Do Not Give What Is Holy To Dogs

So this morning, we're going to be continuing in our study of the Sermon on the Mount, chapter 7. Last week, we studied verses 1 through 5, and we learned about making righteous judgments. And this week, we're going to be continuing in this talk about judgments. The passages last week and the passages this week are similar. Though last week, I started out by saying this is one of the most well-known passages of Scripture and often very abused. Do not judge is how it starts. This week, though, we come to a different passage. a different verse, one that has a very different flavor to it and one that is shocking to hear. There are times in Jesus' ministry where even his disciples said to him things like, who can bear that? Or, that's a difficult saying. And this is one of those passages. It's the sort of thing that seems to cut across the grain of our Christian sensibilities. We think, well, that can't be the right thing for a Christian to do or to think or to believe. And yet, these words came to us.

from the Holy Spirit, out of Jesus' mouth. And so they are the truth. And so my hope this morning is that God will help us to receive his word with gladness and to put it into practice in our own lives, helping us to know when to speak and when to be silent and what to say. Would you please stand now as we read the word of the Lord from Matthew 7, verse 6. This is the word of the Lord, and it is eternally true. Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine. For they will trample them under their feet and turn and tear you to pieces. This is the word of the Lord. You may be seated. Now the first issue we have to deal with is to pick up where we left off about making judgments. That this passage, like the one before it, requires us to make judgments. Last week, we learned that we should always be looking to ourselves and to our own sins before we consider passing judgments on one another.

We noted that it's very easy to see other people's sins. It's very easy to point them out. We get very bothered by them. We think they should just stop it. But when it comes to our own sins, we have a longer leash. There's more leniency in our own minds. They're not as bad as the sins of other people. And so Jesus exhorts us not to judge other people by a measure that we would not want to be judged by. He tells us to remove the beam from our own eye. the log, so that we might see clearly to take the speck out of our brothers. And so he tells us we're supposed to look to ourselves first. What are my sins? What are my failures? What are my faults? See to it that we're humble as we approach one another so that we're able to actually be a help. The whole point of the text preceding this is that we would be a help to our brothers and not a hindrance.

And it's very difficult to live in community with other people or in a household because you get close enough to them that you don't have any patience for their failures. And the truth is, they don't have any patience for yours either. And this causes a lot of conflict. And so Jesus tells us last week, deal with your own sin. Approach your brothers in humility with some understanding of the fact that they are sinners like you. Don't forget that fact. That was the exhortation last week. This week, Jesus goes on to tell us another lesson about making judgments. He tells us that we have to be discerning in what we say and if we speak to people. In essence, when he says, don't give what is holy to dogs, he's telling us that there are times when you are not to speak to people because they are, as he calls them, dogs or swine, pigs.

And that's the sticky part of this passage, is that we would be making judgments about somebody else, that we would say, I am not going to speak to you because of your character, because you are a liar, because you're a deceiver, because you are a pig. It just doesn't feel like something Christians should do, does it? It seems unloving or uncharitable to think such a thing, let alone act on it. And yet Jesus tells us here that we're not to give. what is holy to dogs or not to throw our pearls before swine. And so it requires us to make judgments about people. And not all of our judgments will end up being charitable or becoming. I think in other places, if we weren't talking about this as being said by God, I think we'd be much more willing to accept the message. If I were a self-help guru and I came to you and I was going to talk to you about how to have healthy relationships and I were to say, some people are toxic.

And you should stay away from them, right? They are going to drag you down. And it's not going to be good for you or for the things that you have going on. It's not going to help you be mentally stable. We would hear the message, wouldn't we? We'd say, yes, that's a good message. I shouldn't talk to people who are bad for me. Why is it that we would accept it without reservation if a psychologist told us? But when Jesus tells us to do basically the same thing, we're like, well, I can't do that. I'm a Christian. Isn't that weird? That if we just change it just a little bit, our disposition toward it is so different. And I think that's because we've learned through the pressures that we have felt that Christians are not supposed to make judgments. You're just not allowed to make judgments. And last week, even Jesus warned us. He's like, you know, there's a real danger in you making judgments.

And we go, yeah, yeah, I know, I know. And then we come to this passage and he's like, you have to make judgments. For you to fail at this is for you to be unfaithful. If you refuse to make judgments about people, you're not doing your job. You're not being a faithful Christian. You're not loving Jesus. Doesn't that feel weird to say that if you won't make judgments about people, like if we were going to put this up somewhere and this could be the tagline, you're failing to love Jesus if you don't make judgments about people. Can you imagine the kind of hate mail we would get?

