SCRIPTURE. “Behold, I am sending you out like sheep in the midst of wolves; [therefore] be wary and wise as serpents, and be innocent (harmless, guileless, and without falsity) as doves.” – MATTHEW 10:16, AMPC

KEY TERMS. Wise; Innocent

QUOTATIONS

“After a little bit, [the Wolf] heard a human voice call out from inside the house, ‘Little Red Riding Hood, is that you? Have you come to visit your Granny?’ But since the Wolf didn’t speak human, he guessed what the person had said was: ‘Did I hear something? Is there someone out there who needs to come in, could you scratch louder?’ ‘So that’s what the Wolf did: He scratched louder.’” ― VIVIAN VANDE VELDE, Cloaked in Red, 2010; edited – [THE STORY OF LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD: “The girl with the unfortunate name and the inability to tell the difference between her grandmother and a member of a different species.”]

“Be careful of who becomes your friend and why. The person who will bite off your lips one day will have to first promise you a kiss today. ‘Be careful of hypocrites.’” ― ISREALMORE AYIVOR, Daily Drive 365: Daily Thoughts for Positive Living, 2014; edited

I.  FIRST THOUGHTS

“It’s a jungle out there!” I remember saying that countless times as a kid growing up in the South California high desert community of San Bernardino (1,053 ft.) in the 1950s. I continued to use it all the way through Arrowview Junior High and San Bernardino High School and even into college as a folk saying that captured young people’s perception even at an early age that ‘the world is pretty much a very messy, dangerous place.’

Later, as a more advanced observer of American culture during my doctoral study days, I happened upon a chilling confirmation of my earlier convictions through a groundbreaking media theory proposed by DR. GEORGE GERBNER called, “Mean World Syndrome.”

As part of his broader framework called, “Cultivation Theory” (1973), Gerbner advanced the idea that “a major cultural shift was taking place, wherein [our primary] Storytellers used to be the parent, the school, the Church, the community, but is now a handful of Global [Media] Conglomerates that have nothing to tell, but a great deal to sell” (Wikipedia, “Mean World Syndrome,” Apr. 22, 2023; edited).

IT’S A MEAN WORLD AFTER ALL. More to the point, his later research demonstrated, especially for children, that “moderate-to-heavy viewing of violence-related content on TV increased depression, fear, anxiety, anger, pessimism, post-traumatic stress, and substance use.” Now with the proliferation of media reach via our cell phones and other devices, the multiplied effects of Mean World Syndrome are staggering.

To set up the rest of this essay’s argument, add to this the very real interposition of the Opening of Christ’s Six Seals of Judgment increasingly apparent to many of us, and you have Mean World Syndrome on steroids. As illustration, the American Psychological Association reported on October 22, 2023 that “a majority of adults are disheartened by government and political divisiveness, daunted by historic inflation levels, and dismayed by widespread violence.”

Or in the parlance of today’s Commentary: ‘There are wolves everywhere today, beloved,’ with both Christians and Jews once again becoming their primary victims of preference. To this I quickly remind that the American Church and her Pastors have increasingly become the denizen of wolves as much as if not more than sheep!

A Time that the Prophet describes in this apocalyptic way: “Yes, truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. And the Lord saw it, and it displeased Him that there was no justice.” – ISAIAH 59:15, AMPC

Thus our Lord’s excoriating warning to ‘distinguish’ between the False and the True Shepherd in today’s Church.

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. But ‘a hireling,’ he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them.” – JOHN 10:11-12, NKVJ

HIRELING PASTORS. Taken from the Greek term, ‘Misthótos’ [μισθωτός], defined as: “‘A hired hand, a wage worker;’ venal; mercenary; employed for money or other compensation; a prostitute; greedy of gain; mean; selfish; actuated by the hope of reward; moved by the love of money.”

The grotesque impact of these False Shepherds, wolves as hired hands, is to “Scatter the sheep.” Derived from the Greek word, ‘Skorpizó’ [σκορπίζω]: “To disperse, scatter abroad (as of sheep); to dissipate, waste; put to flight; ‘become liberal’ [as in detached from the Truth]; based on the root idea of ‘penetrating’ [down to the core foundation of a believer]; to separate or remove things to a distance from each other [i.e., ‘to divide the sheep’].”

JEREMIAH 23:1-3 (NKJV). “Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of My pasture!” says the Lord. Therefore thus says the Lord God of Israel against the shepherds who feed My people: ‘You have scattered My flock, driven them away, and not attended to them. Behold, I will attend to you for the evil of your doings,” says the Lord. But I will gather the remnant of My flock out of all countries where I have driven them, and bring them back to their folds; and they shall be fruitful and increase.’”

