A time to offend, and...

Today’s Gospel (Mt. 17:22-27) may sound a little strange to modern ears, dealing with an archaic “Temple Tax” and with the miraculous finding of a coin in the mouth of a fish.

Unfortunately, in this contemporary culture of “shock jocks” and “in your face,” these pivotal words of our Lord in today’s Gospel may sound a little strange too:

But that we may not offend them...

To be sure, there is also a “Politically Correct” mentality in today’s culture that ostensibly seeks to keep anyone from offending anyone (a “feel good” mentality with its own seriously dark side).

Make no mistake: Jesus is not “PC.” Our Lord is never afraid to offend when necessary, but in this instance he explicitly chooses not to do so.

We find something of a parallel in Romans 15:1-2:

We who are strong
ought to put up with the failings of the weak
and not to please ourselves;
let each of us please our neighbor for the good,
for building up.

In the Gospel, our Lord establishes the theological grounds for not complying with a specific requirement of Jewish religious life (the temple tax). Likewise, in his letter to the Romans, St. Paul has already established the theological grounds for not complying with certain other specific requirements of Jewish religious life (dietary laws, etc.).

But both St. Paul and our Lord subsequently indicate the value of complying with specific requirements that technically do not apply to them.

Why comply with an “inapplicable” requirement? To “please our neighbor for the good,” as St. Paul says, “for building up.” He makes it all explicitly clear in Romans 14:20-21:

For the sake of food, do not destroy the work of God.
Everything is indeed clean,
but it is wrong for anyone
to become a stumbling block by eating;
it is good not to eat meat or drink wine
or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.

This is in direct contrast to the idea of doing things “because I can” – with no regard to anything or anyone other than oneself. This is what St. Paul means when he warns us against “pleasing ourselves.”

In our own lives, you and I will probably never be confronted about failing to pay the temple tax nor are we likely to scandalize others by flaunting religious dietary laws.

Even so, you and I need to give careful consideration to how what we say and do might offend other people and affect their spiritual lives unjustly.

Sometimes we may be in the “right” – there may be nothing objectively wrong about a particular thing we do – but our words or actions may confuse or discourage someone whose understanding of these matters is not as strong and clear.

On the other hand, sometimes our “fuller understanding” may be just rationalization and our being careful not to offend the “weak-minded” may thus be an opportunity for examining our own consciences better.

Of course, we must never “go along” or be so hesitant to offend that we cause confusion about the truth (in Galatians 2, St. Paul gives an example of the limits of accommodation).

Our concern about offending others is a concern about not putting obstacles in their path. Our primary concern is the truth and their salvation, not their feelings.

Our focus should be, to paraphrase St. Paul (2 Cor. 6:3), giving no offence in any thing, that the work of God should not be blamed.

May God have mercy on us all.