Of Doves and Serpents

When Jesus sends out His disciples, he tells them to be “innocent as doves and wise as serpents.” I have been thinking about this for a while. For the longest time, I could give you a textbook-definition, but I didn’t have an actual understanding of what it meant. And yet, something in my gut told me it was important enough to put on my coat of arms (and a coat of arms is sacred! One does not simply change a coat of arms!) So what could it mean, and why is it so important? 

When I think of “Wise as serpents,” the first thing that comes to mind is jiu jitsu. In case you weren’t aware, Jiu Jitsu is a martial art that focuses on grappling. Basically, think wrestling for skinny people. There are lots of lessons on pressure points, weak spots, and different ways to gain advantage over a bigger opponent. It’s a fascinating thing because it’s one of the few places in which a smaller opponent can use his size to his advantage, rather than disadvantage. In this way, I believe these concepts are similar and I think the context of the verse backs me up on this. 

In the same verse, right before he offers this metaphor, he says he is sending his disciples out “as sheep amongst wolves.” Great! Who wants to be told “hey! I’m sending you out into battle without any defense, and I want you to yell like a maniac! I may even paint a red target on you if I’m feeling up to it!” Ok, I’m exaggerating a little, but you get the idea. I think to be wise like a serpent is to think through everything you do and make the most of your efforts. Sure a punch will hurt no matter where you land it, but go ahead and give your neck a poke. Even just a little poke is annoying, imagine what a full-force blow could do! That’s the point being made here: make your efforts count as much as possible. Find ways to make them stretch further, being intentional with everything you do. I often wonder how far I can take this in my everyday life. 

If I’m being honest, I have always felt small and powerless, so this part has always come naturally to me. As I try to do anything new, I always ask myself “what micro-steps can I take in this direction that anyone could take?” I’m like a kid trying to cross a river without getting wet. I see one solid stone, I poke it a few times with a stick, try to look at the rocks underneath for a firm foundation, and when I decide it’s good, I hop! I rinse and repeat until I have gotten to the other side. People often tell me that you need to be bold and take risks. Sometimes, sure, maybe you need to shoot your shot, but always try to lower those risks as you go. I always try to make sure the risk is as close to zero as possible. I have gotten comfortable in hallways and halfway points, over-preparing myself for the next leap so that I can be sure that it’s a solid one. It may not work every time, but it has gotten me pretty far on my journey, so why not stick to what’s working? 

Things like this are what it’s all about: good, wise offense. I think that’s true in life: no man can hack it with brute force. No man can do it all and strength will only get you so far. It’s true, a man’s ability to “ just hack it” is impressive. I have met some master-brutes with wills of steel. I still don’t know how they do it! But time makes a fool of us all and eventually we have to accept that we can’t do everything. We have to focus on select changes that will do the most damage. If you’re clever enough, those changes will have a massive ripple effect that can do all the damage you were hoping to do in a fraction of the effort. 

A good example is my recent attempts to save money. I was given advice by the truckload on how to save at the pump, not spend here, only spend what you need over there, insurance corners to cut, the list goes on. But nobody taught me strategies to save on your biggest expense of them all: rent. I spend more in rent per month than any other bill in my budget. Even as I push to spend double on my student loan payments, it still barely compares to my rent charges. How much advice was I given on this? Next to none. If I had just focused my efforts on making sure this one cost stayed low, I could eat like a king, have good insurance, and have an overall easy time with everything else I was advised about.

Precise offense. That’s the name of the game. Even in helping others, you can be wise about doing it. Jesus knew this quite well. How many times did He kill two birds with one stone by healing on the sabbath (aka, day you weren’t supposed to heal?) How many times did He help just the right person to prove a point? It’s hard to turn this into a formula. I can’t offer you a “one size fits all” solution to your problems. It takes insight, discerning, and an understanding of the One who came before us to really get the hang of this. But I believe that if you pray for it, He will show you the way. 

But for all my gamer friends in the room, there is another metaphor that has always latched onto me from the old “god of war” games (I am talking about the real ones, the originals! None of this “dad of bore” nonsense.) The fight scenes have never failed to inspire me. You have Kratos swinging around on his chains, always knowing where to throw his one good punch to bring giants, titans, and the gods of olympus to their knees. By no means could he take on even half these beasts using brute strength, but in using everything around him to his advantage, he set himself up with a slam-dunk of an offense. 

But you can’t have an offense without a defense, and I believe Jesus has called us to have an impenetrable defense. Have you ever met someone who justifies their every action with “you know, technically you can act like this and get away with it?” I know I have. I have worked with them from time to time. Although they usually use this line for evil, I believe we should transpose it for good. If you live on these “technically-s” forever, you might find yourself in a pretty sweet spot where no one can really hurt you. Jesus did it a lot, then His disciples did it, and Paul tried it a few times too. Read through the new testament and see how many times the Kingdom’s enemies sat there and shouted “dang it! We can’t find anything wrong with these guys!”

I used to debate my friends a lot on the topic of jobs. Specifically, we used to go back and forth for hours about whether or not you need to give a two-weeks notice. “Technically, you don’t.” They would always say. “It’s an at-will state! An employer can fire me at any time, so why can’t I quit at any time?” I would always respond by admitting that they weren’t wrong, but it’s a selfish mindset. What if we used the same line with a giving mindset? We could say things like “technically, there’s nothing stopping me from paying for someone’s meal at the drive-thru. It’s a perfectly legal thing to do, so why not do so?” You don’t have to put much thought into kindness before you find that there is something you can do for everyone that they will willingly accept. Even the most distrusting of people will accept your kindness if you do it right. It may take a little cleverness with some of your more stubborn people, so play your cards right, but I believe that playing by the “technically-s” will work every time. You may not gain the ground you’d like, or in the way that you would like, but if you keep working at it, you may get further than you’d think. 

All in all, I find this to be a great battle-tactic that I use in my everyday life. Am I perfect at it? Absolutely not! But it’s a great blueprint to follow as it guides you in how to live your life. It takes some work, some insight you have to develop to see some returns, but the plans you put together are fun. There’s a thrill to that “EUREKA!” moment when you figure out the perfect gameplan. I would encourage you to take a crack at it and see what happens. Ultimately, you may find you get somewhere you weren’t expecting to. I pray these words and the wisdom of the King sets you on a path to greater heights and firmer foundations

Until next time

May Peace be your guide