Friday of Week 14 in Ordinary Time (Year II)
Hosea 14:2-10 | Psalm 50:3-4,8-9,12-14,17 | Matthew 10:16-23
Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows: “Remember, I am sending you out like sheep among wolves; so be cunning as serpents and yet as harmless as doves.” (Matthew 10:16)
Surprisingly, Jesus was probably referring to something like Blackadder-style cunning. The differences:
- Blackadder’s cunning held few boundaries, while Jesus would definitely frown upon any actions that violate God’s covenant with us, and
- Blackadder held himself as the ultimate beneficiary of his skullduggery, while we are called to place others before self, with win-win scenarios for everyone involved being the best outcome.
I think we can all agree that dealing with the unjust in a holier-than-thou Christian fundamentalist way will likely lead to hurt feelings all around and zero progress in conversion.
No one ever converted to Christianity because they lost the argument. -Philip Yancey
Instead, we should be street-smart, first understanding the other party’s motivations and using that to turn the situation in a Godly direction while not ourselves crossing the line into sin. This requires us to keep our eyes open, to examine everything carefully, and to not take everything at face value.
We also need to guard ourselves against inbound attacks of insincere flattery, of appearing to cave on a point only to substitute an even worse alternative. We must never forget that the “opposition” probably has even more experience with guile and wile.
In short, we need to be crafty like serpents, but keep the Lord at the centre of our lives, so as not be consumed or tainted by evil, nor consume or taint others in turn. I think this is the true meaning of the Christian’s call to “live in the world, but not be of this world”.
Amen.