We are to make judgments. And the fact is, we make them anyway, don't we? We do make judgments. And so part of my work this morning is to say, you're supposed to. Knowing that you'll make judgments and you'll fail sometimes. You'll make the wrong judgment. You'll speak when you shouldn't. You'll be silent when you shouldn't. You'll not make perfect judgments. You will not always see it just the way it is. You will screw this up. And yet, this is our work, is to make judgments. Not every person that you talk to is the same and you shouldn't approach them the same way. If you were a salesman or if you were to go to salesman training for salesmen, what is one of the things they would immediately talk to you about in terms of making sales? They would tell you very quickly to connect with the person you're talking to. Find out what is important to them. Figure out what's going on. This is when the bug control guy or the...

Camera system guy who shows up at your house when he knocks on your door, that's what he's doing. He's trying to figure out how to connect with you very quickly. He's been taught a script. What do you care about? What's important to you? At our house, as soon as they come to our door and they see there's half a dozen kids standing, who's that, daddy? They go, kids, safety's going to be important to these people. And immediately they start talking about safety. They're taught to read us, right? That's their job. I'm telling you that's what they're taught to do. And we say that's necessary for a salesman to be able to read his client, to be able to make quick judgments about what's important to them, what they want, what will end the conversation. And so they do it. But what about Christians? Can we do it? Should we make judgments about people? Should we be paying attention? Or should we just accept everybody as though they're all the same and they all have good intentions and no one's mean and no one's bad and there's never anything?

Untoward, going on. No, that would be foolish. That would be foolish. We should be thinking about the person we're talking to as we talk to them, and we should be working hard to figure out how to speak to them and what to say to them. Meaning, if you were talking to two different people about the same subject, you would have two different conversations with them. You would speak about different things. In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul said to the Corinthians, he says, I am free from all men, though I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more. He's talking about going to them, taking preaching to them. And he says, this is what I did. I studied them. I knew what they were like, and I became like them so that I could win them to the truth. To the Jew, I became as a Jew so that I might win Jews. And to those who are under the law, as under the law, though not myself being under the law, so that I might win those under the law. And to those without the law,

as without the law, though not being without the law of God, but under the law of Christ, so that I might win those who are without the law. And to the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become. a fellow partaker of it. And so what is Paul doing? What does that passage teach us very practically about what Paul does as he's out ministering, as he's out evangelizing, as he's out on his missionary journeys? He's constantly making judgments about the people he's talking to. Who are they? What are they like? How can I best speak to them or minister to them or call them to faith in Jesus Christ? And he has completely different messages for different people. The things he says to the Jews are not the things he should say to those who are without the law. He says, I became

a slave to all. I have become all things to all men. This is him making judgments as he's interacting with people. And we look in that context and we say, well, that's good. Did Paul ever have a difficult thing to say to somebody? Yeah. He's forever getting chased out of the city, hiding in baskets, being lowered down, being scurried out by night because they wanted to kill him. And so the fruit of him saying this, it sounds nice when he says it here in the Corinthians. You have to be very careful about what we just superimpose onto the scripture, that when we read, he became all things to all men, that he somehow was just saying everything everyone wanted to hear. But the result of his ministry was that city after city after city, they wanted to kill him. And that city after city after city, he would go to the synagogues, he'd get kicked out of the synagogues, and then he'd go to the Gentiles. Eventually, he got so sick of the Jews that he said, I'm done with you, I'm going to the Gentiles entirely. That's a judgment, isn't it?

You guys are so hard-hearted. You're so wicked. You're so unreceptive. You're such pigs. Which would have been quite a jab at Jews. Because pigs were unclean, right? So to call them a pig would have been really, really offensive. And Jesus here is talking about pigs. And so Paul says to them, I'm done with you guys. I'm done with you guys. I'm going to the Gentiles. That's a judgment. And an appropriate one. And so if we fail to use discretion, if we are unaware of the people we're talking to, then we can't obey this passage. It can never be meaningfully expressed in our lives because we are blinding ourselves to what's going on. If you were to read the Gospels and pay attention to how Jesus speaks, you'd find that there's basically two ways Jesus speaks. There's the way he speaks to sinners, which is very tender, which is very kind, which is very gracious.

which is very inviting. And then there's a way he talks to the Pharisees. And it's not at all the same. Why does he speak differently to them? Is he trying to incite the Pharisees? Is he trying to make them upset? Is he going out of his way to upset them? No, it's because he knows what type of men they are. And he speaks to them accordingly. He said to Nicodemus at the beginning, how are you a teacher of the law and you don't know these things? So we have to be willing to make judgments. We have to be willing to enter into the process. Realizing that our judgments will not always be right. That's part of it. In our text, there are a few things we have to define. The first is, what is holy or what the pearls are? And the second is, what are the dogs or the swine? First, what is holy? He says, don't give what is holy to dogs or don't throw your pearls before swine. What are these things of value and beauty that we're to keep to ourselves? Well, it's not one specific thing. It is generally the truth of God. And this is another...

