One of the most important things we do as Christians is preach the gospel to the lost.  Jesus called us to be fishers of men, and we are all obligated to fulfill that calling.  In Matthew 28:19, Jesus gave us our marching orders.

Matthew 28:19 (ESV)
¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

While this is a divine directive that we all must follow to be faithful to Jesus, we do need to preach the gospel with some discernment.  In “The Sermon on the Mount,” Jesus gave us these instructions.

Matthew 7:6 (ESV)
⁶ “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls before pigs, lest they trample them underfoot and turn to attack you.

In these proverbial statements, Jesus is telling us not to give the precious message of God’s Word to those who prove themselves to be evil, immoral, and persistently vicious in nature.  He is telling us not to waste valuable time in trying to convert those who count themselves unworthy of eternal life by their consistent carnal mentality and lack of interest in anything spiritual.

Jesus was not being cynical in this passage.  He was just teaching His disciples to be prudent with the gospel.  He knew that time is something we do not have in abundance.  Life is short.  James said that it is like a vapor that appears just for a little time (James 4:14).  Jesus understood that we do not have time to waste preaching the precious gospel to those who do not incline to listen to it.  Paul gives us an example of this in Acts 13.

Acts 13:44–46 (ESV)
⁴⁴ The next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord. ⁴⁵ But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what was spoken by Paul, reviling him. ⁴⁶ And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly, saying, “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.

Some just are not going to appreciate the gospel of Christ.  However, as we use our judgment along these lines, let us remember that everyone deserves to hear the gospel at least once.  After all, Jesus said to go and preach the gospel to every creature (Mark 16:15).  There have been many people who do not look like prospects from an outward perspective, but who have obeyed the gospel because they heard the Word at just the right time.

At times, Paul discerned that a person was not a good prospect, but he never judged according to appearance.  For example, he did not give up on all Jews just because the majority of them rejected the gospel.   An alcoholic can be converted by the power of the gospel.  A murderer can be converted too.  A drug-addicted, immoral-behaving, worldly-minded man or woman can be converted by the gospel of Christ.  The saints at Corinth are a testament of this fact (1 Corinthians 6:9-11).

Once the gospel has been preached to a person, if that person shows himself to be unreceptive of it; if that person proves to be unreasonable and not willing to accept the plain truth of God’s Word, we must, as Jesus said, shake the dust off our feet and move on to another prospect.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.