Wise as Serpents, Innocent as Doves: Kingdom Subversion in a Cut-Throat World

by Dave Miller

Jesus’ words in Matthew 10:16, “I am sending you out as sheep among wolves; be wise as serpents and innocent as doves,” strike every sentrepreneur as both warning and invitation. The King of a new creation sends His people into the old one, not to escape its systems but to subvert them with a different Spirit.

The Serpent: The Reflex of the Old Creation

The serpent is the symbol of what this world rewards: cunning, control, self-preservation, manipulation. In business, it shows up as leverage, secrecy, and survival instincts: close the deal before they do, protect your margin, win the market.

That instinct is not wholly evil. It recognizes the reality of danger in a fallen world. Jesus does not say, “Ignore the serpent.” He says, “Be wise as one.”

Wisdom here means understanding how the old order behaves. It means reading the room, anticipating power plays, knowing when the wolves bare their teeth. The serpent teaches us to expect hostility, not harmony, in the marketplace. To follow Jesus is to enter that world eyes-wide-open, not naïve about its economics of self-interest.

The Dove: The Intention of the New Creation

If the serpent shows us the reflex of the old, the dove embodies the intention of the new. Innocence is not weakness; it is willful purity, the discipline to act from peace instead of fear, from generosity instead of greed.

When Jesus tells His followers to be innocent as doves, He calls them to embody the Spirit’s posture: trust, transparency, and truth in the face of manipulation. The dove doesn’t compete in the same way. It carries a kingdom culture that quietly unsettles the world’s logic of domination.

For the sentrepreneur, this means entering negotiations, markets, and partnerships with kingdom clarity. We understand the serpent’s game but choose the dove’s way. We recognize the old creation’s reflex to take but intentionally bring the new creation’s impulse to give.

The Collision: Where Strategy Meets Spirit

The sentrepreneur’s daily tension is that both instincts live in the same environment. Contracts must still be reviewed, deals still closed, employees still paid. But every transaction becomes a test of allegiance. Will we operate by the logic of scarcity or by the trust of abundance?

The serpent’s wisdom equips us to navigate; the dove’s innocence keeps us from becoming what we’re navigating through. This is kingdom subversion: engaging the system without bowing to it. It is Jesus’ strategy for survival that leads to witness.

The Witness: The Spirit Speaks

Jesus ends His instruction not with tactics but with trust: “Do not be anxious about what you are to say… for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” (v. 19-20)

In a boardroom or a courtroom, in a pitch meeting or a confrontation, the same promise stands. The Spirit empowers speech that reveals a different kingdom. Wisdom becomes prophetic when guided by innocence; innocence becomes powerful when joined with wisdom.

Living the Subversive Way

To live as a sentrepreneur is to practice intentional kingdom subversion, bringing new-creation grace into old-creation grit. It is to see every deal, every decision, every dollar as a stage for a greater story: light moving through darkness, truth walking calmly among lies, a dove flying straight through the coils of the serpent and coming out alive.

So be wise enough to understand the serpent’s world.

Be innocent enough to act from the dove’s heart.

And trust that when your words are needed, the Father will speak through you.