A place where it only gets harder to understand this passage because he's telling you there are times and there are people that you should withhold the word of God from because of what they'll do with it, what their response will be to it. There are times when it's unwise to speak at all. And those times are determined by who you're talking to. Do you remember what the scripture says about why Jesus spoke in parables? Why did Jesus speak in parables? So that they wouldn't understand. Otherwise... They would repent and believe. Another one of those passages where you're like, whoa! Like, he wants them to go to hell? And it's like, apparently, there are people that he intends and ordains to go to hell. And he speaks to them in such a way as to ensure that they go to hell. Now, I'm not saying that we're Jesus or that we are omniscient or that we are all-knowing or any of that. But I am saying that he spoke on purpose in a way that people would not understand, that some people would not understand.

When Jesus stood trial, he sort of got passed back and forth between Pilate and Herod. When Herod questioned him, I'm sorry, when Pilate first questioned him, he answered Pilate. Pilate said, are you the king of the Jews? That's the accusation. Are you the king of the Jews? And what did he say? It is as you say. He answered him. And Pilate's response was to say, I find no guilt in this man. But the Jews aren't satisfied, and so Pilate shuffles Jesus across to Herod. So Jesus goes before Herod and he questions him at length. And Jesus refuses to answer Herod a word. Simply refuses to answer him. Why? Well, because the scripture tells us that Herod and his men mocked Jesus and treated him with contempt. And so that is the reason Jesus refused to speak to Herod. Because of the character of the man. So then Herod pushes him back and sends him back to Pilate. Where Pilate again washes his hands and says, you see to it yourselves.

And he gives his guards to go along. So why did Jesus speak to Pilate but not to Herod? Well, because Pilate, how do we say it? What do we say about the man who could have saved Jesus and didn't? Pilate was more sincere, more honest, perhaps more humble in finding no guilt with Jesus than Herod was, who was a mocker. And so Jesus spoke to one and not to the other. That it's not in any way to say what Pilate did was right or acceptable or good. But even in that intense situation, Jesus was making judgments about the type of men that he was dealing with, speaking to one and refusing the other. And also in Proverbs, it tells us not to answer a fool according to his folly, unless you want to become like them. So you think of when would that proverb apply? It would apply when someone's running their mouth and saying stupid stuff, lies, mockery.

Just something where you just want to be like, no. But in the process of them talking, you're like, you know, I think they're a fool. I think they're so far off base. I think they're talking out of the side of their neck so much that for me to answer and engage with what they're saying would make me a fool too. And so what am I to do? I'm to be silent. I'm not to speak to them about this. And so there are times when God's wisdom and his truth His holy word or these pearls are to be kept from people, where silence is the thing that Christians ought to do. It seems uncomfortable and an uncharitable thing to do, but it is exactly what Jesus is telling us. Now, I'll warn you, it's very easy to take Scripture and twist it into something it doesn't mean. What I'm not saying here is that you should never speak the truth or that you should use this passage as a way of...

Never having to say something difficult, hard, or costly. I'm only saying it to tell you there are times when you ought not to speak. There are times. This verse is not teaching us never to speak, but to be discerning about who we speak to and what we say. So who are we not to speak to? In the passage, he calls them dogs or pigs. Both of these are derogatory terms. They're the ones that we should not speak to. So is a dog or a pig just a normal, like, unbeliever? No. It's not someone who's a normal unbeliever, but perhaps someone who's a notorious sinner, someone who's a mocker, someone that has the character or the reputation of hating God and running their mouth and blaspheming and being a liar, where you know that anything you say to them is going to be taken out of context, twisted, chopped up, and spewed back out as venom or poison. Again, if we went back to the self-help guru, it's the toxic person.

