At what point does Evangelizing become "pearls before the swine"?

Question

Carol... Re: adding the scripture... I would rather hear from people who KNOW what I'm talking about... so that's why I didn't add it.

theBerean.... you are truly, well, the Berean!!! Thank you... I like that!!

Answer 1

Anna, I'm glad you asked this question. I've been thinking of how to ask a question myself where I could bring this up. I've never thought of an easy way of doing it.

I'm going to disagree with every answer you've received.
(Actually the only answer that even "touches" on something close to being correct is "Tortxof".)

Yes the JW. lol. I thought he was going to get to the meat of the matter, but then he went off on a tangent.

Matthew, chapter 7 contains what are probably the two most mis-quoted verses in the entire New Testament.

One is Matthew 7:1. "Do not judge, lest you be judged"
This verse is probably mis-used by more unbelievers than any other verse in the Bible. In fact, it's probably the only verse any of them know at all.
But thats for another day.

The verse you are asking about; Matthew 7:6, "Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine....." is undoubtley the most mis-quoted verse by CHRISTIANS in the N.T. (With the possible exception of Galations 6:7)

You see, if you look at the CONTEXT of the verse, it has NOTHING to do with EVANGELISM. Or witnessing to unbelievers.

It has EVERYTHING to do with Christians.

From verse 1 through verse 5, it is talking about Christians JUDGING other Christians. Verse 3 uses the word "brother", so, we know that it is talking about people that are in the Faith together.

Jesus is telling us that we all have sin in our lives and when we do not see our own sin, but insist in seeing the sin in our brothers lives, we become like the pharisees. i.e. that is "hypocrites".
The result of such behavior between believers is that it brings reproach to the cause of Christ. And when we bring reproach to the cause of Christ;

WE ARE GIVING WHAT IS HOLY TO DOGS, AND CASTING OUR PEARLS BEFORE SWINE.

In other words, WE are giving the Gospel a bad name.
WE are bringing SHAME to the Name of Jesus Christ.

If you keep on following the thought of the passage, you will see in verses 7-12 that Jesus gives us the SOLUTION to this "bickering and judgeing"

We are to seek God in prayer when we have disputes with our Brothers and Sisters.

In verse 7 we have the famous, "Ask, and it shall be given to you, Seek, and you shall find, Knock and it shall be opened to you."
Now everyone grabs onto this verse as a model for "petitionary" prayer. In actuality, it has NOTHING to do with that.

In CONTEXT, it is a prayer of REPENTANCE.

As Jesus points out in verses 9-11, if we being evil, know how to give good gifts to OUR children, how much more will God give us? (He is talking about God giving us GRACE when we pray in true repentance. Which is ALWAYS the GREATEST answer to ANY prayer.)

Jesus then sums the whole thing up, by paraphrasing the "Golden Rule" in verse 12.
The point being that if we HAD followed the "Golden Rule" in our relationships with our Brothers and Sisters in the Lord, we would not have been "bickering and judgeing" to begin with.

So you see;

The whole "Pearl before Swine" thing, has NOTHING to do with sharing the Gospel, or us having to make some kind of "arrogant" kind of Judgement of when an unsaved person is just being too "sinful", or too mocking, or to "undeserving"
to have the Gospel preached to them.

Remember, we were ALL underserving of hearing the Gospel before we were saved.

Well anyway Anna, thanks for asking the question, and letting me get this "off my chest". I've been wanting an opportunity to do so for a very long time.


....theBerean

Answer 2

You know, that is a really good question. I am often times reluctant to answer some of the questions that I do for that simple reason, but ultimately the person asking is not the only ones who will read the answers. Sometimes I feel led to answer one in the hope that just maybe one person reading will be drawn to the Word of God, or to buy a book and look deeper into a matter. At what exact point I can't say for sure on here because so many will be reading the answers. In life though, I think it is when a person tells you that they don't want to hear the truth. In such a case there is nothing more you can do but pray for the Holy Spirit to draw them. I hope this helps. I am looking forward to seeing all the responses you get to this question. God bless!!!

Answer 3

Good Question!

New Testament talks about those going out and preaching the gospel to all, and IF the message is not received to shake dust off feet and move on. Telling the good news of the gospel is evangelizing to me.

Now re pearls before swine! I see it as another issue.

Mat 7:6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

I do not see the above verse as evangelizing the gospel of Jesus Christ. On the one hand the gospel is for all to hear, and pearls on the other hand are treasures derived from intimate relationship with the Lord. They are personal one-on-one encounters that are precious to believers. If we cast those intimacies before those who are 'without' unwisely they will turn and tear at us and wound us. They cannot receive the pearls of the kingdom of God until they accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ. What God gives us that is holy very often needs to be kept to ourselves and only shared with those within to edify one another.

Just my view of pearls :)

Answer 4

Anna, I don't know the answer to that, but we do pray for those that persecute us. Some will not listen, some will after a significant even in their lives, some just realize the truth after lots and lots of patience. We have to remember that it is GOD who changes hearts and lives, not us. We only participate in the salvation process. His will is going to be carried out whether we persevere with someone or shake the dust from our feet.

