When a shark attacks a swimmer, it generally makes the news. Warnings go out in the area and swimmers and surfers are reminded to be careful and avoid situations where they might be attacked. Any death or life-threatening incident reminds us that the oceans of the world are not 100% safe.

We can adopt two responses to the reality that an environment like the ocean is not guaranteed to be safe. One option is to avoid the ocean—or any part of it that is deep enough for a shark to swim in. (Here in Iowa we don’t have any fear of shark attacks, being about as far away from the ocean as you can in the continental United States.) The other option is to enjoy the benefits of the ocean, but to do so carefully. It means being alert, wise, and responsible when we are in the ocean.

Most of us would deem the second option to be better. It would be a shame to avoid the waters that cover so much of the planet on which we live. Though not safe, the ocean offers majesty, beauty, and opportunity on all kinds of levels.

Another environment that offers promise, but is also dangerous, is the world of men. Jesus told his disciples, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves.” (See Matthew 10:16.) Most of us have found the world of man to be much more dangerous than the saltwater beaches of our world. Because of our fallen state, the world of people includes dangers such as betrayal, abuse, deceit, exploitation, anger, animosity, selfishness, theft, revenge, and murder. Our moral brokenness puts sharp edges in our lives that can slice into the lives of those around us. Who of us has not felt the sting of deceit as we have bought into false ideas of those around us about how to make like work, only to discover that these solutions brought new problems into our lives?

Jesus understands the dangers of living in the brokenness of a world such as our own. But he does not call his disciples to retreat from it. In fact, he sends them out into it—out among the sharks. But he gives counsel about how to swim in such places.

In Matthew 10:16 Christ adds, “Therefore be as shrewd as snakes.” It’s an odd metaphor for us in our time. We don’t ascribe wisdom to snakes. Our metaphor prefers to think of owls. (Either image is arbitrary, and reinforces the call to wisdom.) Regardless of the animal you pick for your mental image, the point is the same. Those who are Christ followers are called to be shrewd. The word can be translated sensible, thoughtful, or prudent. It means that we are to think as we swim among the human sharks of our world.

This kind of discernment is not self-created. It comes only from the Spirit who lives in the lives of those who belong to Christ. He is eager to give us insight as to how to conduct ourselves so that we are not devoured, and so that we can be effective ambassadors of the savior we serve. The culture rightly mocks many who claim to follow Christ, but who do so without any kind of thoughtfulness. Their lives are full of bizarre, odd, and self-centered behaviors. They contradict the teachings of Jesus more than they reflect them. And their lives can often resemble a soap opera more than echo a picture of divine redemption.

But sometimes those qualities are mirrored in our own lives–when we are self-sufficient, when we mimic the values of our culture, when we are too impatient to cultivate the mind of Christ. Swimming in dangerous waters is part of the call of Christ to all of his followers. But to do so, we must not neglect the cultivation of spiritual wisdom through careful study of the word, prayer, and the tutoring of the Spirit that brings a depth of thoughtfulness seldom seen in this world.