, one that says that folks can have their best life now, and they can have God as their celestial butler to do their every bidding, then sure, folks will gobble that up.

But give them the pure, unadulterated biblical gospel that we are all selfish sinners at enmity with God, and headed for a lost eternity unless we repent and turn from our wicked ways, and you will get the same reaction that Jesus got from so many.

So the moral of the story is pretty straight-forward; Jesus sent us out into the world with a very strong warning. The people out there will be like wolves. And wolves are not known for wanting to just get along with sheep. They are known for going on search and destroy missions.

So that is where we are at as followers of Jesus. We are on a mission, but it will not be an easy one. Jesus went out to the world to share the good news, and he was hated and eventually killed. The servant certainly is not above the master, so we should be prepared for similar sorts of reactions.

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