To Be As Wise As Serpents.

Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. Matthew 10:16-18

I was just reading an article about a court case concerning the distribution of Bibles to elementary children in Maryland. The Gideons are, of course, losing the court battle. To be honest, I can't work up to much outrage on their behalf. In stead, I am wondering, why do they not spend sometime taking to heart Jesus' words. We are no longer welcome to present our message in such a fashion as the Gideons in the school. That's alright, not good, but alright, because they cannot actually stop the Gospel despite their best efforts. We just need to be smart in how we do it. Jesus warned that we would need to be very smart and wise when it came to operating in the hostile world that we live in; therefore, it would behoove us to stop using methods that were acceptable in the past and start figuring out ways to reach people with the Gospel. Obviously, we cannot continue showing up at public schools and handing out bibles, court cases only make people angry and intransigent and are not going to change anything.

I honestly do not have any answers. I am studying and thinking about the question myself. A few possibilities come to mind. Such as one that we used as hospital chaplains, we weren't allowed to actively evangelize but we were allowed to answer questions. So, what we would do is find ways to have people ask questions and if the answer involved sharing the Gospel so be it. The courts, try as they may, cannot ban people from answering questions and if they ever do well - Since it is not wise nor safe to go against conscience. Here I stand. I can do no other.