“Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.” (Matt. 15:14) I have often wondered, did the Lord say these words about those individuals because to speak to them would be casting pearls before swine, because He knew that it would be wasted effort to attempt to bring them to the truth? Only He would know of course, our Lord knew before the foundation of the world all who would come to Him in faith, and so as He saw these passing by, He may have said it in the knowledge of where they would spend eternity.
There are in a sense two types of born-again believers in this area, those who will stop trying, those who can hear quite clearly the Holy Spirit telling them that it’s time to move on, this person you are witnessing to is not going to listen. Now of course we do not give up on them in the possibility of their salvation, we may just be planting one small seed, and it maybe they are our brother or sister in Christ, just not yet. “Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest.” (Matt. 9:38)
You may contemplate this account in this area if you so desire, the thief on the cross was earnest in what he said to the Lord as they hung there, “And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.” (Luke 23:42) Unless he was easily swayed by his immanent death, I contend that at some time in his short life he either heard Jesus speaking or someone told him about the Lord. The latter is the one I would go with, so to speak, but in either case it is highly unlikely that the first time that he met Jesus, whether in person or from another’s mouth, was at the cross that day.
But there is another group, those that have never given up one word to another soul about the free gift of salvation that the Almighty offers to all who will but repent and believe on the name of His Son. They have no dust to shake off their feet, they have never, or very rarely offered those pearls to another. It is one thing to say we are saved; it is quite another to risk everything for the Lord. It is one thing to sing His praises on Sunday morning, and quite another to voice those same praises on Tuesday afternoon wherever you may happen to be.
It makes one question our opening verse in this short letter to you, who are the blind? The people of Christ’s day were sure beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Pharisees spoke for God, that the high priest of that year was chosen by the Most High Himself. The people of our day that are deceived by the Roman Catholic cult are just as deceived, their priests are held in high regard, they are not to be questioned when it comes to their authority in Spiritual matters, and the pope is actually considered the vicar of God on this planet.
But I also know of so-called Evangelical churches where the elders and deacons are not sought out in much prayer and supplication, but are simply voted in, for various worldly reasons, while the pastors preach the message of that same world, with an occasional Scripture verse added in for good measure.
Who are the blind, and how do we go about leaving them be? It is our prayer that those we meet who are indeed blind will come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ by the grace of God, but it is always the wise man who heeds the Holy Spirit that knows when it is time to stop casting those pearls at the feet of those who will not only trample them intentionally but will blindly step on them without even knowing it. Many families, as promised in Matthew 10:35-37 have been torn apart because the child of God will not leave off following the Lord, but just as many, if not more, who proclaim Him as Lord will not leave their earthly family, even for Christ.