Selah.

Beloved, it both grieves and infuriates me to write these words, but this is what THE MESSIAH told us would be the case in the Last Days, when religious leaders would be more interested in keeping their jobs than protecting the sheep. Jesus Christ said that! – cf. Matthew 23:1-36; 24::4-5

II.  THE PLAGUE OF CHRISTIAN NAÏVETE

Did you know that God considers naiveté among His followers as a venal sin? I didn’t until just a few years ago when I discovered the following passage that expresses it rather sharply.

“‘The naïve or inexperienced person [is easily misled and] believes every word he hears,’ but the prudent man [is discreet and astute and] considers well where he is going. A wise man suspects danger and cautiously avoids evil, but the fool is arrogant and careless.” – KING SOLOMON, Proverbs 14:15-16, New American Standard Bible, c. 700 BC

The key Hebrew term here, ‘NAÏVE,’ is defined by, ‘Pthiy’ [פְתִי]: “Simple, overly open-minded; silly, susceptible, seducible, foolish; syn. with ‘lack of wisdom;’ lack of experience or judgment [imp., ‘absence of discernment’]; given to ignorance and compromise; artlessness, incredulity; childishness, immaturity.”

ON THE FINE ART OF BEING NICE. As a good number of you already know, I have been lambasting “Niceness” in the American Church for a few years now, with increasing vehemence. For me at least, the operational definition of the American Church Naïvete centers upon ‘Just being nice.’ All the time, to everyone, no matter the circumstance nor the character of the other person.

Here’s the major DOCTRINAL PROBLEM: I don’t find anything in the Scriptures where we are commanded or even gently prodded to “just be nice” all the time. Loving, yes. But “nice”? Jesus certainly was not! This, in the Church’s Reconstructed Christology toward an anathemic, nearly ‘Timid Messiah’ in her desperately contorted effort to accommodate the culture, keep the peace, and avoid creating waves at nearly every cost.

Including that of Truth!

I came across a thoughtful piece on this grave matter by DOUG VAN METER, senior pastor of Brackenhurst Baptist Church in South Africa. His article is entitled, “The Naivete of Niceness,” published by Christian Study Library (ret. June 19, 2023; edited).

Here are some of his astute and sometimes sharp remarks.

“The ‘Naivety of Niceness’ is the idea that Christians should never cause another person any discomfort but rather we should just ‘be nice’ and never make anyone feel bad. It seems as if many Christians have adopted an 11^th commandment, ‘Thou shalt be nice and never make anyone feel uneasy.’ Such a mentality displays both a Scriptural and Practical Naivety.

Contrary to popular opinion, Christians are NOT called to be nice [and of course neither are we called to be nasty! i.e., foul, morally repugnant, defiled]. Rather, ‘we are called to be holy.’ And such a calling will sometimes put us in a position where we won’t appear to be ‘nice.’ In fact, there are times when our choice to be ‘nice’ may in fact make us naughty before the Lord …

The dangers of this ‘naivety of niceness’ also applies to matters of false teaching [proposing that] ‘We must be naively silent.’ Rather, there are times when we are to speak out against it; even sometimes identifying the purveyors of such lies. Paul ‘named names’ (1 Tim 1:18-20; 2 Tim 1:15, etc.). Jude had lots of ‘not so nice’ words to describe false teachers (Jude 8-13). And Peter pronounced a not very ‘nice’ word of condemnation on Apostates (2 Peter 2:4-22). In other words, there are times when we must be willing to be accused of not being ‘nice’ if we will remain faithful to the Lord, and helpful to others.

There is plenty of BIBLICAL PRECEDENT for this. Consider for example the following.

• How ‘nice’ was it when God exiled Adam and Eve from paradise? (Gen. 3:24).

• How ‘nice’ was it when the sons of Levi took a sword and killed three thousand people who did not repent of worshipping the Golden Calf? (Ex. 32:26-29).

• How ‘nice’ was it when God killed Uzzah for touching the Ark of the Covenant? (2 Sam. 6).

• How ‘nice’ was it when God killed scores of people for looking into the Ark of the Covenant many years earlier? (1 Sam 6:19).

• How ‘nice’ was it when Jesus identified Peter as ‘Satan’ and commanded him to get away from Him? (Matt. 16:21-23); especially so soon after speaking such ‘nice’ words of blessing to him (vv. 17-19)!

• How ‘nice’ was it when Paul withstood Peter to his face and rebuked him in the presence of the Church? (Gal. 2:11).

