Don’t give what is holy to dogs or toss your pearls before pigs, or they will trample them under their feet, turn, and tear you to pieces.
Matthew 7:6 (CSB)
For five verses Jesus told us not to judge people harshly. Now He says something that sounds like the opposite, so let’s slow down with it.
First, the picture. In Jesus’ day a dog was not a pet. It was a wild, dirty animal in the street. A pig was unclean too. Now imagine handing something holy, or a valuable pearl, to animals like that. The pig steps on the pearl because it wanted food, not a jewel. The dog turns and bites the person who threw it.
Jesus’ point is that we need to be careful with holy things, like the good news about Him. Not everyone wants it. Some people only want to mock it and fight.
People get this part wrong, so hold on to it. The “dogs” are not a group of people we look down on or give up on. This is not about race, and it is not about people who simply have not believed yet. It is only about the person who has shown, again and again, that all he wants is to attack the things of God.
With a settled mocker, we are allowed to stop and step back. But never with relief, and never feeling better than them. Jesus Himself was mocked and torn apart, and He did not sneer. He cried over the city that refused Him (Luke 19:41), and He prayed for the people hurting Him: “Father, forgive them” (Luke 23:34). He is the treasure, the pearl worth more than everything (Matthew 13:46). We hold that treasure with care, and we grieve, we never gloat, over anyone who will not have it.