“Like Lambs into the Midst of Wolves”
By John Mueller Nowell

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I don’t know how many hundreds of times I have heard this verse of scripture during the time my ministry has been partnered with Church Innovations, but in recent weeks I am hearing these familiar words in a new way.

The new insight happened during a telephone conversation I had with Joe (not his real name), a Church of Christ minister from the Portland area, a few weeks ago. Joe is serving a church that has been participating in the Partnership for a Missional Church (PMC) process for the past three years. I have had many conversations with Joe during this time, and we have started each of our conversations by Dwelling in one of the three passages that are integral to the PMC process. On this particular day, Joe wanted to Dwell in the Luke 10:1-12 passage (the Dwelling in the Word passage used during the first year of the PMC process).

After the passage was read, we had our usual time of silent reflection. When Joe began to speak he told of a PMC meeting he had recently attended where an elder (a lay person in leadership) from another congregation shared some reflection on the words “See I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves.” He talked of how in the past when he heard these words he heard words of warning…words that focused on the dangers that “the ones being sent” might encounter as they moved into the various towns sharing the word of “Peace.” But then the elder went on to say, “In recent weeks I have been hearing these words ‘See I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves’ not so much as warning but as words of ethical instruction. What would it mean for me to live like a lamb in the midst of wolves”?

What a great question! And that is the question my minister friend, Joe and I pondered for several minutes in our telephone conversation together. What message does a lamb bring to a wolf world? Could it be a message of “Peace to this house”? Could a lamb possibly bring any other message to wolf world? If “See I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves” is understood as ethical instruction rather than warning, how would that impact how I live my life as one being sent today?

Thanks, Joe, for sharing this scriptural pondering of an unnamed elder from an unnamed church with me. This sharing has changed the way I now hear these words…and I have the feeling the question, “what does it mean for me to live like a lamb in the midst of a wolf world?” will stick with me forever.

John Mueller Nowell is Director of Consulting at Church Innovations. Among his responsibilities at Church Innovations, John talks monthly with each of the pastors/spiritual leaders whose congregations are participating in Partnership for Missional Church.