"If Jesus Never Said It, He Must Be Okay With It". Right or wrong?

"Jesus never said anything against [insert issue], so he must be okay with it." That logic is utilized, for example, to justify abortion or gender choices. If that is the way to look at it, then let's be consistent. Here are 25 contemporary issues that Jesus never explicitly condemned, so by this reasoning, he must endorse -  or at least be okay with - them all: 

1. Euthanasia – Never condemned the phrase “assisted dying.”

2. Genocide – Never referred to this word 

3. Human trafficking – Never explicitly condemned it.

4. “The end justifies the means” – Not a word against this adage.

5. Gambling addiction – Never spoke about compulsive wagering.

6. Polyamory and open marriages – Never mentioned those two.

7. Hook-up culture – No condemnation of casual sex apps.

8. Living together before marriage – Completely silent on cohabitation.

9. Fulfilling narcissistic dreams through your kids – Not a word about it. By the way, no word against narcissism as well,

10. Gender self-definition – Never said “don’t change your pronouns.”

11. Serial divorce – No clear teaching on repeating divorce and remarriage.

12. Multi-level marketing schemes – Silent on pyramid-style businesses.

13. Turning trauma into trending content – Didn’t warn about monetizing pain.

14. Identity theft – Never mentioned stealing personal information.

15. Chronic laziness – He never said naps were a sin.

16. Politics and parties – Jesus never said a word about our political parties; actually, He told us to obey governing authorities at all times.

17. Workaholism – Never condemned working yourself into burnout.

18. Harassment, all types - One can hardly find this word in the Bible, let alone Jesus condemning it

19. Data mining personal information – No mention of privacy violations.

20. Corporate greed and the work-lawsuit industry– He never condemned toxic workplaces, nor suing to get some compensation for no justifiable reason.

21. Child labour in supply chains – Silent on exploiting foreign children.

22. Utilizing the church structure for power and control – since there were no society bylaws and boards, committees and budgets in Jesus' time.

23. Explicit, unchristian, or demonic songs and groups – After all, it’s just art.

24. Screen maldaptive use – Your kids are good with 10 hours of YouTube a day

    25. Internet rage – Feel free to attack anyone online. Jesus never mentioned it.

 

The non-sequitur of silence-based ethics

If this list makes us uncomfortable, it should. The logic that "Jesus never said anything against X, therefore X is permissible" is not just flawed—it can be dangerous.

By this standard, Jesus apparently endorsed:

• Every form of exploitation that didn't exist in first-century Palestine
• Every technological abuse that hadn't been invented yet
• Every modern perversion of relationships and human dignity
• Every contemporary way of harming others for personal gain.

It should be obvious that in The Bible does not provide an exhaustive catalog of every possible human failing across all cultures and time periods. It addresses sin -  and all the underlying moral failures that flow from heart issues.

He was addressing sin; and its cure - forgiveness. 

How Scripture Actually Works

Scripture doesn't operate as a comprehensive legal code that must explicitly mention every possible sin. Instead, it provides us with principles, character formation, and a framework for understanding God's design for human flourishing. The 10 Commandments, for example, are a short list, but extensive enough to summarize God's will.

Healthy biblical exegesis and interpretation realizes that when Jesus spoke against greed, he wasn't just condemning the specific financial practices of his day—he was addressing the heart condition that manifests in countless ways across cultures and centuries. When he called people to sexual purity, he wasn't just talking about the particular temptations of first-century Palestine, but establishing principles that apply to every generation's unique challenges.

The New Testament letters don't contradict this approach—they demonstrate it. When Paul addressed specific issues in Corinth or Ephesus, he wasn't adding arbitrary rules to Jesus' teaching. He was showing how Jesus' principles applied to the particular challenges those communities faced.

A Confessional Direction Forward

There is place where some sort of "argument of silence" works, and it called adiaphora. Those are things the Bible neither commands not condemns. In those cases, Christians are free to utilize their Christian freedom to make good and adequate choices. An example would be, "can I wear a bikini, or a speedo?" The answer is "probably yes" for the pool or beach side. The answer is "please, don't" for grocery shopping or commencement ceremonies. However, even these decisions need to be grounded in the Word of God. Everything under the category of adiaphora must never go against biblical teaching, in which case, they cease to be optional. 

Utilizing "Jesus never said" arguments may reveal our own desire to escape biblical authority rather than submit to it. When we cherry-pick Jesus' words to support predetermined positions while ignoring the broader witness of Scripture, we're not being faithful to the Word - we're using him as a co-pilot in our dangerous driving through cultural preferences. Sometimes, even giving Him only the back seat.

Some basic guidelines to avoid the "Jesus never said anything against" trap: 

The Bible interprets itself: We don't pitch Jesus against Paul, or the Old Testament against the New. All Scripture reveals the the same God and His unchanging Will. When we meet apparent tensions, the must drive us to deeper understanding, not to selective dismissal.

Principles transcend specific applications: Jesus' teachings about the heart, relationships, justice, and truth provide frameworks which remain valid in situations he never specifically addressed.

The Spirit guides into all truth: Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would guide his followers into truth (John 16:13). This includes guiding us in applying biblical principles to contemporary challenges that didn't exist in the first century the way they come to us today - even though, basically every form of sin has always and basic and intrinsic element that the Bible has already addressed

Love requires boundaries: True love—the kind Jesus embodied—says lots of "yes", but many times it says "no" as well. Love frees us to serve God and our neighbour, and it also sets boundaries, calls sin what it is, and refuses to authorize destructive behaviour, even when that refusal is unpopular.

Christians are not called to find loopholes in Jesus' teaching, but to teach his Word—all of it—which transforms our hearts, minds, and lives. This requires the humility to be corrected, the wisdom to apply eternal principles to contemporary challenges, and the courage to live differently than our world expects. 

We don't read Scripture through the lens of a culture that looks for escape clauses, but as disciples shaped by the full counsel of what Jesus actually says.