Matthew 10:16: “I am sending you out like sheep surrounded by wolves. So be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.”

This is my third time talking about this verse, and I am exploring the animal analogies of Jesus in this series. I have talked about wolves, I have talked about sheep, I have talked about serpents. What about doves?

“Dove” is, in a way, telling you not to adopt certain tactics. You should not adopt confrontational tactics—not returning violence with violence. In the history of the world, that is counterintuitive.

When violence is directed at you, you want to, in a way, turn the other cheek by not returning reviling with reviling. Peter said that is what Jesus Christ did not do: He did not return insult with insult (1 Peter 2:22–23).

That, to me, is communicating a dove‑like attitude. You see different characters in Scripture, but the most famous is Jesus. He said, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to Myself” (John 12:32). There is a drawing that is still going on now because He was dove‑like.

He did not respond to insult with insult. Jesus Christ said, “I am gentle and humble in heart” (Matthew 11:29). He said, “Learn from Me.” Look at the power of the cross—the non‑resistant, non‑violent, non‑aggressive principle that was displayed on the cross—and the force of that is still pulling people in today. The force of it. It is so counterintuitive.

In the time of Jesus, people wanted to take up arms and resist: “Let us fight for our rights. You cannot be trampling on my rights.” But Jesus Christ came and said, “If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other to him as well… if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two” (Matthew 5:39, 41). “If someone wants to take your tunic, give him your cloak also” (Matthew 5:40).

That is turning our instinct on its head—the instinct we learned from Cain, in which nothing was done to him, yet he responded with violence (Genesis 4:5–8). We inherited that from Cain in the history of humanity.

So this “dove”—look at the power of it. You can only see it from the result it has produced, and it can only come from God. Jesus Christ is the ultimate example of the dove‑like attitude. He came, and things were done against Him, and He did not return violence with violence. He did not say, “We are going to go toe‑to‑toe.” Yet people, in the name of God, have said, “I am going to go toe‑to‑toe. I am going to use violence,” and so on.

I am not talking now about nation‑states and actions that nation‑states can take. I am talking about a principle that you should adopt as individuals. Those who have learned from Jesus the non‑violence principle, and the results it has produced—the kind of long‑lasting, revolutionary way it has been deployed—are so powerful and so instructive.

“So be wise as serpents and innocent as doves,” meaning you are not adopting the attitude of the wolves. You are not thinking wolf‑like. You are not thinking, “I must get it now.” You are not thinking, “They have used this method, so we can also use the same method.” You are not thinking like that. Because He is sending you out as sheep among wolves, you are supposed to be as wise as serpents and as innocent as doves.

Peter said, in effect, do not be people who are punished for doing the wrong thing; but if you do what is right and suffer for it, that finds favor with God (1 Peter 2:19–20). Do not suffer as a wrongdoer. Because you are a sheep, you are different, and you must maintain your difference even though you are surrounded by wolves.

The tendency, the temptation, is to adopt the wolf‑like attitude of the people around you: “They are doing this; let us do it like that. People are making it like this; let us do it like that.” No. You are not a wolf. You are a sheep, and you are supposed to be as wise as a serpent. You are supposed to adopt some other frame of existence, different from the wolf, in which you—using my word “blend”—are not simply blending, but knowing what you are aiming for and being very calculated under God, toward getting to an aim, including in your approach to people and in your interaction with people.

And “innocent as doves” means you are not adopting the evil methods of the people around you. You are not mirroring the wolves; rather, you are mirroring Christ. You are mirroring Christ’s attitude—a dove‑like attitude. That means you are not a threat in the sense of using violence; you are not using this attitude of “I am going to get in your face in the name of God,” and so on.

God bless you.