Don't talk to them. We say, okay, I won't talk to them. They're going to want to talk to you. Yeah, but you need to not do it. You need to have boundaries. You need to not speak to them. What if they want to speak to me? Wouldn't that be rude? They're a problem. Don't talk to them. Walk away. Make new friends. And so if we hear it there, we should be willing to hear it here. There are people that you don't want to talk to because you know how filthy and how vile and how wicked they are. Isn't that true? Maybe they're in your family. Maybe you've got extended family. You're like, man, I hope he doesn't come to Thanksgiving because I don't want to talk to him. Like he's just got a foul mouth. I don't want my kids around him. I don't want that. I don't want to be in the presence of that. We all have these impulses, but we're taught as Christians, you're not allowed to act on them or acknowledge them. And all I'm saying to you is God gave you those impulses. There are some people that you should get away from because they're going to take whatever you have to say.

and twist it and accuse you and blaspheme against God. You can simply refuse to speak to them. Here's the thing about speaking. No one can make you speak. They can incite you to speak. They can tempt you to speak. They can provoke you to speak, but no one can make words come out of your mouth. That is something you do. You do realize that. You actually are in 100% control of everything that comes out of your mouth. So you can be like, well, they won't leave me alone. And I'm like, well, You don't have to speak to them. They'll just keep, well, then leave. Well, then get away from them. You are capable of doing what Jesus is saying here. And so isn't it true that when we speak to the fool, when we open our mouths, it's not because we didn't have any other choice. And it's not because we thought, well, they need to know the truth. There are some people who have despised the truth in such a way as to not have it presented to them anymore. There's nothing more that can be said. There are times in our work as elders,

Where we say, you know, you always feel like, well, if you could just go one more time, just one more meeting, just again. And we all look at each other and we strengthen the knees that are weak and we say, there's nothing more to be said. You've said it. He's said it. Our wife has said it. There's nothing more to be said. The problem is not with the saying. The problem is with the reception. We're done saying. And when we make that judgment, it's a sad day. Because whatever the thing is we want to say, we have to own up to the fact that it's not been received. It's not been heard. And that the trouble or the danger that we're warning against is going to take root and continue to grow. But we are actually choosing to withdraw because there's no response. Actually, that's not true. There is a response. This passage tells us there's a response. And what is the response?

that they will trample the words under their feet and they will turn around and tear you to pieces. And so if you can think of conversations or people where that is the response, they turn on you. Whenever you speak, it's just like all of a sudden comes the fight and the fury. Probably ought not speak to them anymore on that topic. But if I don't speak to them, they'll continue blaspheming. You're right. And if I can tell you, you're not God, or their judge. And that, in the end, is not your problem. Now, this description of a dog or a pig, is it a permanent judgment? No. You ever tried to talk to a drunk when they're drunk? It's a waste of time. No matter how mad you are or sad or anything, whatever you got going on when they're drunk, they just need to go to bed. That's it. Just put them in bed. You can have the conversation perhaps later when they're sober, but when they're drunk, you can't talk to them.

There's nothing to be said at that time because of the condition that they're in. Have you ever been in a conversation where someone got so upset, you're just like, this is not going anywhere. A good thing to do is to stop talking and let things calm down until we're able to have meaningful conversation again. These would be some practical outworkings of this. There are times when the condition of the person or the intensity of the situation, it's like, we need to just stop. We need to stop. I'm not saying we can never talk about it. I'm not saying that this is my settled judgment forever. I'm just saying now is not the time. There are times when our elders have made that judgment, as I've mentioned earlier, and said, we're done. We're in God's providence. In the future, the person comes back to us, and they're different. They're not what they were before, and so what do we do? Too bad you screwed it up before. Go find a different church. They're different.

And so we respond differently to them. We re-engage. And so this idea that we would, making judgments about people, I'll never speak to them again, I'll never talk to them, they're this way and they're that, is not faithful either. We ought to be always checking to see who we're talking to, what we're dealing with, where things are at, and what would be appropriate to say. When I was going into ministry, Pastor Bailey said something to us as a class. that stuck with me. And he said, you know, guys, you have to be careful who you minister to. It was really weird to comment, to make, right? You're going into ministry, you're like, I'm supposed to minister to everybody. And he said, you have to be careful who you minister to and what you say. Always keep a watch over what you say to people. And don't say, make a habit of not saying everything that you think.

