SHOULD THE CHURCH BE TAX EXEMPT?

Why should the Church enjoy tax exemption? Why should the most blessed group of organized citizens not pay their fair share? Is it not a violation of what Jesus himself said, when he told his disciples, “Give unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar”?

I have for a very long time wondered about this. Why should the Church, as an organization, be exempt from paying taxes? It seems very inconsistent on a lot of levels.

 If the organization is exempt, then why not its individual members as well? Wouldn’t that make sense? Why should I have to pay property taxes? Oh, I know. You say, “The financial giving of the individual is exempt.” That is true, and only furthers my point… as you will see in a few moments.

 Some would suggest that the Church is exempt because it is “not for profit”. Someone needs to explain to me why that should matter at all. If a “for profit” organization is profitable, the government enjoys a large piece of that profit… Why??? If a “not for profit” organization is doing very well financially and holds tremendous assets, no taxes are assessed. Again, why???

 Maybe it is because the Church “does good” in a community. Doesn’t a profitable “business” do much good for a community? It provides jobs. It helps a community grow and prosper. Some might even suggest that a “for profit” business does more good for a community than a Church. Perhaps taxes should be assessed solely upon the “community good” that is NOT done by an organization. If you help the community in some tangible, calculable way, your taxes are less. If your organization is a drain on community services without providing anything in return, your taxes go up.

 Perhaps it is because of the intent… the heart of the matter. Let me see… Because the intent of the Church is not to be profitable, it enjoys tax exemption even though it may hold large sums of money and assets. However, the legitimate businessman whose intent is to be profitable and yet is not, still must pay property taxes… What is consistent or fair about this?

The fact is that the Church’s gift of tax exemption has nothing to do with its shelter of “not for profit”. It has nothing to do with the ministries of the Church that help the poor. It has nothing to do with any of these “do good” things that the Church does. There is only one reason that a government that is desperate for money doesn’t enrich itself at the treasury of the Church. Stop and think for a moment… you’ll get it. Why would the a government that is willing to take up to 50% of a dead man’s estate, turn away from the bank account of the Church? The government takes money from what we eat, the fuel we consume, the property upon which we live… it taxes our entertainment, our travel, our wealth… it is even now trying to tax the air we breath!!!.... But it avoids taxing the Church… WHY????

The government doesn’t give the gift of tax exemption without demanding something in return… There is no “free lunch”. What’s the one thing that the government demands in return for tax exemption? SILENCE.

Until 1954 the Church enjoyed both tax exemption and the freedom to influence the political path of America. But in 1954, under the leadership of then Senator Lyndon Johnson, political freedom of speech for the Church was effectively taken away through the Internal Revenue Code.

The law says that tax exempt churches must not “influence legislation” and must not “endorse or participate in support of a particular political candidacy”. The government pays an enormous price for the silence of the church. One must ask the questions: “Why? What do they fear? What did the man who would become one of the most liberal Presidents in modern history want to prevent?”

If I had asked at the onset of this post if the government controlled the message of the Church, most would have answered, “Absolutely not.” If I had asked if the government was currently silencing the message of the Church, again you probably would have answered, “No”.

But the answer is, “Yes”. There are limits to what a “tax exempt” Church can say.

The government further controls and silences the Church by rewarding the individual financial support of its members with tax exemption on the same. When POTUS recently suggested that “charitable” giving in some cases might be taxed, the Church came out swinging against such an idea. The Church assumes that if charitable giving was taxed that it would have a net negative effect. So, the fight was on. “We must keep giving tax breaks on charitable giving because we otherwise wouldn’t survive”. Oh, I get it… The survival of the Church is due in part to the generosity of the government. Is that what we are suggesting?

What does the government get in exchange for this tax exempt gift? SILENCE.

Let’s play a little game…

What if the government said, “If you preach against homosexuality, you will lose your tax exempt status”, would you then be silent on this issue? What if the government said, “Preachers, you must preach against the war… War is wrong and you must preach against it, or you will forfeit your tax exempt status”, would you then stop praying for the success of our U.S. soldiers? What if the government said, “If you preach that abortion is the killing of an innocent child, you will lose your tax exempt gift”, what would you do?

You wouldn’t be silent on these issues… Then why are you willing to sell your silence on political issues at the price of tax exemption?

Lastly, take note: When the government no longer fears the political influence of the Church… when it no longer needs to silence the Church… when the message of the Church is effectively controlled by some other means… Mark this: The gift of tax exemption will be immediately taken away.