What does it mean to be wise ass serpents?

From: Senior Pastor Clyde
To: Youth Pastor Claude
CC: Youth Team Leaders

Subject: That's NOT what Matthew 10:16 says!

Claude, you're killing me. I've gotten dozens of complaints from members of the congregation about teens from the youth group. I appreciate that they've been especially calm and gentle—that's great, and it goes right along with the metaphor of doves that we see in the Bible.

However, church folks are disturbed by those same teens all wearing shades of green, hissing at each other, and heaping sarcasm on everyone who walks by. Several of the teens have taken to wearing false fangs, which makes it creepier when they start giving people sass.

The church secretary walked by a high school boy this past Sunday and said, "Good morning." He responded by telling her, "If it was good, I'd be in bed instead of stuck in church."

When she said she didn't appreciate the remark, another responded by saying, "We can only please one person a day…today's not your day, and tomorrow doesn't look good, either."

When she told the boys that was rude, they told her she was being cranky. She objected to the insult, and a third boy said, "I'm not insulting you, I'm describing you."

This smart-alecky, serpentine, sarcastic business is freaking everyone out. I'm not sure if you mispronounced something in Matthew 10:16, or what, but please let your students know they need to be wise "AS" serpents, not…whatever they're doing now.

Thanks,

Pastor Clyde


P.S. Sending them to that autocorrect NotQuestions site isn't helping, either. It's just giving them ammo. Isn't there enough snark on the internet already?

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