6 “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces. Matthew 7:6

The general application for this verse is simple: don’t give something of value to those who would profane it, which could easily turn into a rationalization for not evangelizing the lost. In fact, many have neglected going into “hostile” Muslim nations because of the fear that very very few would accept anyhow.

Perhaps a better example is this. While in Bible School a few of us would go out on Friday and Saturday nights into the streets of Chicago preaching and witnessing. One night a few of us went to a punk juice bar on the North Side. As we handed out tracts, Phil – now the current President of Pacific Garden Mission – decided he wanted to preach. As he preached, punkers would approach us, threaten us, and say quite a few vile things toward us. The enormous bouncers were polite but they too told us that no one was listening and they’d have to clean up the messes of the tracts on the sidewalk. I was getting quite nervous about the whole affair and even encouraged Phil to pack it up and head back to the dorms. The Word of God was preached that night. This was probably an example of throwing pearls before swine. Yes, punk rockers are in desperate need of God but given the hostile reception we received, they probably weren’t listening.

Side note. Later I asked Phil about the insults and threats he was receiving, whether he was nervous “Absolutely shaking in my shoes, but I knew I was legally in the right and the Gospel was preached.”

Often we can’t know someone’s reaction to the Gospel, though we might have a good idea. That’s why maintaining relationships with non-Believers is important.

We can’t know what someone’s thinking if….we don’t know what they’re thinking.