Anna, I'd have to just say let the Holy Spirit guide you when it comes to how much is too much. God is glorified either way. Who knows, maybe it's the shaking of dust that gets them thinking about the Gospel message.

Answer 5

Before I answer this question, Please know I want to answer your last email, but I don't know if you wanted an answer or not.


Pearls before swine?

Basically this applies to ARGUEMENTS, especially in which neither party are going to change their mind, no matter how much proof is presented.

With all the miracles and truths Jesus presented to prove he was the Messiah.

Many Jews especially their Leaders still rejected those proofs.

Did Jesus stop preaching? No, but his main focus was not toward the Scribes and Pharisees, but to those who were spiritually hungering and thirsting for truth. (Matt 5:3)

One of the ploys Satan uses is to waste our time preaching to people so entrenched in false teachings that we may not meet the person just down the street who is signing and crying and praying for the truth.

Jesus said to walk away and wipe the dust off our feet when encountering such ones and search out those deserving.

Sorry I didn't provide the scriptures, I have to sign off of now.

edit --------

After reading some of the answers given, I still maintain my comment.

The Sermon on the Mount is written in Proverbial form. Below is just a short list starting with Chapter 6:19.

It goes from

19 “Stop storing up for yourselves treasures upon the earth,

20 Rather, store up for yourselves treasures in heaven,

22 “The lamp of the body is the eye.

24 “No one can slave for two masters;

25 “On this account I say to YOU: Stop being anxious

33 “Keep on, then, seeking first the kingdom and his righteousness,

7 “Stop judging that YOU may not be judged;

6 “Do not give what is holy to dogs, neither throw YOUR pearls before swine, that they may never trample them under their feet and turn around and rip YOU open.

7:1 “Keep on asking, and it will be given YOU; keep on seeking, and YOU will find; keep on knocking, and it will be opened to YOU.

12 “All things, therefore, that YOU want men to do to YOU, YOU also must likewise do to them;

13 “Go in through the narrow gate;

Normally I would argue very strongly for CONTEXT with the surrounding verses, but they go from judging to slaves, to prayer, to being anxious, to storing, etc.

The context you must apply for this verse is in the verse itself.

The reason it applies to holy things to non holy persons, is so that they don’t trample the holy things under their feet and even more dangerous verbally or physically attack you.

Answer 6

when the evangelizee says they are not interested, don't believe you, or make other indications of not understanding, not hearing, or of disinterest in what you are trying to say.

it usually becomes evident in the first few moments of conversation or early stages of the friendship.

and yes, Christians DO have non-Christians friends who are "swine".

swine...boy, that word just sounds terrible. maybe we can say "kittens" - no...because the kittens would love to play with the pearls and probably lose them. okay, maybe dogs? well, the dogs would probably just gobble the pearls up and poop them out, then turn around and eat them again...

i know, pearls before goldfish! that works because the goldfish would totally ignore the pearls, wouldn't touch them, wouldn't even mess with them in anyway.

Answer 7

Anna

Anytime you try and evangelize anyone that has turned a deaf ear to you and has made it abundantly clear they don't want your answer they just want to start something. It's why I stopped using scripture to the unbelievers here. They don't ask these questions to get a real response but only to stir up strife and hate.

Answer 8

That is a great question, Anna!

I'm beginning to think that Evangelizing becomes a matter of "pearls before swine" when someone or a group ends up creating a new "religion" out of pointing out the bad things in another's beliefs.

That is just going tit for tat rather than sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ and Him crucified and risen.

I used to have 2 books on a shelf in my living room. One book was written by a Christian denomination and the other was written by a pseudo-Christian organization. It sure seemed to me that those 2 books were in a constant cat fight none of which brings glory to God.

Maybe we should be asking ourselves How does this bring glory to God?

Edit: When I saw this question I wondered if you were asking based on Paul C's answer in this question
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AraI7SJV7cJJCsz.vohPddDty6IX?qid=20070618210007AAhbB2X

For His glory,
JOYfilled

Answer 9

You can share with all and Christ will use your seed to finish growing the person. Also, I agree with the person who said the scripture is about followers of Christ, but it is also how anyone who is a follower should act. Here are the scriptures:
“Do not judge, lest you be judged. “For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged. And with the same measure you use, it shall be measured to you. “And why do you look at the splinter in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the plank in your own eye? “Or how is it that you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the splinter out of your eye,’ and see, a plank is in your own eye? “Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you shall see clearly to remove the splinter out of your brother’s eye. “Do not give what is set-apart to the dogs, nor throw your pearls before the pigs, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you in pieces. “Ask and it shall be given to you, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you. “For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it shall be opened. “Or is there a man among you who, if his son asks for bread, shall give him a stone? “Or if he asks for a fish, shall he give him a snake? “If you then, being wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in the heavens give what is good to those who ask Him! “Therefore, whatever you wish men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Torah and the Prophets. [Mattithyahu(Matthew) 7:1-12 The Scriptures 1998+]

Answer 10

This is just an example of how the bible contradicts itself. At one moment, you are told to spread the gospel. At the next moment, you are told not to throw pearls before swine. How are you supposed to know the difference? Ridiculous if you ask me.

In other words, I can't contemplate an appropriate answer for you.