"Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you. - Matthew 7: 6 (ESV)
Nestled in between the most abused verses of the New Testament, judge not, and the next set of teachings from the Sermon on the Mount, is Matthew 7:6. It is hardly a throw away verse however. God never wastes anything in His Word. All of it is useful for us to grow into the fullness of Christ. Verse six is actually fairly common. It seems whenever Christians get frustrated in trying to explain the things of God they invoke this verse - don't cast your pearls before swine. The problem of course is by this time they already have. What this verse cuts to the heart of however is how often we simply get wrong what evangelism and witnessing are truly supposed to be. There is a vast difference beloved between preaching the Gospel and trying to convince someone you are right. Too often we try to convince people who think we are fools that we in fact are infallible. Our words do not have the power of eternal life - only His do. Preaching the Gospel is not an exercise of our wisdom but rather of His. Let us watch the master preacher Paul in action:
And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and persuading them about the kingdom of God. But when some became stubborn and continued in unbelief, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them and took the disciples with him, reasoning daily in the hall of Tyrannus.This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks. - Acts 19: 8-10 (ESV)
Paul is preaching to the unconverted. The things of God are utter foolishness to them according to the Bible. While he employs reasoning and persuasion, he does not try to force his beliefs upon them. He is simply preaching the Gospel. As Paul says elsewhere, he refused to know anything but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Paul understood that not only could the correct preaching of the Word saver his listeners but self-reliance would actually empty the cross of its power.
For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. - 1Corinthians 1: 17 (ESV)
Matthew 7:6 lays this principle out for us. Insisting on wielding the Bible like a blunt instrument against unbelievers is like taking precious pearls and throwing them before pigs. These swine would not know any better. Let us turn to Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible for this verse:
"Here the phrase is used in a metaphorical sense; and is generally understood of not delivering or communicating the holy word of God, and the truths of the Gospel, comparable to pearls, or the ordinances of it, to persons notoriously vile and sinful: to men, who being violent and furious persecutors, and impudent blasphemers, are compared to "dogs"; or to such, who are scandalously vile, impure in their lives and conversations, and are therefore compared to swine; neither cast ye your pearls before swine. But since the subject Christ is upon is reproof, it seems rather to be the design of these expressions, that men should be cautious, and prudent, in rebuking and admonishing such persons for their sins, in whom there is no appearance or hope of success; yea, where there is danger of sustaining loss; lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you: that is, despise the admonitions and reproofs given, and hurt the persons who give them, either by words or deeds;"
Let us unpack this unpacking of the key verse. The Word of God is holy beloved. It is priceless. It is compared here to pearls. Something of great value. Why? Because the Word of God is absolute truth in a world of shades of grey. It is certainty in the midst of complete chaos. The keys to eternal life are contained within it. Directions towards the narrow way that lead to heaven are contained within its pages. For every lie the enemy whispers into our ears, the Word of God contains the truth that exposes him as the father of all lies. It contains peace that transcends our very understanding. Love as it was designed by the Creator of the universe. Pearls do not even come close to doing justice to the precious value of the Word of God. The truly sad thing today is that the Word is no longer revered in many churches. Oh sure it is mentioned. It is leveraged. It is a tool used by man to get what he wants. Verses are torn horribly out of context to justify whatever sinful desires our wicked hearts can conceive. Just in the past year alone we saw mega church pastors re-write the Ten Commandments, pretend the flood was not an act of wrath, mutilate the story of Benjamin and Joseph to promise five times more money to people and countless other direct heresies. Did the people stand up and walk out? No. They lapped it up because it scratched their itching ears.
For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. - 2Timothy 4: 3 (NIV)
We hear this verse sometimes but fail to grasp the lunacy of it all. That we would have something so precious as the Word and exchange it for myths. That we would take priceless pearls and exchange them for the baubles this world sells. Gill's Exposition also explains that the key verse essentially is saying that we are not to cast these pearls before people who simply do not comprehend their worth. Translation? You cannot convince the lost of biblical truth by hurling bible verses at them. Remember, the Bible teaches us that the things of God are foolishness to them. Why? Because without the indwelt Holy Spirit, they cannot be led into the spiritual truths the Bible contains and that is where the precious value lies. Sure the unsaved can find the stories compelling and the poetry moving but they cannot understand the mind of Christ when they are still ruled by the prince of this world.
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one."For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ. - 1Corinthians 2: 14-16 (ESV)
Despite these facts we constantly see Christians today hitting the unsaved upside the head with a Bible that is pure folly to them. We saw it recently with business owners refusing to sell their wares to people because they were sinners. Quoting Leviticus, a book I doubt they themselves read, to people who will not understand it. As Gill correctly points out we need to be prudent in rebuking and admonishing sinners where there is little hope for success and where in fact they are liable to turn back on us. Trampling us underfoot. Ask the baker and florist who lost their businesses recently if they understand this now.
No beloved, we are to preach the Gospel, not try and do the job of conviction, which belongs to the Holy Spirit. We are not to assume a lofty perch of perceived moral superiority by proclaiming spiritual truths to people who do not have the Holy Spirit. Our job is not to tell people they are going to hell as much as it is to point them to the only way to heaven through the cross of Jesus Christ. Only then can they begin to understand the true value of the Holy Word of God. Only then will they see the pearls for the riches they truly are.
Rev. Anthony.
