Is it okay to talk about casting pearls before swine?

[candle glow]

In Matthew 7 Jesus gave instructions about not casting our pearls before swine.

In Christian forums in general, I've seen people reference this teaching to insult others and there are times when I've seen people use it to explain a genuine circumstance.

However, it seems there is not time when one can reference this verse and NOT offend someone, since no one likes to be referred to as swine.

And yet, it is a legitimate teaching from Jesus. That being the case, is it okay to reference this verse, knowing that it will probably offend some people, even if it is referenced accurately?

 

[OldStudent]

I would take that "proverb" as a piece of advice to be taken personally. It is in the class of "I'll bite my tongue." From that stance NOTHING gets said. Jesus is saying that there are times to hold silent - and that means silent. Because to say ANYTHING would be the wrong thing and add fuel to the fire. Much fire could be avoided knowing when to apply this advice.

 

[plmarquette]

work smart, not hard..... cast not hard won wisdom on people who do not listen

a servant to all, that might save some... work smart, relate, spend time preparing to minister, to edify, to encourage, or take ^^ to God ... hurting people, hurt people, and blow off the lost, hurting, and hungry ...

 

[Alithis]

when a person truly does not cast pearls .. you will never know it ,.. because they did not cast pearls

when a person does not cast insults - you will never know they did not do so ..

because they did not cast insults .
We are all in the process of being perfected

Praise God

 

[candle glow]

Everyone always feels insulted when someone suggests that pearls are being cast before them (the swine), but what about if the suggestion really does have evidence to back it up?

What about a situation where other people are looking on and watching, or where one person wants to communicate that another person is not listening or actively fighting against what the other people are sharing about Jesus?

 

[Alithis]

best that we do not give any importance to what others think lol

 

[candle glow]

I think it's good to point out when someone is saying good stuff (consistent with what Jesus taught) and when people are fighting against what Jesus taught.

I think that's why Jesus gave the teaching about not casting pearls before swine. It shouldn't be used to insult people, but then again, swine will always feel insulted when we correct them.

There just doesn't seem to be any gentle way to do it, and maybe that's part of the reason why Jesus didn't seem to be bothered about giving the teaching in the first place.

 

[trulyconverted]

It may mean that God's word cannot be spiritually discerned by the natural person. It reminds me that when I share the word that the unbeliever will probably not receive the good news for he cannot spiritually discern it, unless the Lord opens the person's heart. And that my part of it all is just to share the gospel and it is the Lord who saves, and not me to pressure the other person to accept by arguing which never really works.

 

[Juelrei]

In Matthew 7 Jesus gave instructions about not casting our pearls before swine.

In Christian forums in general, I've seen people reference this teaching to insult others and there are times when I've seen people use it to explain a genuine circumstance.

However, it seems there is not time when one can reference this verse and NOT offend someone, since no one likes to be referred to as swine.

And yet, it is a legitimate teaching from Jesus. That being the case, is it okay to reference this verse, knowing that it will probably offend some people, even if it is referenced accurately?

I think that Jesus himself cast his pearls before the swine of the pharisees quite often. As did every apostle have to do on occasion.

An accurate use of the verse is to anyone who is going to share God's word with someone. It's not an accurate use of the verse to quote it to someone who doesn't respond well to hearing God's word.

So the statement could be a warning to others that if they do cast their pearls.. as the sower sows the word.. then he must take care that the swine will likely rend the caster because of those pearls.

The person who uses the quote from Jesus in response to some hostile reaction.. are just poking the angry tyrannosaurus rex when they do.

 

[Spiritlight]

Its a great verse and comes right after the self check for judging others and the hypocrisy examples.

If your using it it means you passed the first 2 tests, your not a hypocrite and you are prepared to be judged for your judgements by god.

 

[Omena]

I didn't really feel that Jesus was casting his "pearls" before the pharisees, though I'm open to people sharing some examples where they feel He was. To me, the pearls are his teachings, and I seem to recall that in many places when the Pharisees were dishonestly asking Jesus a question about the law, he would rebuke them. His pearls were given to the followers and great multitudes of people who sincerely wanted to listen.

I think this is an important teaching from Jesus which is consistent with something Paul wrote to the Colossians and Ephesians-about not wasting (or redeeming) time. I think if we are trying over and over to convince someone to see something a certain way, we are wasting time, and there's a lot of people out there that we need to reach.

How it relates to this forum; well I think that there are a lot of people who come here and don't necessarily post anything. So I feel that sharing about the teachings of Jesus over and over here may not be a waste of time.

 

[Luke1433]

Interesting thread, and a lot of good posts. I like the thought that the instruction is primarily to disciples, and not to the swine. "Swine" is an inflammatory term (Was it any less inflammatory in Jesus' day?) and so just calling someone a swine because they are acting like a pig probably would not accomplish anything, and would more than likely make matters worse.

BUT... the things Jesus said about the Pharisees... hypocrites, blind leaders of the blind, vipers, white-washed sepulchres, etc.... was not really said to or for the benefit of the Pharisees themselves. It was said as an instruction to genuine believers... in a context where he is fairly obviously not addressing the swine/vipers, etc.

That seems to relate very well to this forum. I could well imagine that the moderators have to cut the cords on a lot of people who come to obviously make trouble (swine?) I don't think it takes much experience in religious circles to pick up that some so-called Christians are real pigs about trying to start arguments and about "rending" people with whom they disagree.

The original post alluded to that, in that even use of the word "swine" can be a form of "rending", and yet it should not stop us from being able to discuss how it can best be used.

