“The Prudent Christian” – Matthew 10:16-20

I had a seminary professor who liked to remind us that there is no punctuation in Greek, the original language of the New Testament. There are a couple of times, in 1 Corinthians and again in 1 Thessalonians, where the King James Version of the Bible says, “I would not have you ignorant, brethren.” My professor liked to quote these verses as, “I would not have you, ignorant brethren.”

Whether we prefer my professor’s interpretation or the actual interpretation, there is a great deal of truth in needing h remove ignorance from our mindset as followers of Christ. Paul was writing about theological awareness, but it applies to all areas of life. Christians, because of their tendency to believe, can sometimes come across as gullible.

For instance, periodically, a dire warning will come to churches. The warning used to say that Madeleine Murray O’Hare was petitioning the Federal Communications Commission to ban religious programming from the airwaves. We were urged to send our own petitions to the FCC denouncing this effort. The problem was that there never was an effort by Ms. O’Hare or anyone else to ban religious programming from the American airwaves.

We Christians wanted to believe this lie to be true. It sounded true because Ms. O’Hare was the woman behind the lawsuit that resulted in the Supreme Court decision to ban state-sponsored prayer from state schools. She was a well-known atheist who delighted in stirring up the issues of state and religion. A moment of thought would have known that the FCC would not be able to ban religious broadcasting. Such a ruling would never stand up against legal challenges. A ban like that would violate a person’s freedom of speech and the prohibition of the federal government from discriminating against religion.

There are other examples of Christian gullibility, but suffice it to say we do not need ignorant brothers nor do we want you to be ignorant, brother.

Background

In Matthew 10, Jesus is preparing to send His disciples out in pairs to preach the gospel in the towns and villages of Judea. Matthew records the names of the 12 apostles for the first time, and includes a set of instructions given by Jesus to the disciples. It is reasonable to say that Matthew recorded not just Jesus’ instructions that were given at this time, but he also included other advice Jesus gave to His disciples as He sent them out at various times. These same instructions can be found in Mark and Luke, but neither Mark nor Luke show it as specifically relating to sending out the disciples.

Regardless of whether the instructions were given all at the same time or were scattered throughout Jesus’ ministry, we can be sure that the instructions are from Christ and that they are included here because the Spirit’s inspiration led Matthew to include them in his account of the gospel.

As we look at today’s passage, we need to realize that Jesus never calls us to be people of faith only and not of thought and education. Far from telling us to be ignorant, Jesus tells us to consider various matters when it comes to sharing the gospel. Just as we are called to love God with our entire being, so Jesus wants us to serve Him with our hearts, bodies and minds.

Central Truth: When God saves us, He saves our minds, too.

The prudent Christian:

1. Is aware of his or her surroundings (16)

“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.”

Joseph Ton is an evangelist from Eastern Europe. He had studied at Oxford during the Cold War. He told his friends that he intended to return to his homeland, even though it was under communist rule. His friends urged him to remain in England, since preaching in Romania was illegal. As he listened to his friends’ warnings, Ton said he was reminded of Jesus’ advice to the disciples: “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.”

When we are out in the world and we are sharing and living the life Christ calls us to live, we are armed not with weapons of destruction, but with the armor of God. We need to be aware that Satan is very much at war against God and His people, and that we are open to the devil’s attacks. We always need to be on our guard when it comes to Satan and to those who oppose Christ.

A sheep among wolves doesn’t stand a chance in the natural order of things. We need to remember that we are God’s children, and that we have no need to fear. Paul, writing to the Romans, tells us in chapter 8 that we are a force to be reckoned with. “If God is for us, who can be against us? No, in all things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (vs. 31b, 37). To Timothy, Paul wrote, “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of love and of self-discipline” (2 Timothy 1:7).

Being a sheep among wolves doesn’t mean we need to be afraid, only that we need to be aware of our circumstances. Looking at Jesus’ words in the verses leading up to today’s passage lets us know that not everyone will accept the word of the Lord, nor will everyone be welcoming. There are times when we need to be aware of whether we are casting our pearls before those who will appreciate them or whether we are casting them to swine.

Regardless of our circumstances and the setting, though, we have a duty to be shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves. To be shrewd is to be prudent, doing the right thing in the right way. Being innocent is to be sincere in our message and our lives. Jesus is telling us that we are to always be true to Him at all times and in all places. In order to be prudent and sincere, we need to know Him and His words. We need to be attentive to His Spirit and quick to respond as He leads us.