• How ‘nice’ was it when the Corinthians put a man out of their church, letting him know that he was not welcomed until he repented? (1 Cor. 5).

• How ‘nice’ was it when Paul called those who sought to pervert the Gospel of God, ‘dogs’? (Phil. 3:2).

• How ‘nice’ was it when Paul said that perhaps the preachers who said that circumcision was necessary for salvation should be castrated themselves? (Gal. 5:12).

• How ‘nice’ was it of Paul to say of the Cretans that they are ‘always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons’? (Titus 1:12).

• How ‘nice’ was it when Jesus confronted churches, such as the one in Sardis and in Laodicea, and told them essentially that they were useless? (Rev. 3).

By the world’s standard, such examples are not ‘nice’ at all. But when you realize that God is holy and that sinners need the Saviour, then such examples point to … ‘speak the truth in love’ (Eph. 4:15). But this important caveat aside, we must not minimize that if we fall for the ‘naivety of niceness’ and fail to speak the truth then we are actually being naughty and not nice. ‘Delivering souls from destruction by telling people the truth is in fact one of the nicest things we can ever do!’”

TO THIS POINT.  God needs warriors for Truth, not country club valets! To this add God’s Fury at our having Remade Jesus into our own image, if such a thing could actually be done. We have ‘sanitized’ the Lion by removing His claws and teeth, daring again to render Him more a household pet rather than a God to be reverenced and feared.

And to be blunt, beloved: I hate it! So does God.

Such an animating force or motivation for following Christ sends the Church to the outermost courts of THE HOPELESSLY NAÏVE: Mere parlor maids and manservants, obsequious lackeys, cheap slaves or vastly worse, courtesans and concubines to the Status Quo, whether within the Church, the State, or the broader Secular Society.

To drill this crucial point home, I once more quote C.S. LEWIS’ bitter invective to the Church of his times:

 

“In a sort of ghastly simplicity we remove the organ and demand the function. We make men without chests and expect of them virtue and enterprise. We laugh at honour and are shocked to find traitors in our midst. We castrate and bid the geldings be fruitful.” – The Abolition of Man, 1943

Welcome, gentle ladies and gentlemen, to the AMERICAN FIRST CHURCH OF POLITENESS, fully bent over, primed and reshaped into the ‘Servants of Donald Trump’s Nationalism,’ who has us right where he wants us – in the very palms of his corrupt, sweaty hands.

And Remember: It is The Christian Church that has put him there, beloved. WE did this!

III.  THE TEACHING

SCRIPTURE. “Behold, I am sending you out like sheep in the midst of wolves; [therefore] be wary and wise as serpents, and be innocent (harmless, guileless, and without falsity) as doves.” – MATTHEW 10:16, AMPC

KEY TERMS. Wise; Innocent

• WISE. ‘Phronimos’ [φρόνιμος]: “Sagacious, discreet, cautious; intelligent, prudent, sensible; practical skill or acumen; able to wisely reason and understand; of sound mind; personal perspective regulating outward behavior; properly, how we size things up; ‘being shrewd (sly, cunning, discerning).’”

• INNOCENT. ‘Akeraios’ [ἀκέραιος]: “Unmixed, harmless, simple; pure; unsophisticated, sincere, blameless; without guile, cunning or deceit; reputable, honorable; of good and useful morals; without duplicity; properly, not noxious; not producing injury; free from qualities that can injure; free from guilt; not having done wrong or violated any law; not tainted with sin; ‘not a destructive mixture tainted by sinful motives (ambitions).’”

COMMENTARY. “I send you forth. — The nominative pronoun is emphatic, ‘It is I who send,’ and that not so much as an assurance of protection, but, as the words that follow show, as reminding them of their responsibility as His delegates.

As sheep in the midst of wolves. — Nothing can be more striking than the union of this clear foresight of conflict and suffering with the full assurance of victory and sovereignty. ‘The position of the disciples would be as sheep surrounded by a flock of hungry and raging wolves,’ the wolf being here, as elsewhere in the New Testament, the symbol of The Persecutor.

Wise as serpents. — The idea of the Serpent as symbolising wisdom seems to have entered into the early parables of most Eastern Nations. We find it in Egyptian temples, in the twined serpents of the rod of Æsculapius and of Hermes, in the serpent-worship of the Turanian races, in the history in Genesis 3 of the Serpent that was ‘more subtle than any beast of the field.’ For the most part it appears in Scripture as representing an evil wisdom to be fought with and overcome. Here we learn that even the Serpent’s sinuous craft presents something which we may well learn to reproduce. When St. Paul ‘caught men with guile’ (2 Corinthians 12:16), becoming ‘all things to all men’ (1 Corinthians 9:22), he was acting in the spirit of his Master’s counsels.

