Snapshot: Stuff Jesus Never Said (#158)

Snapshot - Stuff Jesus Never Said Show File 11.25.23

[00:00:00] SHOW INTRO: If you ache for truth, goodness, and beauty, If you're hungry for a Christianity with substance and strength, if you long for a faith that's big and bold and biblical and all about Jesus Christ, if you're inspired by the idea of one church that has spanned twenty centuries, twenty four time zones, and two hemispheres, enfolding every race, nation, and language, then you're considering Catholicism.

Hey, welcome back to the podcast, or welcome if it's your first visit. If you haven't yet, check out the website, consideringcatholicism.com. Episodes are topically indexed there, and you can find other good stuff like videos and even some pictures of the secret compound on the about [00:01:00] page. Also, would you “like," “subscribe,” and leave a review on Apple podcasts or on the website? That really helps the algorithms make us more visible to more people online. And if you have a comment or a question that you'd like me to answer on the podcast, you can leave a comment on the website or write me an email ConsideringCatholicism@gmail. com. And one last thing. If you find this episode interesting or worthwhile, would you buy me a coffee or two? There's a link in the show notes and on the website.

Okay, something got me agitated the other day. It's a really lame argument that I've been hearing ever since I got into ministry, but it's back again, being dragged out to support a particular agenda in the church today, and I felt like I needed to record a quick snapshot episode because I guarantee you that you're going to run into this at some point if you haven't already, and I want you to be [00:02:00] prepared to recognize this for what it is. At some point, I'll probably record a full episode about it to sort of explore it more thoroughly because this argument has huge implications for Catholicism and the Catholic worldview. But for today, let me just point it out and tell you to beware and not fall for it.

The argument goes like this. Someone has some issue with the Church's teaching or practice. They don't like this doctrine or they don't like that sacrament. They don't like the liturgy or they don't like the church building or they don't like the way the church is organized and run. They don't like your devotional practices or the way you pray or what you call the pastor. And to justify why you shouldn't believe that, or do this one thing, or avoid doing this other thing, or why you shouldn't worship or pray in some way, or why you shouldn't pursue some spiritual or ministry goal, or whatever, they say, “You know, [00:03:00] Jesus never said to do that.” Protestants have been using this argument against the Catholic Church for 500 years.

They'll sort of smugly say, you know, Jesus never said there were seven sacraments, or Jesus never said you should confess to a priest. Or, Jesus never said to baptize infants. Or, Jesus never said there should be priests or bishops or a pope. But Jesus did say, “Call no man father,” so stop calling your priest that. Or they'll smugly say, You know, Jesus never said we should ask the saints to pray for us, or Jesus never said priests, monks, and nuns should be celibate, or Jesus never said to build church buildings, or to compose church music, or to make religious art, or to have liturgies. I mean, that stuff goes on and on, and I think that's why I need to do an episode soon to respond, because it's a misunderstanding of the ministry of Christ. It's an abuse of scripture and [00:04:00] it's hypocritical anyway, because there are a lot of Protestant beliefs and practices that Jesus never said anything about either. So if they're going to erect that as their standard, then they have to live by it.

But what has me agitated this week is another form of this lame argument. It gets trotted out when someone wants to do something that the church condemns, usually something to do with ethics or morality. So it goes like this, “You know, Jesus never specifically said that I couldn't do what I'm doing or what I want to do.” Now, sharp listeners, and I know that includes all of you, will recognize this as a form of what the serpent said to Adam and Eve in Genesis chapter 3 when he slithered up and said, “Did God really, specifically say that you can't eat from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?” You see, this has been the devil's tactic from the beginning. [00:05:00] Introduce doubt by throwing shade on what God really, specifically said. 

Now, the reason I got agitated over the last few weeks was that I was listening to some podcasts by liberal Protestant pastors defending homosexual practices, not necessarily homosexual orientation or temptations, but actual homosexual fornication in gay marriage.

And they got around to trotting out this lame argument. You know, in the Gospels, Jesus never specifically condemns homosexual intercourse or a gay marriage. And so, if we're really following Jesus, we won't either. But that wasn't really what agitated me. Because I've been hearing that from liberal Protestants for 40 years. In most mainline Protestant denominations, that ship sailed decades ago and they erased any moral restrictions on homosexual practices and gay marriage just as they erased anything they didn't like [00:06:00] from the Catholic Church's teaching over the last 500 years.

