Shrewd and Innocent

I have a favorite family memory in which a potential new entry to the family unit (future son-in-law) was being peppered with this-or-that questions. 

Pizza or tacos?

Summer or winter?

Beach or mountains?

Maybe you’ve played the game before. It creates a false binary between two things and forces you to pick one or the other. It’s a fun game, but wise people know that life isn’t always that simple. They’re called false binaries for a reason.

The Bible regularly tears down false binaries (or, as some say, false dichotomies).

Love vs. justice

Sacred vs. secular

Humble vs. confident

Waiting vs. acting

Us vs. them

Or, one I’ve been thinking about recently: shrewd vs. innocent.

The Moment

So, here’s the scene, recounted in Matthew 10. Jesus has appointed 12 men to be his disciples—the ones who will follow him most closely, know him best, and carry on his mission after he’s gone. Now, for the first time, he’s sending them out without him. Go do the work. Engage with people. Do ministry.

Imagine for a moment what is rushing through the heads of these 12 men:

What am I walking into?

How do I do this?

Do I have what it takes?

And Jesus, in what honestly seems a bit rare in his ministry, gives pretty clear instructions. Go out in twos. Heal the sick. That sort of thing. Then, among the instructions, Jesus throws out a two-part reminder:

First, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves …”

(Imagine hearing that when you’re about to launch out on a new venture. You’re a sheep among wolves. This can’t increase their confidence.)

Then, he finishes the sentence: “… so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.”

Shrewd and innocent.

Other versions will say, “wise as serpents” or “simple as doves.” But you get the idea. Two things that seem opposite are thrown together.

Wise, prudent, strategic, analytical, shrewd, competitive on one hand. Simple, innocent, guileless, hopeful, maybe even naïve on the other hand.

It seems as if there should be a “versus” in between these two. Instead, it’s an “and.” 

How can these things go together?

The A-ha

Shrewd and innocent. We’re often tempted to assign values to these two adjectives. Shrewd = bad, innocent = good. Or, in many contexts, it’s the opposite. Shrewd = good, innocent = bad.

Will Rogers saw the dichotomy. He said, “Shrewdness in public life all over the world is always honored, while honesty in public men is generally attributed to dumbness and is seldom rewarded.”

Others would flip the script. “Shrewd” is one of the words used to describe just about every dictator who has ever lived, taking advantage of the simple.

So, which is it? Shrewd or innocent?

Jesus says, “Be both.” That is how he instructs us to do daily life.

So, let’s look at it.

In what sense was Jesus shrewd?

• He chose specific men to be his disciples.
• He delegated responsibility to those disciples and thus multiplied his effect.
• He spoke just the right words at the right moment.
• He navigated a host of political and religious factions without being anyone’s pawn.
• He waited for the right moment to surrender to authorities.

The list goes on and on, but you get the idea. Galatians 4 even says that he was born “at just the right time.” From his birth to his death, he was wise; he was analytical; he was strategic. He was shrewd.

But he was also innocent. Of course, he was “innocent” in the sense that he committed no wrong (2 Corinthians 5:21). But there are other layers to that word. Consider how Jesus:

• Didn’t defend himself from false accusations.
• Let people take advantage of him (e.g., Judas).
• Healed people who wouldn’t “get it,” who wouldn’t change their lives forever (consider the Luke 17 healing where 90% of the guys ran off without even saying thank you, never to be heard from again).
• Didn’t chase power.
• Paid attention to each person equally or even favored the “nobodies.” Not strategic at all.

Again, you get the idea. And it’s not just Jesus. It seems to be the habit of those who follow God.

• Moses, who sends out spies and then, a few chapters later, gets duped by a neighboring people group.
• Deborah, the shrewd military strategist who doesn’t double down to press her advantage.
• Paul, who uses complex rhetoric in legal struggles but also says, “I knew nothing but Christ and him crucified.”

Be shrewd. Be innocent. I’ve been texting it to people, and it seems to be resonating. Some gravitate to one side, some to the other, but most feel the need for both.

I have a buddy named Joe who lived his whole adult life being mostly innocent. He has lost millions of dollars along the way to people who have taken advantage of him. But in the last few years, he has dialed up his shrewdness muscles. He made the move from a conviction of stewardship. Being both innocent and shrewd is the call from Jesus.

Summarizing Thoughts

• There’s an element of innocence and shrewdness needed every day by followers of Jesus in the way we do life and work. You should have some strategy. You should have some moments where you’re not optimizing.
• It’s an art, not a science. I can’t give you an exact formula for when you act shrewdly and when you exercise innocence and simplicity. And the answer may not be the same for your neighbor or your co-worker. You may be called to innocence when they call for shrewdness, and vice versa. You often can’t judge what you should do by what they do.
• Always rely on the Holy Spirit. Learn to follow His voice in your heart, tilting you one way or the other.

Be shrewd. Be innocent. Know when to calculate, and know when to simply love. Know when to protect yourself, and know when to give yourself away. Know how the world works without becoming too much like the world.

“Grace knows how to blend the most gentle with the most subtle; to take away from prudence the base element which makes it into cunning, and, by mingling innocence with it, produce a sacred prudence.”
— C.H. Spurgeon, Sheep Among Wolves

 

3 Questions:

• Do you think of Jesus as shrewd? How about innocent?
• Do you default to one way or the other?
• Who is someone in your life who models both?