And the reason he said this was because he was talking about counseling when things get tense or difficult in conversations. And he says, what you want to do is you want to see people coming toward the counsel, toward you, being receptive. Because if you just make a habit of just saying everything you think all the time, you're going to get ripped to pieces. And the accusations that are going to come and the harm and the heartache for you and your family, be careful what you have to say. And then what he said was, What people don't realize and have to realize is that having a pastor is something of value, and we are doing something that is not required of us. It's a gift. Children are what? They're a gift from the Lord. What is a wife? What is a husband to you when God gives you a husband or a wife? It's a gift. God gives us gifts. He doesn't have to give us gifts. He chooses to give us gifts. And then he tells us,

to be good stewards of the things that he gives to us. And so as we're interacting with people, as we're talking to them, as we're ministering to them, as we're loving them, as we're being Christians toward them, we should also be taking into account what they're doing with what is said. I have a habit, if I'm in counseling with someone and I say, hey, we're talking, whatever the problem is, and I say, you need to, you know, okay, here's the thing you should do, whatever the directive is. And it's usually pretty simple. This is what you need to do. You need to have devotions five times this week. You need to fill out this questionnaire. You need to read that chapter of the book. Whatever the thing is, if they don't do it, I go to my next counseling session. There was one time Vanessa and I went to a counseling session and the person we were counseling, they didn't want to do the reading that I was assigning to them. And I was getting frustrated.

You understand? You get frustrated, you make your time, you go, and then they didn't do the reading. We did the reading. They didn't do the reading. And I told her, I said, I'm just going to tell you, the next time they don't do the reading, I'm just getting up in the counseling session, I'm going to pray for them, I'm ending it, and we're leaving. She's like, that's going to be really offensive to them. And I said, I'm not trying to offend them, but I am trying to tell them that my time is valuable. And that if I'm putting more time and effort into your counseling than you are, then I refuse. Now that's mean, isn't it?

We're all sitting here thinking, well, that's mean. Am I saying that that person is a dog? No. Am I saying I will never speak to them or go to the counseling again? No. What I said to them in that session is I said, here's what I know. I know you had this evening blocked out for counseling. I also know you didn't prepare for counseling. So I know you don't have anything to do for the next two hours. So do the homework that we gave you, and we'll come back next week. And I prayed, we said goodbye, and we left. And you know what they never did again?

They never failed to do their reading. And so there's a lot of wisdom in what Jesus is teaching us here. It requires wisdom to understand it. It requires that God's truth is a gift that he's given to us and that it shouldn't just be given to people who will squander it and make no use of it. And that we are his ambassadors. We are discerning. If you don't have discretion, you'll still get a bad response. And so this idea that you just need to love them more, you just need to do a better job. is only sometimes the answer. Sometimes it is the answer. Sometimes people get nasty with you because you didn't love them. You didn't speak to them well. You provoked them. And if you do that, then you get what you deserve. What happens if you grab a dog by the muzzle? What's going to happen? It's going to bite you. And it's not because it's a mean dog. It's because you grabbed it by its muzzle. There will be times when there will be people, especially the ones you shouldn't talk to, who will provoke you to speak.

who will try to get you to speak, who will incite you. Why won't you tell me? Why won't you speak to me? Why won't you talk to me? And you'll have this verse roll around in your head. It'll pop up. Shouldn't we be ready to give an account for the hope that's within us? Yes, you should be ready to give an account. And then you should decide whether now is the time and the place to give it. Was Jesus silent before Herod because he didn't have anything to say? He was like, oh man, I don't know how to answer that question. No, he chose to be silent. None of us enjoy the fallout of...

Miserable conversations. None of us enjoy being mocked or ridiculed or shamed because of our love for Jesus. It hurts. And so Jesus warns us with some self-interest in mind by telling us they will trample the truth under their feet and they'll turn and tear you to pieces. It's a warning. Have you ever thought of having a conversation with somebody and you just go, I don't want to do that. I know how they're going to respond. I just know that they're going to tear my head off. What Jesus says here is that's exactly right. And if you have the clarity of mind to know that that's probably what's going to happen, then you should take that into account in terms of whether you're going to have a conversation with them. Wicked men don't respond well to the truth. They spit on it because they have no regard for it. And when they spit on it, and when they have no regard for it, and when it incites them to...

and vileness and wickedness of all kinds of sorts, you need to realize that God's word is accomplishing the purpose for which he sent it, which is to harden their hearts and increase their judgments or his judgment against them. And so we should be mindful of who we're talking to. What is the best way to speak to them? What is the best way to minister to them? How do I love them? And if after a sincere question and prayer, and counsel about how do I approach the situation, if the answer is, I don't think that's a good way to go, then we should simply say, I'm just not going to do that. I'm just not going to have the conversation. But they won't understand. That's true. But it's not your fault. It's not your fault if wicked men don't understand the truth. The Scripture tells us that the truth is spiritually appraised. 1 Corinthians 2.14 says, The natural man does not accept the things.

