Jesus and the Shellfish Argument

In this Sunday's highly edited Gospel selection, Mark 7:1-8,14-15,21-23 we miss a very important point because verse 19 (among others) got cut out.

This is how many will hear the story,

1 Now when the Pharisees and some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem gathered around him, 2 they noticed that some of his disciples were eating with defiled hands, that is, without washing them. 3 For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, do not eat unless they thoroughly wash their hands,* thus observing the tradition of the elders; 4 and they do not eat anything from the market unless they wash it;* and there are also many other traditions that they observe, the washing of cups, pots, and bronze kettles.) 5 So the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, ‘Why do your disciples not live according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?’ 6 He said to them, ‘Isaiah prophesied rightly about you hypocrites, as it is written,“This people honours me with their lips,   but their hearts are far from me; 7 in vain do they worship me,   teaching human precepts as doctrines.” 8 You abandon the commandment of God and hold to human tradition.’

14 Then he called the crowd again and said to them, ‘Listen to me, all of you, and understand: 15  there is nothing outside a person that by going in can defile, but the things that come out are what defile.’ 

21 For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, 22 adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.’ 

All good points, but for years the anti-Christian crowd has been using what is known as the "Shellfish Argument" to try to paint Bible believing Christians as hypocrites when it comes to following the Old Testament dietary and purity codes.  They argue from Leviticus, and it goes like this, “If you oppose same sex marriage because the Bible says it’s a sin, how come I see you eating that shrimp po-boy?”

When that happens, just understand that if they grew up in a church using the Revised Common Lectionary, they probably never heard the rest of the story. In that case or if you are with an unchurched person, mention Mark 7:17-19 and help them to understand,

17 Then he left the crowd and entered the house. His disciples asked him about this teaching. 18 “Don’t you understand?” Jesus asked. “Don’t you see? Nothing that enters a person from the outside can make them ‘unclean.’ 19 It doesn’t go into their heart. It goes into their stomach. Then it goes out of the body.” In saying this, Jesus was calling all foods “clean.”

If they need more, tell them about Peter's vision in Acts 10,

9 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. 13 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”
14 “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”
15 The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
16 This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.

After this, your opponent will try to justify same-sex marriage by claiming that the Old Testament sexual moral codes can be disregarded, but you can counter that because Jesus makes the point in verses Mark 7:21-23 that persons are still defiled by violations of those ancient commandments.

So, by omitting Mark 7:19 from the inherited wisdom of the average Sunday churchgoer, God's sheep are made less capable of answering the challenges from unbelievers outside the Church and from revisionists and progressives inside the Church.