Respect Truth

“Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.” (Mt 7:6 AV)

 

The admonition here is not that hard to explain.  The comparison and application are extremely vivid.  We understand what is holy and we understand what a dog is.  When it comes to the pearl and swine, a great picture is drawn here.  Pearls are representative of great truth.  Sometimes, leading to eternal life.  We know what the swine is.  Why would someone cast a pearl to a swine?  They wouldn’t.  At least not on purpose.  According to one commentator, the common diet of swine at the time was peas and almonds.  How he knows that I do not know.  Swine also eat grain.  My wife has a few pearls.  If those pearls get mixed in with white peas or grain, they might be very hard to find.  The swine would not be able to discern the difference and would eat it anyway.  The thought is, truth is too valuable to neglect or treat lightly, casting it aside as not all that more valuable than falsehood.  If we treat truth like any other fact rather than a precious commodity to be sought out, internalized and used to benefit God, others, and ourselves, then we are casting it to the swine who couldn’t care less what they are eating.

All truth is precious.  But all truth may not have the exact same value.  Interestingly, Jesus uses the plural here.  In researching pearls, I discovered certain species of oysters can produce multiple pearls at the same time.  The Japanese Ayoka oyster typically produces around five pearls at a time.  Saltwater oysters only produce one to two.  However, it is not all that rare to find an oyster with more than one pearl inside.  An article in the New York Post dated last month speaks of a woman who opened an oyster and found a dozen pearls inside.  When the paper interviewed the cook, he mentioned he shucks about 2,500 a week and typically finds about two a week.  However, he did find an oyster with nine pearls.  Pictures are accompanying this story and the obvious cannot escape notice.  Those dozen pearls are all of different shapes and sizes.  Obviously, the larger ones will fetch more money.  The smaller ones, not so much.  But they all have some value.  And none should be discarded as common.  If the average find is two pearls per 2,500 oysters, then pearls are rare indeed regardless of their shape and size.

When we treat all insights or opinions as of equal value whether they be true or not, we cast it to the swine.  When we refuse to say something is true because it would offend those who believe a falsehood, we cast it to the swine.  When we do not commit truth to the soul that we might live to please the LORD, we cast it to the swine.  When we reduce truth to the philosophy of man, we cast it to the swine.  When we think we are the determiner of truth and that truth is not absolute whose origin is from God almighty, we cast it to the swine.  When we refuse to stand for truth, we cast it to the swine.  When we ignore truth and live according to our soul’s desire, we cast it to the swine.  When we do not commit truth to memory and treat it as a mere intellectual exercise, we cast it to the swine.  Any time we treat truth as disposable or something to serve our own purposes, we devalue it and cast it to the swine.  Truth is eternal.  Truth is not subjective.  It is something bestowed to us and we enjoy the privilege of learning and using it.  But just like the pearl, we did nothing to produce it.  All we did was discover it.  It does not come into existence because we created it nor does it continue because we nurture it.  Truth is the nature of God.  Truth should be treated with great respect and not subject the human whims and wishes.