Sheep among wolves

Dr. Michael Youssef
10/29/2010

When I escaped from the Middle East more than 40 years ago with only the clothes I was wearing, I had every reason to turn my back on the people who persecuted me. But God changed my heart. And that's why I want to share a key verse that the Lord used to help me understand why I had to love those who hated me.

Jesus said to the disciples in Matthew 10:16, "I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves."

Jesus did not say, "I want you to domesticate the wolves so you can love them." He did not say, "I want you to speak well of the wolves so that you might befriend them." Or as many in the media and some in the church would say, "I want you to tell others how peaceful the religion of the wolves is." Jesus did not say, "I want you to speak of how wonderful the wolves are." Or "I want you to declare that the wolves are just like sheep, only different."

No. Jesus told us that we must know the price of discipleship. You and I must understand the cost associated with obedience. We must sacrifice in serving Him. In saying so, He challenges us to love the unlovable. But also in this passage, Jesus is pointing the disciples and us to a paradoxical truth that is throughout the Bible; it is a tension between our vulnerability and our invincibility at the same time. It is a tension between our weakness and the strength that is in Him. Tension between the power of a hateful persecutor and the power of a loving and obedient disciple. Tension between the worldly power of the flesh and the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit.  the rest image