Innocent as doves – but wise as serpents?
At the end of His parable about the dishonest manager, Jesus made a telling comparison between believers and non-believers. “The sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light,” He said. (Luke 16:8b ESV) At the very least, this assessment implies we Christians are sometimes guilty of a certain naïveté, for want of a better word.
Why am I bringing this up? I recently received one of those chain emails that make the rounds from time to time, especially among Christians. This one purported to be a statement from Australia’s prime minister, cracking down on Muslim extremists in her nation, assuring them that Australia will never adopt Islamic Sharia law, and inviting Muslim residents to either adapt to Australian society or leave the country. The sentiments, which admittedly make a point beneath the strident rhetoric, obviously resonated with many Christians, who promptly sent it along to their networks of friends and acquaintances.
The problem is that the email’s a hoax. It’s been circulated at least three times in the last several years, attributed to three different Australian prime ministers. It’s patched together from a number of sources in Australia and the United States, wrenched out of context and beefed up with inaccuracies and half-truths. A detailed analysis of the hoax is available at http://www.hoax-slayer.com/112-18.shtml.
Looking at the email, it’s hard to image how a head of state, with speech writers and press secretaries and public relations people at her disposal, would ever release such a statement. It’s rife with typos, poor style, shrill tone, large intrusive bold font, key words and phrases shouted in capital letters, and more exclamation points than the average person needs in a month.
Jesus told his followers to be “wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” (Matthew 10:16b ESV) Again, at the very least, this means our Lord wants us to use our heads. Openness, trust, tender-heartedness and thinking the best of others are praiseworthy traits. Being credulous and gullible are not. To avoid them, we need wisdom, discernment and yes, a degree of shrewdness.
The next time we receive one of these chain emails, let’s pause to consider before hitting the forward button. Does this look and sound legitimate? Really? At least let’s take a moment to check it out at Snopes or Hoax-Slayer. Most important, let’s ask ourselves what we’ll accomplish by forwarding that email. Will it prompt our Christian friends to worship Christ, love their enemies and pray for them? Or will it stir them up to alarmist reactions and self-righteous indignation? And what about our non-Christian friends? Will sending them the email enhance our testimony? Will it cause them to consider our truth claims as thoughtful, gracious and attractive? Or will it lead them to scoff at our faith, our intelligence – and our God?
