Be Careful Who Gets To Come Close

Jesus had 12.
Twelve friends.
And sometimes I have to remind myself of that.

And of the twelve, most were questionable.
Some he was closer to Him than others.
Some spoke ill of Him behind His back.
Some doubted Him.
Some were frightened by him.
And all were weak and undeserving.

But scripture tells us He chose to journey closely with only those 12.

In Matthew, chapter 7, we see 4 areas of wisdom being preached on by Jesus.  Wisdom in judging others, wisdom in prayer, wisdom in the “golden rule”, and this one, wisdom in not throwing pearls to pigs.

In all my years of bible reading, this one verse found on this subject has always interested me.  And truth be told, puzzled me a bit.

The passage in the words of Jesus says this, “Don’t waste what is holy on people who are unholy.  Don’t throw your pearls to pigs!  They will trample the pearls, then turn and attack you.”  (Matt 7:6, NLT)

It’s hard to think of others as “pigs.”  And even harder to believe Jesus used this kind of language when communicating to his weak listeners.

And one read of this might serve to give us an excuse to disregard the assignment of the Christ follower.  The call to, “…love your neighbor as yourself”  (James 2:8) and “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone.” (Mark 16:15) were still the orders of business.

They were for the 12, and they are for us too.
We cannot take this “mandate” by Jesus as approving blatant disobedience.

But there is a truth we are to cling to here.

The “swine” Jesus is referring to here (as the original text calls them), are the cynical, the greedy, and the unclean.  The unrighteous.  Perhaps the ones who thought themselves good, but were really stained by sin.

And to the Christian, there is a caution here.
There is wisdom we’re being imparted here.

To be careful how we share our experience of communion between our soul and the Savior with other people.
To be deliberate in who gets to prosper by way of our sacrifice with holy living and our intimate time of revelation with the Father.

Because some aspects of our private lives are meant as offering to those who would benefit from it’s teaching.  Everyone is entitled to experience resurrection power and a personal revival, but not everyone will take the gift of life you give them and handle it with the same amount of delicacy as you.
Some are gentle and considerate with the Word of God you’re giving when you share your heart with them, but there are other’s - like swine - that “trample it under their feet.”

The Greek word for “swine” is “choipos.”  They are considered the lowest, basest, and the most unclean of filthy stinking animals.  They are consumers who take at dinner time, and never consider to actively engage with much else.  My commentary calls them, “mindless, careless consumers.”

The pearls - that which is your precious, rare, and valuable commodity, whether it be your time, your knowledge, your prayers, your godly advice, are not to be “cast out” or “thrown to” pigs who are mindless, careless consumers.

Don’t misunderstand the call to reach those far from Him.  To be Jesus with skin on.  To share the Gospel.  To love all people regardless of spiritual condition.  But be warned - not by me, but by Jesus Himself - to be careful who gets to come close.