Be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves

When my neighbour’s gate opened, her heart started to race. She knew it was the strangers coming to poke and prod at her again. 

The strangers were a good-looking couple - a doctor hired by a reluctant relative to take a look at my neighbour’s declining health, and his wife. Having learnt how much my neighbour was worth, and realising that her support guardrails were weak, the couple manoeuvred themselves into becoming my neighbour’s primary caretakers on paper. 

The relative visited recently, and encountered the couple.

“They looked right through me,” the relative shared with me. “Didn’t even say hello.” 

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” - Matthew 7:15

Trust is a big part of our society. As a nation built on Christianity, trusting in God is a founding tenet of faith. I assume good faith in relationships until proven otherwise, and there are some markers that award this trust. 

For instance, I automatically trust doctors because to me, their choice of profession represents long years of study for hard work that pays with good, clean money. They also hold my most personal secret - the state of my health. And yet, here was a doctor wishing for someone’s health to expire to acquire money that didn’t belong to him. Thankfully, my neighbour has proven defiant, and the years stretch out. 

“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” - Matthew 10:16

So how can we protect ourselves and our loved ones from the wolves? I think we may find some answers within the habits of the four animals selected for that verse.

I instinctively understand the common imagery of vicious wolves among innocent lambs and doves as the ultimate symbol of harmony in the Bible. But I decided to take a closer look at how the animals behaved in their real environment.

Sheep need protecting - no natural defences. Farmers have to create guard animals for sheep. So they are dependent on their relationship with their caretaker. Babies and the elderly come to mind. 

But why wolves? Are sheep some kind of special meal for wolves?

Wolves are a fascinating animal in the kingdom. They coordinate as a group and use strategic intelligence to hunt by disguise or patience. They sound scary but when you check their actual hunting list, they target animals that are unguarded, isolated, dependent or the least likely to fight back. Think deer, the offspring of moose, and carrion - or animals that are already dead. 

So how does being a snake and a dove combat wolves?

Putting our fear of them aside for a second, snakes are perceptive and discerning animals. While wolves use strategy for offence, a snake’s strategy is defence and conservation. They don’t hunt for fun. But they know how not to get hunted because they have learnt to tell the signs of hunters. 

But there’s a reason the scripture says “Be as shrewd as a snake AND as innocent as doves” because we have to learn how danger works without becoming dangerous ourselves.

It’s not the violence of wolves we should fear, it’s the strategy. The wolf in sheep’s clothing has always been the clue. We still expect tricksters to look like jesters, but the fraudulent doctor wore the clothing of one of the world’s most morally sacred professions. It opens doors to vulnerable spaces and shuts down questions. It gives access to history, personal records and innermost fears. It demands trust. 

The caregiver was an older, overburdened distant relative who didn’t live close by. The opportunity? An offer to step in and do more proactive visits to manage her care. 

Sometimes our circumstances are desperate and the offer, though too good to be true, also happens to be exactly what we need. But this is why we are called on to be shrewd, so our eyes rest a little longer on - “too good to be true”.

Share with us - how did your snake-and-dove qualities help you out of a situation?