Pigs and Pearls

Matthew 7:6 Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.

This statement, which reads like a Jewish proverb, appears towards the end of the Sermon on the Mount. At first glance it can appear as a random statement disjointed from the flow of the sermon. But after closer examination, it fits the context well.

Prior to this statement, Jesus said do not judge so that you will not be judged (7:1). By this, Jesus meant we are to avoid passing unnecessary, harsh, or hypocritical judgment on others. Yet that does not mean believers should never evaluate (judge) people or circumstances. A few verses later (vs. 15-20), Jesus warned us of false teachers, whom we can identify by the fruits of their lives. We are to evaluate them, not by our standards, but by the standards of God’s word. In other words, there is a sinful form of judgment we are to avoid, but there is an appropriate judgment we are to practice.

The verse we are considering follows Jesus’ statements on passing wrong judgment on people. It reminds us that ‘not judging’ does not mean we ignore sin or opposition to the gospel. Instead, we are to be wise stewards of the gospel, calling people to faith in Jesus without holding the message of His salvation up for distain.

Dogs and pigs were the two most despicable animals in Jewish culture. Dogs were mangy scavengers; not pets like they are for us. They ate whatever they could find and roamed wherever they chose. If a Jew really wanted to insult someone, they would call them a dog. Pigs were deemed unclean by the law, meaning they were a part of the dietary restrictions God put on the Jews in the OT. Over time, they came to be seen as the figurehead, not only for all the unclean animals, but for everything that is despicable to God. With these two animals, Jesus is pointing his listeners to the most vile things they could imagine.

Jesus said to withhold what is holy from a dog. This is probably a reference to the ‘holy food’ in the temple that only priests could eat. Jesus is saying that we are not to take what is consecrated for the service of God and feed it to dogs who will devour it with no regard for its sacredness. In the process of devouring it, they may turn and devour you. This paints the imagery of a pack of dogs attacking food with no regard for the one feeding them.

Nor are we to place our pearls before swine. Pigs do not understand the value of pearls, so they will trample them as worthless if placed before them. I know someone who was working cattle in a sloppy pen, when his wedding ring fell off among the cattle. They trampled over it before he could retrieve it, so it was lost. That is the picture here. Pigs will trample the pearls so that they are lost. This is not how we treat something of value.

So, what is the holy food and precious pearls we are to protect rather than treat with contempt? It is the gospel. In 2 Corinthians 4 describes the gospel as a treasure God has placed in jars of clay, which are His people. That passage talks about the distain the world shows for the gospel and how they attack its messengers. It is a wonderful parallel to this verse.

Jesus is saying that we should not intentionally expose the gospel to ridicule. We believe that everyone is redeemable; and we want everyone to have the opportunity to believe in Christ. We also understand that it is our responsibility to share the gospel with lost people. Yet wisdom is necessary to know when and where we are to share the gospel, and when it is unwise to share it.

If someone is clearly hardened against and unresponsive to the gospel, it dishonors God to provoke such a person’s blasphemous response to God by poking them with the gospel. This does not mean we stop praying for them or looking for ways to soften them towards Christ. It is simply a recognition that the Holy Spirit has work to do on their heart before they will respond positively, so we are going to wait for a more opportune time.

Furthermore, we do not intentionally create circumstances where we will be persecuted. We do not try to provoke people to attack us, lest the gospel be ridiculed, and we be destroyed in the process. I am not going to go to Mecca during Islam’s annual pilgrimage there, stand on one of the pillars of their mosque, and preach Christ with a bullhorn. It will not have the results I desire; and it will result in my imprisonment or worse. There are better ways to reach those individuals with the message of salvation than that.

I saw this principle worked out simultaneously in two churches response to a challenge. During Ontario’s government mandated cessation of church services a few years ago, a church decided they could no longer comply and would resume services before they had governmental sanction to do so. Before their first gathering, they called the mayor of the city, the local health department, and the police to tell them when and where they would gather and to invite them to join them. To no one’s surprise, the police were on sight, fines were issued, and court cases were fought.

Around the same time, a different church also decided they could no longer cease gathering, so they organized ‘underground’ gatherings in homes, barns, and sheds. Those who attended were prepared to suffer the consequences if the police arrived; but they also tried to be discreet because all they wanted was to worship God according to their consciences.

Both churches claimed that their actions were motivated by their belief in the gospel. Yet in one circumstance, it felt like a political fight. The church gathering became the battleground on which the fight was waged. In the other circumstance, it felt like people trying to worship God according to their conscience. To me, it seemed like the gospel was adorned by the humble obedience of one group, while in the other circumstance the gospel was needlessly subjected to scorn, not because they chose to gather, but in the manner in which they chose to do so.

Believers are ambassadors of Christ through whom God is making the appeal of salvation to the world. But like a good ambassador, we need to remember that our goal is to woo people to Christ by showing the glory of His salvation. We need wisdom to know when to take the pearl of the gospel from our pocket, so we can say we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God (2 Cor. 5:20); and we need wisdom to know when sharing the gospel will only result in ridicule of His name and needless danger to us. We should be prepared to suffer and even die for the gospel, but we do not look for opportunities to prove our willingness to do so.