Shrewd As Snakes And Innocent As Doves?

* Caution.

This simply means avoiding recklessness.

Our zeal and excitement for Jesus needs to be tempered by caution.

Sometimes our excitement can get us into trouble. In our desire to win people for Christ, we can say and do things that can alienate people rather than draw them closer to Jesus.

Or it may cause us to take unnecessary chances in dangerous situations that, if done properly, wouldn’t be so dangerous and be much more effective.

Exercising caution saves a follower of Jesus unnecessary from hassles in bringing the message to other people.

Let me give you an example of recklessness.

A number of years ago, a business opened in Brookings. I won’t describe the business except to say that it was the kind of business that no follower of Jesus would ever have any reason to be in. It was an immoral business that snuck in through a loophole in the city laws.

Anyway, there were two guys in the church who wanted to do something about this place.

They loved Jesus and they loved people, and felt this place was dangerous, and they were right.

So they came up with a plan: they would stage a small parade down Main Street. In this parade, a hearse would drive down the street, and if I remember right, the word "Brookings" would be on the sides of the hearse, denoting the idea that this business, if allowed to remain, would be the death of the town.

As the hearse stopped in front of this particular business, one of the guys would preach a message, presumably about the judgment of those involved with this business.

I’m listening to these guys tell this to Pastor Tim, and my jaw was hitting the floor. Thankfully, Pastor Tim had the wisdom to ask them some questions to help them think through this a bit, and they abandoned the idea.

Now as I mentioned, these guys loved Jesus and the loved people. They were acting out of that love and zeal for Christ. I admired them for that, and I still do.

But their action was not a cautious one. It would have brought ridicule on not only them, but the cause of Christ.

And Jesus tells us we’ll get enough of that just living for him and telling others about him in everyday settings without going out and inviting it.

But let me tell you something else: if it had been ten years earlier, I would have been right there with them. I would have volunteered to drive the hearse - or ride on the hood.

Thank you, Jesus, for helping me mature a bit and gain some wisdom.

Here’s the second tool we need to help us become shrewd as snakes -

* Wisdom.

There are a number of definitions for wisdom, but the basic one is this:

Using the right information in the right way.

This means gathering information that helps you learn about the person or persons you’re trying to influence for Christ.

And then approaching that person or person in a way that you know will gain a hearing.

Go back to the example of those two guys for a moment. They had the right information - the business was immoral, and God was not pleased.

But they weren’t wise in how they were going to use that information.