Holy Boldness

to its long history with God, the scriptures, the traditions, the covenants, the adoption, (see Romans 9:4) the nation was also expected to produce a harvest of righteousness. Furthermore, the issue of judgment was not a reaction from God because He was angry. Judgment is sewn into the very fabric of creation. Just like sowing and reaping are part of the laws of nature, judgment is already resident in the earth. When truth is heard, understood but not received then the judgment will manifest in deception, blindness, con fusion, error, and ultimately destruction. The very nature of judgment causes deeper error to infiltrate a community once truth is rejected. If a person or community rejects the light, darkness follows. Therefore, the apostles were instructed to dust off their feet as a sign to those cities which rejected the message that they were on their own. “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” ( Matt 10:16) There was a reason Israel was in the condition that it was in. It was because the leaders of the nation were poor representatives of the heart of God. Jesus sent His disciples into a political and religious hotbox where leaders in power, political and religious, were like wolves full of hate, evil, and deceit. But Jesus sent His disciples out as gentle “sheep” turning the other cheek, forgiving enemies, not returning evil for evil. Jesus’ method for the campaign, sending sheep into the midst of wolves seemed disastrous and hopelessly flawed, unless… God was truly with them. People often use the phrase, “a wolf in sheep’s clothing” but how is it that God’s strategy is to send the sheep among the wolves? He gave them two instructions on how to conduct themselves: “be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” The Greek word translated wise means shrewd, prudent, cautious but not fearful. But the second word, innocent , means to remain hopeful, childlike, and free from contamina tion. Engaging a wicked world without being tainted by its cynicism and conceit demands grace, patience, and faith. One must believe deeply in the purpose and plan of God and trust that He will accomplish all that He intends. Once again, we are struck by the simplicity and profoundness 1 94 Sheep among wolves!