
When Jesus warned his disciples about the persecution coming their way, he told them to “be wise as serpents and innocent as doves” (Matthew 10:16). Doing so well requires the practical awareness to discern the real threats from the false and the Christ-centered focus to make sure we don’t respond in a way that would justify them. That’s hard to do, which is why Jesus followed that command with the assurance that we won’t have to do it alone (Matthew 10:20).