What if I had just fed them? (Matthew 7:6)

"Do not give what is holy to dogs; 

and do not throw your pearls before swine, 

or they will trample them under foot 

and turn 

and maul you."

Matthew 7:6

Maybe I am thinking about this too much.  But it raises several questions for me.

First of all, although dogs and pigs don't hold the same things as valuable that we do, they do know that food, water, and taking care of their young are important.  And if you have either a dog or a pig for a pet, you know that they are capable of forming emotional attachments with humans.  So is there a way to enter into a relationship with them, but perhaps one that doesn't throw them things that they don't understand?

When I was at Montreat years and years ago with kids who I was chaperoning from my youth group, we took an afternoon to wander around Black Mountain.  A man and his dog were standing in the parking lot of My Father's Pizza.  The dog was the biggest dog I have ever seen in my life (and I own a Great Dane).  It was white and fluffy and looked like a giant wolf.  I have never seen anything like it since - the man said it was a wolf hybrid.  All the kids ran over to the dog who stood stoically while allowing the kids to pet it.

While we oooed and awed over the dog, the man begin to tell us the story of the dog.  He said it showed up at his house as a young dog almost starving in the middle of winter.  It was already larger than most dogs.  And it was vicious - growling and snapping at the man.  The man was afraid the dog would die in the cold so he used food to coach it into his utility room.  Then he spent the whole night with the dog sitting in the utility room offering the dog bits of food and talking to him in gentle tones.  By morning he said the dog trusted him and never growled at him again.  The dog couldn't understand the man, but he could understand food - the dog learned that the man wanted to feed him - and eventually the dog was transformed from its original nature into a loving companion.

Is this true of how people enter into a relationship with God too?

If the man had started out by trying to speak commands to the dog, by trying to pet it, or trying to teach it to sit, he might not have had much success in getting the dog to the point where the dog bonded with him.  But he started out by meeting the dog's basic need for food.  The man didn't throw holy things at the dog or offer it pearls.  He met the dog right were he was.

I can think of times when I have tried to rush the process of extending God's invitation to others.  I've talked to them - too much - approach them with the gospel in a way that had no meaning to them - expecting things from them that God hadn't yet made possible.  I told them about theology that seemed absurd to them and promoted religious customs that had no meaning to them.  What if I had stopped placing the holy things and the valuable pearls before them - and just met them where they were?

What if I had just fed them?