How do I respond to the “I never told you to hate anybody” meme?

Answer:

A point that many tend to forget is that the Bible comes from a single source, even though it was written by about 40 people over a 1,500 year period. "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work" (II Timothy 3:16-17). In addition, the apostles taught what Jesus taught. "And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, 'All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age'" (Matthew 28:18-20). Even though the gospels do not contain every Jesus did or taught, we do have a complete picture with the rest of the New Testament.  "And there are also many other things which Jesus did, which if they were written in detail, I suppose that even the world itself would not contain the books that *would be written" (John 21:25). In other words, understand that you have adequate proof already, regardless of whether others might reject it.

The meme tries to rope people in by portraying Jesus making a statement that is not found in the Bible. If the rebuttal must come from the Gospels, then why is a statement not found in the Gospels being supported?

Did Jesus say never to hate anybody?

"If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:26).

Yes, I know Jesus was using "hate" as a relative term, but it does contradict the opening statement. Revelation also contains statements of Jesus and there he said, "Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate" (Revelation 2:6).

Like many clever debaters, the meme follows an unsupportable claim with two statements that are actually true. It doesn't matter where a person is from or what they look like. "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). Though this is from Paul, it is implied in John's statement: "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name" (John 1:12).

But after getting you nodding in agreement with the first statements, it slips in two false statements.

Does it matter who you are in love with?

You and I know that this is implying support for homosexuality, but I'm going to take it at face value for a moment. After all, Jesus did say: "No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon" (Matthew 6:24). Who you love does matter.

But what about homosexuality? It is popular to claim that Jesus never condemned it. However, Jesus did repeatedly condemned fornication (Greek: porneia), such as in Mark 7:21-23 and Matthew 15:19. Fornication refers to sex outside of marriage, which would include homosexuality. I guess you could argue that Jesus never directly condemned rape either, but we know he was against it because rape is included when fornication is condemned.

Jesus also affirmed the authority of the Old Testament while he lived, though it would be changed when he died. "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:17-19). By supporting the Old Law at the time, Jesus was supporting the Old Testament's condemnation of homosexuality. "You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination" (Leviticus 18:22).

Jesus also used Sodom and Gomorrah as an example of extreme wickedness that God destroyed. Recall that Jude 6-7 gives the reason why: "And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire."

• Matthew 10:15 "Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!"
• Matthew 11:23-24 "And you, Capernaum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which were done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you."
• Mark 6:11 "And whoever will not receive you nor hear you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust under your feet as a testimony against them. Assuredly, I say to you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!"
• Luke 10:12 "But I say to you that it will be more tolerable in that Day for Sodom than for that city."
• Luke 17:29 "but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all."

Knowing that Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed for their homosexual sins and other sins, Jesus' use of these cities as examples of extreme wickedness shows that Jesus stood against homosexuality.

But, we are not done.

Does it matter who we worship?

This last claim is so blatantly false, it makes me wonder if the writer read the Bible. "Then Jesus said to him, "Go, Satan! For it is written, 'You shall worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only'" " (Matthew 4:10).

Why do people make this so difficult? Because they aren't interested in what Jesus said. They only want Jesus to support what they believe.