“Don’t Throw Your Pearls Before Swine”

A hard saying that has become too relevant

This coming Sunday happens to be St. Matthew’s Day. So I’m intending that a study group I lead discuss various ways the Gospel of St. Matthew has different emphases from the other three Gospels. If my group does the homework I assigned them, each will share a different emphasis he notices.

So I was wondering what emphasis from St. Matthew’s Gospel I should present. Matthew mentioning again and again fulfilled prophesy? The Great Commission? St. Joseph’s decision concerning Mary? And there are several others to choose from. Which to pick?

Then came the assassination of Charlie Kirk and the ugly celebrations of it from far too many. And I soon knew which to pick.

All four of the Gospels have their share of Jesus’ hard sayings. But it seemed as I read that Matthew presents more of the really hard ones. And this past week one stood out to me that is only found in his Gospel:

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. (Matt. 7:6 NASB 95)

Wow! Did Jesus say something that mean? Yes, he did. And this past week we got an awful reality check on why he said such a thing.

Jesus loved people and made himself available to them and shared the Good News of God’s love for them. Yet he saw that some are so stubborn in their evil that it is best to avoid them. This is reflected in his later instructions to his disciples:

Whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet. Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city….But whenever they persecute you in one city, flee to the next; for truly I say to you, you will not finish going through the cities of Israel until the Son of Man comes. (Matt. 10:14, 15, 23)

So in part it is a matter of priorities. It is usually wiser to reach out to people who will receive you and your message than to persist with people who hate Christians, hate you and might harm you. Yes, some are called to persist and become martyrs, but not most.

And Jesus was explicit about the possibility of harm. One reason we don’t “throw pearls before swine” is they may not only “trample them under their feet” but also “turn and tear you to pieces.” And that certainly seems to be more so in this country today than 20 years ago.

This past week we found how who a lot of the swine are, those who blamed Kirk for the assassination or even openly rejoiced in it. Now I do think it would be an interpretational error to say Jesus commands we cut off contact with all of them. Although Jesus prioritized those who would listen to him, such as Nicodemus in John 3 or the Samaritan adulterous woman in John 4, he remained available to those who eventually killed him. But certainly we should exercise wisdom in who we invest time in as Jesus instructed in Matthew 10.

Whether we cut off ourselves off from families and close friends who are so awful as to rejoice in Kirk’s murder is a difficult choice, and I have no one-size-fits-all solution to that. I know that a family member and I had an unwritten rule for years that we don’t discuss politics. And that helped us to get along well. (Happily, he has gotten red-pilled enough that we can now have amicable political discussions. And to my knowledge he did not rejoice in the murder of Kirk. He’s never been that sort anyway.)

But in almost all cases outside of close friends or family, I’m with Rod Dreher: “If I find that anybody in my life cheered on, or is cheering on, Kirk’s murder, they’re now out of my life.” As much as reasonably possible, I want nothing to do with such people. Yes, I’ve blocked a number of people in recent days.

One may ask, shouldn’t we remain available for the purposes of witness? Well, I don’t think Jesus prohibits that although his normal advice is to move on as we saw above. But St. Paul taught that people can go so far into evil that God gives them over to it. (Romans 1:28). And Paul commanded that the church in Corinth shun a man in profound sexual sin. (I Corinth. 5) And Jesus wants us to at least count the cost and take the danger into account if we allow profoundly evil people to remain in our lives.

My opinion, particularly during this time when so many evil people so openly rejoice in the death of faithful Christians, is that the usual best course is to avoid such people. We should reserve ourselves and our time for those more open to what is right and true. And there is nothing wrong with defending ourselves and our families by avoiding the worst among us.

We should also cut some slack to those of good will who comment anonymously online. I used to be one of them and may become one of them again. When so many not only call good evil and evil good, but also want the good dead, I am fine with those who speak the truth in love under a pseudonym.

When Jesus said, “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine,” as hard as that may be to hear, he wasn’t being mean. He was being wise. And he was giving loving guidance to us who now find ourselves all the more “sheep in the midst of wolves.” (Matt. 10:16)