Should Churches Be Able To Keep Their Tax Exempt Status?

Last updated on: September 18, 2015 at 2:37 pm by Jack Wellman

Should Churches Be Able To Keep Their Tax Exempt Status? 2015-09-18T14:37:44-05:00 Jack Wellman

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Do you think that churches should keep their tax exempt status? If so, why and if not, why not?

Movements to end tax exempt Status

There are movements under way right now by the very powerful, influential, and wealthy people of our nation to end the tax exempt status for churches. It’s not just the “liberal left” but the anti-Christian bias that is pushing for this. For some of those who want to end church tax exempt status, they can tolerate anything but the church. The new religion is “tolerance” and applies to everyone else but the Christian. Is the real reason because the church preaches on sin, the need for forgiveness, repentance, other essentials of the faith, and that sometimes those sins are things that others practice? Only they can answer for themselves but it is certainly possible.

Non-Profits

It doesn’t make sense to tax the church when they are already doing a lot of the same charity work for the community just like the Red Cross and the Salvation Army. Churches don’t duplicate the services of other organizations; they simply fill in the cracks that are missed. Churches tend to respond almost immediately when disaster strikes while the state and federal officials are slower to respond. Churches can cut through the bureaucracy and deliver needs-based help to the local population right away. By taxing churches on their income they divert crucial resources from the churches which are used to provide for the needs of the community and provide whatever services are necessary. They try to catch those who others miss. We have a prison ministry, a nursing home ministry, a clothing ministry and a few other things but taxing our church would make it necessary to reduce some of these ministries for the disenfranchised of society that we minister too. Church is not a business but we are in the business of giving aid to others so why tax churches for helping society? Churches can beat any other social service agency dollar for dollar. Collectively, churches in our area operate soup kitchens, homeless shelters, afterschool programs for poor families, substance abuse counseling, pornography additions classes, gambling addition programs, assistance to victims of domestic violence, and the list goes on. All of these services are free. If churches were to be taxed, who knows if all or most of these services would remain and what the impact on society would be.

Obey God over Man

There has come many a day when a believer had to make a decision; his job or his conscience. He or she was put in a position of whether they would obey God or they would have to obey their employer and possibly lose their job. I recently spoke with a lady in our church where she was asked to do something that went against her conscience and feared she’d be reprimanded or fired over not complying with the customer’s request. I told her to follow her conscience; a conscience that is full of the Word of God which will allow her to make a biblically-based decision that glorifies God and not be a decision that simply keeps her out of trouble. The disciples were asked to stop preaching about Jesus Christ when the council declared “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us” (Acts 5:28) but Peter knew of a Most High Authority and so said “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:28). It is not illegal for churches to preach the gospel but it may be illegal someday for churches to preach on sin. They disciples obeyed the command to go and make disciples of all nations (Matt 28:18-20). They never asked if it was okay with the government.

Conclusion

Where will all this effort to strip churches of tax exempt status lead too? It could be the end of their tax exempt status; it could reduce the number of services provided through their various ministries; this could add pressure to other social service agencies; it could spell the end of many smaller churches; and it could increase suffering caused by natural disasters as victims wait longer for services and to have their immediate needs met. James wrote that “whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (James 4:7) but if churches are taxed, the “right thing to do” will be made that much harder. It’s not about a religion but about a relationship with the communities that Christians are placed and being the Body of Christ (Matt 25). Believers see their faith like this; “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world” (James 1:27). How can you put an estimated tax on that belief?

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.

Bible Answers

Tax

Previous Post

September 18, 2015

Is Purgatory Real? A Bible Study

Next Post

September 18, 2015 3 Surprising Places Christianity Is Exploding In The World Today

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Bible Answers Bible Definitions Bible Story Bible Study Bible Verses Christian Books Christian Entertainment Christian Fathers Christian Mothers Christian Quotes Devotional Famous Christians Music News Parables Prayers Quotes Sunday School Lesson Uncategorized Youth Sermons

Select a Month October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

According to 1 Peter, believers are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, and what else?

Select your answer to see how you score.

A holy nation, God's special possession A light to the world Ambassadors for Christ Salt of the earth