No, what really got me agitated this last couple of weeks was reading statements from several Catholic priests and bishops that made the exact same argument. Now, I expect this idiocy from secularized liberal Protestants. But I worry that Catholics might hear this and get taken in by it. So, real quick, let me just point out that if we want to play that game, there are a whole lot of things that Jesus never said, commanded. Or specifically condemned. I sat down this morning and just jotted down a list off the top of my head. So, you know, this is an exhaustive, but I, I think you'll get the idea. 

• Jesus never condemned abortion. Jesus never condemned suicide.
• Or assisted suicide. Jesus never specifically condemned slavery.
• Jesus never condemned capital punishment.
• Jesus never specifically never condemned [00:07:00] racism, segregated schools, or the military.
• Jesus never said diversity is our strength.
• Jesus never said there should be a United Nations, an International Court of Human Rights, or anything about human rights, really.
• Jesus never said that all religions contain some truth and that there are many paths to God.
• Jesus never said to write a Bible, publish a Bible, or do Bible studies.
• Jesus never said we should have public schools, or schools of any kind, or that education is a right.
• Jesus never said that healthcare is a universal human right.
• Jesus never said that the government should set up welfare programs.
• And Jesus certainly never said that I should recycle my trash, bring my own bags to the grocery store, reduce my carbon footprint, or anything about climate change.
• Jesus never talked about biodiversity, animal rights, or preserving the rainforest.
• Jesus never told me to eat a plant based diet, lose weight, watch my cholesterol, or stop smoking.
• [00:08:00] Jesus never told me not to fart on an airplane.
• Jesus never condemned having sex with minors if they consent.
• Jesus never specifically condemned pornographers, or people who make CGI child porn.
• Jesus never condemned sexual harassment. Jesus never said that it was wrong to tell women dirty jokes, comment on their bodies, proposition them in the workplace, or whistle when they walk down the hallway. 
• Jesus never condemned hunting animals or abusing animals. Including leaving dogs in a hot car while you run into the store, catching dolphins in drift nets, drowning stray cats in a bag, or poisoning pigeons in the park.
• Jesus never condemned spanking your kids.
• Jesus never condemned cutting yourself, starving yourself to look like a model, or making yourself barf to lose weight.
• Jesus never condemned nuclear weapons, chemical weapons, or biological weapons.
• Jesus never condemned putting a McDonald's in Yosemite National Park or at the top of Mount Everest.
• Jesus never condemned [00:09:00] cannibalism.
• Jesus never specifically condemned polygamy.
• Jesus never condemned cigarette manufacturers, Big Pharma, or drug cartels.
• Jesus never condemned wearing fur coats.
• Jesus never condemned owning guns, including AR 15s.
• Jesus never specifically condemned bestiality, including having sex with a sheep, a pony, or a labradoodle that you got from the rescue shelter specifically for that purpose.

Okay, you get the idea. What's my point? Well, actually I have a few. First, obviously Jesus didn't specifically address the full range of human morality, ethics, and social justice, mapping out every scenario and what you should or shouldn't do in it. That wasn't the primary purpose of his ministry. And that for sure wasn't the purpose of the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, that record the actions and words of Jesus. In fact, the Gospel of John tells us that if [00:10:00] everything that Jesus said and did were written down, the world could not contain all of the books. But what was written down was recorded and shared so that we would believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing we may have life in his name. Now one of the foundational premises of Catholicism is that not only do we look at the totality of scripture to form doctrine and moral theology, but that we understand that Jesus instructed his apostles and gave them the Holy Spirit and authority to teach us to obey everything that he commands. Not just commanded, but commands. As John in his gospel said, they didn't write it all down. So, if we want to understand God's will for us in the church today, we begin by looking at the church that the apostles founded on that authority.

That's what we call apostolic authority. What did the early church believe and teach and practice and how has that [00:11:00] unfolded over time in continuity with scripture and apostolic tradition? This whole stupid game, this lame argument of trying to drive a wedge between the words of Jesus recorded in the four Gospels on the one hand, and the rest of Scripture, either the Old Testament or the teaching of the Apostles and the rest of the New Testament, and the Apostolic Church, driving a wedge between all of that is an attempt to not only subvert the one holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, It's another form of what the serpent whispered to Adam and Eve. It's an attempt to create a counterfeit concierge religion to suit your own desires. 

And as one of those apostles, St. Paul said in his second letter to Timothy, chapter 4, “The time is coming when people will not put up with sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own desires. And we'll turn away from listening to the [00:12:00] truth and wander into myths.”