Wise as Serpents, Simple as Doves: The Christian's Dual Nature

Sheep Among Wolves

1. When the Holy Gospel was read, brothers and sisters, you heard how our Lord Jesus Christ strengthened His martyrs by His teaching, saying, "Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves" (Matthew 10:16). Now consider, my brothers, what He does. If just one wolf comes among many sheep—even thousands of them—they will all be thrown into confusion by that one wolf in their midst. And though all may not be torn apart, yet all are frightened.

What kind of plan is this, then? What kind of strategy, what kind of power, not to prevent a wolf from entering among the sheep, but to send the sheep against the wolves! "I send you," He says, "as sheep in the midst of wolves" —not to the neighborhood of wolves, but "in the midst of wolves." There was at that time a herd of wolves, and only a few sheep. But when the many wolves killed the few sheep, the wolves were changed and became sheep.

The Nature of Spiritual Combat

2. Let us hear then what guidance He has given—He who has promised the crown, but has first appointed the combat; who observes the contestants, and assists them in their struggle. What kind of conflict has He prescribed? "Be wise as serpents," He says, "and harmless as doves" (Matthew 10:16).

Whoever understands and holds to this may die with the assurance that they will not truly die. For no one should die with this assurance except the person who knows they will die in such a way that only death itself will die in them, while life is crowned.

The Wisdom of the Serpent

3. Therefore, beloved, I must explain to you, though I have often spoken about this subject before, what it means to be "harmless as doves and wise as serpents." If we are called to have the simplicity of doves, what role does the wisdom of the serpent play in the simplicity of the dove?

In the dove, I love that it has no bitterness; in the serpent, I fear its poison. But don't be completely afraid of the serpent; it has qualities for you to reject, but also qualities to imitate.

When a serpent is weighed down with age and feels the burden of its many years, it squeezes itself through a narrow hole and sheds its old skin so it can spring forth into new life. Imitate the serpent in this, you Christian who hears Christ saying, "Enter by the narrow gate" (Matthew 7:13). And the Apostle Paul says to you, "Put off the old self with its practices, and put on the new self" (Colossians 3:9-10). You have, then, something to imitate in the serpent. Do not die for the "old self," but for the truth. Whoever dies for any temporary good dies "for the old self." But when you have stripped yourself of all "that old self," you have imitated the wisdom of the serpent.

Imitate the serpent in this way too: "Keep your head safe." What does this mean? Keep Christ with you. Perhaps some of you have noticed how, when someone tries to kill a snake, it protects its head by exposing its whole body to the attacker's blows. It doesn't want that part of its body to be struck where it knows its life resides.

Our Life is Christ, for He has said Himself, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life" (John 14:6). Here the Apostle also says, "The head of every man is Christ" (1 Corinthians 11:3). Whoever keeps Christ within them protects their head for salvation.

The Simplicity of the Dove

4. Now what need is there to commend to you at length the simplicity of the dove? The serpent's poison needed to be guarded against—there was danger in imitating it, something to be feared. But you may imitate the dove with confidence.

Notice how doves delight in community; they fly and feed together everywhere. They don't like to be alone, but enjoy fellowship and maintain affection. Their cooing expresses the tender sounds of love, and they raise their young with gentleness. Even when doves, as we have often noticed, quarrel about their nests, it is a peaceful kind of dispute. Do they separate because of their disagreements? No, they still fly and feed together, and even their conflict is peaceful.

Consider this dove-like conflict in what the Apostle says: "If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him" (2 Thessalonians 3:14). Here is the conflict; but notice how it is the conflict of doves, not of wolves. He immediately adds, "Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother" (2 Thessalonians 3:15).

The dove loves even when in conflict, and the wolf hates even when offering caresses. Therefore, having the simplicity of doves and the wisdom of serpents, celebrate the feast days of the martyrs with sobriety of mind, not with bodily excess; sing praises to God. For He who is the God of the martyrs is our Lord God also. He is the one who will crown us. If we struggle well, we will be crowned by Him who has already crowned those whom we desire to imitate.