Dogs and Pigs

Dogs and Pigs

Our verse for consideration is this: “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.” (Matthew 7:6 NAS95). These are words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, and they sound a bit judgmental, immediately following, as they do, verses that warn against being judgmental.

But guarding against judgmentalism is not to say that we should not be wise and discerning. And we should know that dogs and pigs are not going to make good use of what is holy and precious.

Now, of course, I’m not talking about your pet dog or pig. Jesus is referring to dogs and pigs in His day. Dogs were not house pets, but were scavengers and travelled in packs. They could be dangerous, as indicated from Psalm 22:16 “For dogs have surrounded me; A band of evildoers has encompassed me.” Pigs could be dangerous, I suppose, but their chief offense would be their uncleanness. You can scrub up a pig, but it will return to the mire straightaway. And Old Testament law prohibited contact with pigs as unclean.

So we are not to desecrate what is holy by throwing it to the dogs, nor to waste what is precious by allowing pigs to root around in it. But to what does this apply? I think it must be the Gospel.

That presents a bit of a problem, because Jesus said that we are to sow the Gospel (using a different metaphor) indiscriminately. Whether it falls on the roadway, or on rocky soil, or amongst thorns, or on good soil, our job is to chuck seed and let God be in charge of the increase. How do we solve this apparent contradiction?

We are to share the Gospel freely and widely and lovingly. Our mindset is not how we should refrain from sharing, but in how we may find opportunity to share the Gospel. And yet we do so watching and praying for the hungry heart - for the person who is seeking to know God and to be set right with Him.

Think of Jesus talking with Nicodemus, a religious ruler who came to Jesus by night. He might have been testing Jesus. He may have been cynical. But he came asking, “how can a man enter the kingdom of God?”, and Jesus was glad to answer his question (John 3). In the next chapter Jesus talks to the broken woman at the well, disappointed by men, and rejected by the women of the village. Jesus regarded neither one as either a dog or a pig. He saw them as people with hungry hearts, and they responded accordingly.

But there are those with hard rather than hungry hearts. They are the ungodly, the sinners, and the scornful of Psalm 1:1.They are like the judge in Luke 18 “who did not fear God or respect men.” They are the enemies who took David’s men ad cut off half their beards and bared their backsides in order to humiliate them. They are like the religious leaders of Jesus day who were more concerned with impressing people than with being right with God. There is nothing more doggy or piggy than self-righteousness, and to lay out the Gospel patiently and clearly with this kind of people is not only to see this precious truth trampled, but also to invite them to tear you to pieces as well.

But let’s be clear. That is exactly what Jesus did. He shared the Gospel, even with these type of people, and turn on Him they did. They turned on Him and tore Him to pieces. And He did this in order that we - you and me, could be saved from our own doggishness and piggishness. And the power of God’s grace is such that it can take dogs and pigs and turn us into those who gradually look more and more like Jesus.