You cannot succeed in the real world if you lack a working knowledge of the world. Many Christians base their lives on religious sentiments and fallacies rather than realities and common sense. Matthew 10:16 ESV says, “behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” A Christian must be rooted in God’s love. Christians represent God’s righteousness, justice, and lovingkindness. Nonetheless, a Christian must be wise enough to know when to be as harmless as a dove and when to be as cunning as a serpent.
A popular quote from Niccolò Machiavelli says, “any man who tries to be good all the time is bound to come to ruin among the great number who are not good. Hence a prince who wants to keep his authority must learn how not to be good, and use that knowledge, or refrain from using it, as necessity requires.” While this quote is bound to offend your Christian heart. You should see some similarities between this quote and the words of Christ in Matthew 10:16. If you continue to live your day-to-day life as the harmless dove, refusing to grow in the might of the Holy Spirit. You will be victimized. And your life might just be cut short.
You must seek to understand the logic and wisdom of the world. So that you protect yourself from the wolves and the leviathan out there. A lot of Christians are eager to be airlifted to heaven because they just cannot figure out how to succeed in the real world. This is folly. Jesus Christ tasks us to be the light of this world, the real world. Righteousness is not synonymous with stupidity. You must not be too nice to succeed in the real world. With humility of heart, seek out counsel that works in the real world. Holding onto religious ideals and fallacies will hurt you in the long run. No wonder Jesus Christ was always at loggerheads with the religious establishment in his days.
