Meeting guide · command 36
Be Wise as Serpents
Enter vulnerable mission with alert wisdom and undivided innocence.
Read
Read the complete passage aloud.
Primary passage
Matthew 10:16
World English Bible
As Jesus sends the Twelve among hostile powers, He describes them as sheep among wolves and commands a combination of shrewd awareness and dove-like integrity.
Discuss
Listen carefully to what Jesus says.
- What does Jesus command?
- What does this passage reveal about Him?
- Where do we resist this command?
- What is difficult or unclear?
- Where do we confuse innocence with naivety, or wisdom with manipulation, and how can Jesus hold both together in us?
Practice
Choose one specific act of obedience.
Before one difficult conversation or ministry setting, identify the real risks, seek wise counsel, set one prudent boundary, and commit to complete honesty.
Return
Come back and discuss what happened.
What danger did you recognize, which boundary or counsel helped, and how did you preserve integrity?
Close together
Pray. Then prepare to teach.
Pray
Jesus, make us alert without fear and innocent without naivety. Give us wise words, clean motives, and courage in hostile places.
Teach
Do not romanticize exposure to danger. Jesus permits prudent awareness and wise boundaries while forbidding disciples from adopting the deceit or violence of wolves.