2. Knows where to put his or her trust (17-18)

“Be on your guard against men; they will hand you over to the local councils and flog you in their synagogues. On My account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles.”

I am a trusting person. I try to be trustworthy, and I have always tended to give the benefit of the doubt to other people. The problem is, not everyone is trustworthy. Most of the time, this works out, but there have been times when I have been betrayed by those I have trusted.

Jesus knows that not everyone can be trusted. That’s why He tells us to be on our guard against men. In this instance, the call to be on guard was because there were those who openly opposed Jesus and the gospel, so much so that they would turn Jesus’ followers over to the religious leaders and proclaim that these disciples of Christ were heretics. The councils Jesus refers to was a group of 23 men, usually centered in the synagogue. They would hear the evidence against the accused, and, if found guilty, the heretic would be flogged in the synagogue itself.

There were also those in the Roman Empire who persecuted the Church. To share the gospel at that time was possibly illegal. We know from the book of Acts that the disciples were flogged by the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, and that Paul was imprisoned many times for preaching.

Jesus is not saying not to share His message, but to be aware that such an action could result in less than desirable results. We shouldn’t be surprised when it happens.

Jesus’ words let us know that we need to be aware of those in whom we put our trust. Being shrewd and innocent will help us in that regard, but we also need to be aware that not everyone will respond to our message in the way we want them to.

In His warning in these verses, Jesus is also telling us that adversity may come to us in order to open new doors of ministry. Jesus says that they may be arrested on His account, but that the arrest will be an opportunity to share the gospel to those who otherwise might not hear it. Again, Paul’s life is an example. When he was threatened by the mobs in Jerusalem, Paul appealed to Caesar to hear his case. As a result, Paul was afforded the opportunity to share his testimony before the governor of Caesarea, Felix (cf. Acts 23), Festus, who was Felix’s successor (cf. Acts 24) and to King Agrippa, ruler of Judea (cf. Acts 25-26). There is reason to believe that Paul ultimately shared his testimony to Caesar himself.

We need to be aware of our surroundings and our circumstances. We need to know who we can trust and shouldn’t trust. Ultimately, our faith must be in Christ, because He will place us in the circumstances and with the people we need to be around.

3. Knows God always provides (19-20)

“But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say. For it will not be you speaking, but the Holy Spirit of your Father speaking through you.”

In the first association where I served as a pastor, our association was split into three groups of pastors. About a third of the pastors in the association had been trained at a Southern Baptist seminary. Another third had been trained at Criswell Bible Institute. The remaining third had no seminary training and few had a college education of any kind. This made for an uneasy alliance.

In one meeting of our association, several of the pastors who had no formal education spoke, and each one of them, in one way or another said something along the lines of, “I don’t have a fancy education and may not know big words; I only know what the Spirit lays on my heart.”

It irritates me to this day to hear someone say that. We all have access to books and magazines that can help us in our understanding of God’s word. These men, though, relied on Jesus’ words in v. 20 to justify their lack of sermon preparation or speaking in general. Such an interpretation is proof that there is always a need to study and prepare.

Jesus is not speaking about teaching in Sunday School or preaching a sermon. Here it is a case of being called up before someone to give testimony as to why we preach Christ. In such situations, we won’t have the benefit of access to materials and preparation. Jesus is telling us that if we find ourselves in a circumstance where we are called upon to give an impromptu speech, we shouldn’t worry about it. God will give us the words to speak. He is the one that allowed us to be put in the circumstances; He is the One who will tell us what to say and how to say it.

In other words, we should never glory in our ignorance; rather, we must do our best to speak God’s word accurately and truthfully, but we can trust in Him to give us the words we need when we don’t have the luxury of study and preparation.

God will always provide.

Conclusion

Whether we say, “I would not have you ignorant, brethren,” or, “I would not have you, ignorant brethren,” one thing is certain. God does not calls us to put our minds in idle when we serve Him. He calls us to follow Him with everything we have. He doesn’t call us to suspend belief in things we know; only that our faith ultimately rests in Him. Being called to follow Christ is not a call to be gullible; instead, we are called to be prudent, sincere and to walk in faith that He will always be with us.