Read Matthew 7:1-7

“⁶ Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.”

While Jesus is the most influential person in history, people today, and 2,000 years ago, chose to reject his message. Even when hearing directly from Jesus, some people are unwilling or unable to receive spiritual truth! Likewise, despite our deep desire to communicate God’s love to the world, we will encounter people who respond with disinterest, antagonism or even harm! Over-earnest Christians may be surprised to hear that the same Jesus who gave up His life for all humanity does not expect us to persist in conversations or relationships that are unproductive or harmful.

Taking Jesus’ example of a pig, it’s worth noting that Jesus’ point isn’t that we should treat people who reject Jesus as pigs. Rather, his point is that like a pig that chomps down a pearl, slop or steak without regard for its nutrition or value, some people devour God’s spiritual truths along with pop psychology and social media. In fact, they may even value God’s truths so poorly that they get angry with you for sharing them!

When we encounter people who are looking to “demolish” us or our message, we need to expect the outcome to endanger both ourselves and our message. In these instances, whether we are sharing the gospel or providing our best attempt at wise advice, we are best off engaging with them with dignity and saving our “pearls” for someone else who is willing to savour them.

This wisdom may not suit the over-earnest, soap-box Christians amongst us. However, it’s important to observe that Jesus didn’t chase people, they chased Him. While he calls us to take His message to the nations, he sees no need to subject ourselves to constant rejection and reproach. In fact, we see the practice of the earliest Christian missionaries (e.g. Paul in Acts 13:46; 18:6; 19:9) living out Jesus’ instruction. These Christians often simply moved on if their offer of Jesus’ gospel message was rejected! Likewise, we are called to be followers of Jesus not pushers of Jesus. There is no demand that we become over-earnest and unwisely persist with antagonistic or destructive people.

It may be that some people are explicitly called by God to minister to people who are particularly antagonistic. However, this seems to be the exception, not the rule. While a desire to be a heroic missionary is noble, most of our lives, and much of the need is in the neighbourhoods, cities and workplaces that ordinary people like us live in. The reality is that not everyone in our neighbourhood is interested in Jesus, so we should feel free to find the ones who are!

Are you wasting time on people who aren’t interested in God instead of those who are?