sharing the gospel

I think we have a tendency to choose who we want to share the gospel with, and be super persistent about it. We try to show God's love to them in the hopes that they'll eventually see the truth. We might even drop bits of the gospel here and there. We pray for them, and earnestly hope that God will bring them around.

I'm not convinced this is the best way to go about it.

First, we are not called to make the gospel more palatable to those who might hear it. Jesus alienated a lot of his followers by telling them to hate their families to follow him (Luke 14:25-27). More left when he told them that they must eat his flesh (John 6:56-58). When questioned, he responds somewhat cavalierly, asking "Does this offend you?". He tells a man he cannot bury his father, and another that he can't bid his family farewell (Luke 9:59-62). He tells a rich man that he must sell all his positions (Matt 19:21-22), after which the rich man leaves.

Second, there doesn't seem to be any precedent in the bible for being persistent in going after specific people. After sending out his disciples, Jesus tells them that "if anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet" (Matt 10:14). Preach the gospel, but upon rejection, don't stay to argue or do anything else, just leave. I feel like persistence in this case often leads to the stumbling block of self-glorification in the event that God does deign to save the person whom you were persistently pursuing.

If God is so concerned with separating the wheat from the chaff (Matt 3:12), then why are we so concerned with picking up every bit of chaff along with the wheat? "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few" (Luke 10:2), so shouldn't we stop wasting our time with some people (let God do what He will with them), and look for those whose hearts are fertile? There doesn't seem to be a lack of those people, from what I've heard, and to a certain extent, seen.

We should stop asking God how to share the gospel with the few people we choose; and instead ask that He show us with whom we should share the gospel with.

"Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces."
- Matthew 7:6