I have just received a pm from someone who said that a thread was locked because of a post he made which used the word "swine". I will past the relevant part of the post below, to let people consider whether this was a case of him acting like a swine, or whether it was a case of him considering how the passage might actually apply to "some people". (Note that no one was named.)

The post: "I feel guilty for spending many hours trying to convince people of the teachings of Jesus, and in doing so I'm actually disobeying Jesus' teaching about not casting pearls before swine."

I think even the people who have stated on this thread that the instruction is not given so we can insult the particular "swine" have said that the passage is there for us to apply to ourselves. This poster was doing exactly that, i.e. considering whether he was guilty of responding in some reactionary way to some unnamed people who he felt were behaving poorly toward him.

 

[Spiritlight]

The question you should be asking is what are the pearls because that is the issue not the swine!

In Jesus day the pearls were a radical new teaching designed to free people from the restrictions of the law and the swine was an unclean animal a Jew could not touch and Jesus was calling the keepers of the law Swine. I would expect that would have been a very insulting term at that time.

Now in our modern day Jesus new radical teaching is well known so what is the modern day pearls?

The pearls these days are not a new teaching but might be ego and pride combined with an understanding of scripture based on personal preferences and denominational differences.

My slightly different theology vs your theology is not quite the same as a new teaching that will free mankind vs an institution trying to kill the teacher and the message.

The verse comes out mostly when ego and pride have been threatened.

 

[Luke1433]

Right question, Spiritlight, but I can't agree with your answer. I think the problems Jesus faced with religious leaders then are the same that he faces now, and the same goes for the unpopularity of his teachings then and the unpopularity of his teachings today.

At least we agree that his teachings were offensive to the religious leaders of his day; but I find that they continue to be offensive today. I see no church or denomination anywhere in the world that is teaching obedience to the teachings of Jesus in the Bible.

Jesus told a parable about the Pearl of Great Price, and how a man would be happy to give up everything that he has to get it, and then he told the multitudes (Luke 14:33) that if they would not give up everything they own, they cannot be his disciples (i.e. "Christians"). That is still offensive today.

 

[candle glow]

Hmm, it seems the issue of casting pearls is very similar to the parable of the sower, where the sower was casting seeds and the seeds feel on a variety of different grounds.

The seeds which feel on the path were stolen away by the birds, a bit like the pearls being trampled. The point is not to allow the message to be lost. We don't have to make it a personal issue to talk about swine, because the teaching was not given in relation to putting down the individual.

It was given in the context of salvaging the message in a situation where someone is trying to trample it or steal it away.

 

[RDKirk]

In Matthew 7 Jesus gave instructions about not casting our pearls before swine.

In Christian forums in general, I've seen people reference this teaching to insult others and there are times when I've seen people use it to explain a genuine circumstance.

However, it seems there is not time when one can reference this verse and NOT offend someone, since no one likes to be referred to as swine.

And yet, it is a legitimate teaching from Jesus. That being the case, is it okay to reference this verse, knowing that it will probably offend some people, even if it is referenced accurately?

The verse itself is a pearl. If you find yourself dealing with a pig, there is no point even casting that verse out to it. It's time to just tip your hat and turn to other pursuits.

The only reason one would cite that verse to someone else is merely as a caustic retort--there is no other reason.

 

[RDKirk]

It may mean that God's word cannot be spiritually discerned by the natural person. It reminds me that when I share the word that the unbeliever will probably not receive the good news for he cannot spiritually discern it, unless the Lord opens the person's heart. And that my part of it all is just to share the gospel and it is the Lord who saves, and not me to pressure the other person to accept by arguing which never really works.

This is all true and bears repeating.

 

[Alithis]

in all of the threads on the teachings of Jesus i have not seen any one fight against the teachings of Jesus


only people disagreeing about their present perception.

 

[Spiritlight]

Right question, Spiritlight, but I can't agree with your answer. I think the problems Jesus faced with religious leaders then are the same that he faces now, and the same goes for the unpopularity of his teachings then and the unpopularity of his teachings today.

At least we agree that his teachings were offensive to the religious leaders of his day; but I find that they continue to be offensive today. I see no church or denomination anywhere in the world that is teaching obedience to the teachings of Jesus in the Bible.

Thats cool you see it different because from that we can learn fron each other. I can only look at the world through my understanding of the bible and not from Gods perpective because I do not fully understand God and do not think like him, I just ask advice! Whatever he is doing with our churches I will just trust in. He has been doing a good job without my approval so far.

what is offensive amongst us christians discussing scripture nowdays? Is pride not involved in whipping that verse out to drop it in a post upon encountering disagreement? Love and humility accepts correction . Patience waits for learning in Gods timing or someones ability to change. Pride, ego and an inflated sense of self importance calls other christians and unbelievers swine. That is the pearl many times not the message.

You have to work out what is a greater treasure, your position on a topic or the love of christ demonstrated.

 

[Alithis]

Thats cool you see it different because from that we can learn fron each other. I can only look at the world through my understanding of the bible and not from Gods perpective because I do not fully understand God and do not think like him, I just ask advice! Whatever he is doing with our churches I will just trust in. He has been doing a good job without my approval so far.

what is offensive amongst us christians discussing scripture nowdays? Is pride not involved in whipping that verse out to drop it in a post upon encountering disagreement? Love and humility accepts correction . Patience waits for learning in Gods timing or someones ability to change. Pride, ego and an inflated sense of self importance calls other christians and unbelievers swine. That is the pearl many times not the message.

You have to work out what is a greater treasure, your position on a topic or the love of christ demonstrated.

you both enlighten me and rebuke me

and i am blessed in both - ty for that post