Merriam Webster defines cunning as “dexterous or crafty in the use of special resources (as skill or knowledge) or in attaining an end <a cunning plotter>.” We see Jesus as love and peace and understanding. How many of us see Jesus as cunning?! Read John Eldridge in “Beautiful Outlaw” after citing the parable of the wily manager in Luke 16:1-9.
“Jesus is more impressed with the cunning of ‘the people of this world’ than he is the naïveté so common to ‘the people of the light.’ And then – back to the doves and snakes analogy[1] – he urges us to be cunning: ‘I want you to be smart in the same way. . .not complacently just get by on good behavior’ (v. 9, The Message). There’s a certain charm to a Forrest Gump naïveté, the kind your grandmother had as she wore her white gloves to church – but is that the kind of person you could trust with your life?
“Setting eternity in our hearts was cunning, so that every last one of us would be haunted all our days with unmet longings that would cause us to seek the only Fountain that can quench our thirst.
“Sex was cunning. Given the selfishness and self-centeredness of mankind, how else to get people to commit to the daily-sacrifice-for-a-lifetime called parenting?
“I think the movement of the Spirit in the church is cunning – first here, then there, keeping men from systemizing it, keeping the enemy from squelching it. It’s like a game of rugby.
“Jesus is holy and cunning – it’s part of what makes me love him.”
[1] Matt 10:16
“Jesus is more impressed with the cunning of ‘the people of this world’ than he is the naïveté so common to ‘the people of the light.’ And then – back to the doves and snakes analogy[1] – he urges us to be cunning: ‘I want you to be smart in the same way. . .not complacently just get by on good behavior’ (v. 9, The Message). There’s a certain charm to a Forrest Gump naïveté, the kind your grandmother had as she wore her white gloves to church – but is that the kind of person you could trust with your life?
“Setting eternity in our hearts was cunning, so that every last one of us would be haunted all our days with unmet longings that would cause us to seek the only Fountain that can quench our thirst.
“Sex was cunning. Given the selfishness and self-centeredness of mankind, how else to get people to commit to the daily-sacrifice-for-a-lifetime called parenting?
“I think the movement of the Spirit in the church is cunning – first here, then there, keeping men from systemizing it, keeping the enemy from squelching it. It’s like a game of rugby.
“Jesus is holy and cunning – it’s part of what makes me love him.”
[1] Matt 10:16