Harmless as doves. — Better, simple, sincere — i.e., ‘guileless.’ The Greek indicates more than simple harmlessness—‘a character in which there is no alloy of baser motives.’ Once again Truth appears in the form of Paradox. The disciples of Christ are to be at once supremely guileful and absolutely guileless. Our Lord’s reference to this symbolism gains a fresh significance when we remember that He had seen the heavens opened, and the Spirit of God descending ‘like a dove’ upon Himself (Matthew 3:16). In and by that Spirit the two qualities that see contradictory reconciled.” – CHARLES ELLICOTT, An Old and New Testament  for English Readers, 1878, 1897; edited

THE POINT. Beloved, there are wolves out there working hard to devour and destroy our messages. I expect it from “those outside,” however. The vastly more painful blows come from The Church!

It was the woeful lament of KING DAVID that captures this special pain. “For it is not an enemy who reproaches and taunts me—then I might bear it; nor is it one who has hated me who insolently vaunts himself against me—then I might hide from him. But it was you, a man my equal, my companion and my familiar friend. We had sweet fellowship together and used to walk to the house of God in company.” – PSALM 55:12-14, AMPC

So how are we to deal with such Betrayal, my dear friends, as nearly all of us have experienced what David and so many others in The American Remnant have experienced? That is the subject of the next section.

IV.  WALKING IN INNOCENCE AND CUNNING

In this section I hope to put some legs and feet of practicality to dealing with both of these issues: Dealing with Betrayal by a fellow Christian; Then walking in both Innocence and Cunning in order to deal with it. No small order.

We begin with an excellent Commentary on David’s Lament from a noted theologian.

HANDLING THE BETRAYAL. “No wickedness so distresses the believer, as that which he witnesses in those who profess to be of the Church of God. Let us not be surprised at the corruptions and disorders of the Church on earth, but long to see the New Jerusalem. [David] complains of one that had been very industrious against him. God often destroys the enemies of the Church by dividing them. And an interest divided against itself cannot long stand [e.g., Cong. Greene vs. Boebert]. The true Christian must expect trials from professed friends, from those with whom he has been united; this will be very painful; but by looking unto Jesus we shall be enabled to bear it. Christ was betrayed by a companion, a disciple, an Apostle, who resembled Ahithophel in his crimes and doom. Both were speedily overtaken by Divine vengeance. And this prayer is a prophecy of the utter, the everlasting ruin, of all who oppose and rebel against the Messiah.” – MATTHEW HENRY, Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, 6 vols., “Psalm 55:12-14,” 1708-1710; edited

I love the no nonsense approach here by Mr. Henry’s reminder that ultimately, it is God who shall remand the Betrayer to the High Court of Heaven, an occasion that ought to terrify the one who dares the betrayal. And there is comfort in that, beloved. God loves Justice, and He shall in no way fail it, though it tarry longer than we’d prefer.

SERPENTS AND DOVES. For this important idea I came across a superbly balanced piece by seasoned writer and broadcaster, ALICIA PURDY, entitled, “All in One: The Fierce Nature of God and Jesus” (Crosswalk, Sep. 4, 2019; edited). She ‘gets’ that the Lord is not some unidimensional Blessing Machine, and I therefore happily summarize a few of her too-rare insights.

“One of the biggest mysteries of who God is, comes from the Truth that He is what the Bible calls the ‘Godhead’ (Colossians 2:9) – more commonly known as the ‘Trinity’ (although that word is not found in Scripture) – three Persons in One. So we learn about His nature from His Word, His Son, and the Holy Spirit. To add an additional layer of complexity, God, through His own descriptions of Himself in His Word, presents Himself as a series of seeming contradictions: ‘Peaceful and Violent, Innocent and Cunning, Lion and Lamb’ …

Jesus is [at once] the innocent, pure, spotless, sinless Sacrifice who became sin for us, took our place on the Cross and gave His life so we might live. That is the essence of the Gospel Message. Why, then is God referred to as ‘cunning,’ in the Old Testament? Look at Job 5:12-13, ‘[God] frustrates the schemes of the cunning, so that their hands cannot perform their plans. He catches the wise in their own craftiness.’ Remember the old adage, ‘It takes one to know one?’ Only a strategic, cunning God can outwit the craftiest deceiver. In fact, in the Bible, Satan and evil men are portrayed as ‘cunning,’ yet the innocent Lamb, Jesus, said this in Matthew 10:16, “So be as cunning as serpents and as innocent as doves.” So, which is it? Both! …

In Revelation 5:5, Jesus Christ is heralded as the ‘Lion of the Tribe of Judah’ yet Peter called Him ‘a Lamb without blemish or defect’ (1 Peter 1:19). John called Him, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). How can someone be both a Lion and a Lamb? They are certainly two very different animals! A lamb dies, but a lion kills. How can one be both predator and prey at the same time? …

We worship the gentle, peaceful Lamb of God and we draw close to Jesus, the Lamb, in our praise and worship, but the Lion is just as worthy of praise. We must respect the power of the Lion. We must fear and be in awe of His might. Two beautiful, powerful images of two different types of strength are seen in Jesus Christ, the image of the invisible God.”

