What’s a Meta For?

It would seem that in our day of political correctness, it flies in the face of some to use even famous metaphors, such as Jesus' admonition not to “cast your pearls before swine” (Matthew 7:6). But our culture is filled with metaphors, similes, and colloquialisms. For instance, consider this example: “I took my wife to a restaurant the other day. Man, you pay through the nose at that place! I left feeling down in the mouth.” Taken literally, the imagery is disgusting. However, to the metaphor-savvy, it simply means that the restaurant was so expensive, it left me depressed.

So, when I borrow the biblical expression “casting pearls before swine” in reference to atheists rejecting the gospel, I don’t mean that I am literally casting precious pearls to pigs. It is metaphoric, meaning that the gospel is the offer of eternal life--immortality, absolute and complete victory over death. There could be nothing more precious, so it is likened to valuable pearls. Think now of swine and their attitude toward the precious nature of pearls. The pigs couldn’t care less about them. Their only concern is their appetite for unclean things, for the filth in which they wallow to satisfy their flesh. Yep, perfect analogy. The Bible takes the cake. It hits the nail on the head. By the way, never mix your metaphors.