of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him. And he cannot understand them because they're spiritually appraised. Now, as I've preached this whole time, I thought, man, I'm telling all these young people to be more judgmental. And I feel as though I need to say something about that. Because many of you are already inclined to judge people, be judgy, to turn people away, to not speak to them, to be harsh, to be blind in your unaware of your own sin. And this sermon's not meant to be a commendation of your immaturity or your weakness. It's not meant to pour gas on the fire of your foolishness. And so we live in this tension where we have to figure out how to love sinners who will cause suffering in our lives and work. You think of the life of Jesus. He's always speaking. He's always ministering. You think of Paul.

and all of the work he did. And you think, well, was Paul wrong because he was always getting chased out of cities and people always wanted to kill him? Did Jesus not do this right? Did he not take his own advice? And the answer is no. And so this sermon is not meant to tell you avoid suffering at all costs. If someone's not going to receive it well, then don't say it at all. That's actually not what I'm saying. As someone with some experience, and probably not the most experience in this room with this type of issue, what I mean to say is you'll know this person when you see this person.

you'll have had rounds conversing with them. And you'll be able to say without anger or frustration or pride, this is a fruitless endeavor. It's not born any fruit. We should not be applying this sort of scripture necessarily to people we've never met. It's really easy to look at people who are simply different than you. Older, younger, different socioeconomics, different color of the skin. and be like, oh, well, they're the people that know. That's not what this passage is teaching us. This passage requires that you have some knowledge of a person, that you would be making these judgments about individuals and not necessarily groups of people, and that your judgment about an individual would be after some personal experience with them where you've gone, this hasn't gone well. We've been to family vacation the last five years, and we always end up in a fight, and my wife's sick of it.

And so maybe this year we'll take a different approach. Or with a coworker that you've been talking to. You've been making effort to love. You've been trying to speak the truth to. And you just realize they're not interested. And their lack of interest is not benign. It's cancerous. It's harmful. So we're not going to do this anymore. Do you have to tell people that you're not going to talk to them anymore about a topic? You can tell them or you can wait. until it happens and then not tell them. They'll figure it out. They'll get upset about it. That's part of it. I'm sorry it's part of it, but it is part of it. There's a real danger in ignoring Jesus' counsel here. And it's that when we suffer, we're not far away from accusing God for our suffering. The best of us are not that far away from accusing God when we suffer. And so we would be foolish to invite suffering into our lives and not take into account how likely it is that

We'll get angry at God because of the way some sinner treated us, as though we were compelled to do this thing. If you think it's not the time or the place or the person, then don't speak. That's the counsel. That's the instruction. That's the warning from this passage. Just because you're a Christian doesn't mean you should have no discernment, that you should not make judgments. You should realize that you need to make judgments and that they will be costly. The podcast that our church is starting, we wanted to name it The One-Eyed Man, but that name is taken by a self-help guy. There's an old saying from G.K. Chesterton that says, in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king. And so we thought, well, that's a good title. Not that whole big thing, but some part of it. But we can't use the one-eyed man. So then I thought, well, we'll use the one-eyed king. But then I felt weird because I'm the one who's supposed to be talking, and I don't want to be.

That to be the title of the podcast. And then I thought, well, maybe we'll title it In the Land of the Blind, where we never make judgments, where we can't see what's right in front of our faces. Or we can see it, and we think that because we're Christians, we're obligated not to see it. It shouldn't be that way. It shouldn't be that way with us. We should love sinners, and we should realize that that love sometimes is going to require us to withdraw our conversation because of their behavior and to remove the truth from them. I'll end with this. As I was reading, Martin Lloyd-Jones on this passage. At the end, he says, I just have this question. I don't know if it's right. Maybe I'm too extreme. And Martin Lloyd-Jones was a royal physician before he was a doctor, and he's very analytical. And he says, you know, what I wonder is if we haven't failed by making Bibles accessible to everybody. Because there's so many wicked men who are going to take the Scripture and twist it. He says, no one's ever come to faith without having someone disciple them and teach them what the Scripture says. And like your Reformation bones should be like,

you know, like no inside of you, like everyone should have the scripture. And he's like, but you have to realize what people do with it. And I don't know what we should do, but we all, I think at the very least, all he was saying is we need to be discerning about who we speak to and what we say to them and not, and not feel like that we are always having to say every word to every person. And that was helpful to me. So I thought I'd pass it along to you. Let's pray.