DK. My friends, when I first read this I didn’t know whether to cry or shout or laugh out loud. Her simple yet brilliant knowledge of the God we serve as a multi-layered Mysterium Tremendum, and yet at the same time, intimately Knowable and Personal in His exquisite and constant care for us. Powerful enough to incinerate a city with the blink of an eye, yet vulnerable enough to become a Newborn Babe to be lain in a dusty manger in an unknown town.

Oh, that the Church would once again preach the Fullness of the Godhead in all His majesty, magnificence, wonder, holiness and unmitigated power, while at the same time reminded that He is also the lover of the forlorn, the destitute, the poor, the outcast, the alien, and the widow and the orphan. Fiercely for the humble, but as fiercely opposed to and making war with proud oppressors!

I tell you the truth, beloved: We would have a very different America and a very different world, if we only had a very different Church. Selah.

V.  LAST THOUGHTS

One of my chief objectives that I mention perhaps too many times, is to do all I can to encourage the Church and true disciples of the Jewish Messiah to become the diametric opposite of The Hopelessly Naïve. This is precisely what Jesus intends for us, most especially in these last, treacherous days.

I love what the EDITORS of Got Questions (ret. June 21, 2023; edited) have written of this, specifically using the perfect Example of Jesus to illustrate just how this ‘Divine Balance’ works between being “Wise” as the cunning, crafty serpent, yet “Innocent” as the purest, guileless dove.

“Let us consider Jesus as Exemplar: The Lord was known as a Gentle Person. Indeed, Scripture testifies that He would not even quench a smoking flax (Matthew 12:20). But was He always (and only) gentle? No! When the occasion demanded it, He took whip in hand and chased the moneychangers out of the Temple (John 2:15). Jesus’ extraordinarily rare action, seen in light of His usual mien, demonstrates the power of using a combination of tools. This ‘dove-like’ Man of Innocence ‘spoke loudly and clearly’ with His assertiveness in the Temple.

In His more typical moments, Jesus showed that He was as wise as a serpent in the way He taught. He knew enough to ‘discern’ the differences in His audiences (a critical skill), He used the story-telling technique to both feed and weed (Matthew 13:10–13), and He refused to be caught in the many traps that His enemies laid for Him (Mark 8:11; 10:2; 12:13).”

As it was with our King, therefore, so must it be with us. The Writer of Ecclesiastes points us once again toward this radical yet Balanced View of the Biblical Canon.

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace.” – ECCLESIASTES 3:1-8, ASV

DK. Make that read, depending on our audience and our discernment of how to address them: A time to whisper, and a time to shout; a time to embrace and a time to shun; a time to rest and a time to work; a time to celebrate and a time to mourn; a time to fight furiously, and a time to lay down our weapons and reconcile; a time to love, and yes, beloved, even a time to hate.

As with Jesus, so must it be with us. For neither are we spiritual robots with our algorithms fixed on “Love Only.” As PAUL wrote it so brilliantly yet practically:

“For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law; to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God, but under law toward Christ), that I might win those who are without law; to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.” – 1 CORINTHIANS 9:19-23, NKJV

BOTTOM LINE. I harken all the way back to the intrepid Chinese war strategist, SUN TZU, who wisely advised this to all who would be engaged in a Great Battle:

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. ‘If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.’” – The Art of War, c. 500 BC

Therefore: ‘Know the King, but also understand the Serpent.’ Know Virtue, but also understand Evil. And know Courage yet understand why so many are given to Cowardice. Thereby to resolve: NO MORE NAÏVETE! No more capitulation into the lap of the Culture, whether social or political. No more, He commands! To work, then. To battle, then.

To be found so doing when Messiah thunders through the clouds to gather up His ever-faithful Remnant Church! To be with Him thus, Forever.

Soon, beloved, soon.

Ever your servant, DK

Cliff Kelly, Ph.D.

Digital Circuit Rider

YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/G3zqhzjEc04