It is NOT Christian to seek to provoke the wrath of government. I used to fully support the ADF and their various efforts. Now I must turn away from them, for this terrible thing they are promoting.
Pastors Urged to Preach About Politics, in Hopes of Toppling IRS Ban
NEW YORK ? Conservative legal advocates are recruiting pastors nationwide to defy an IRS ban on preaching about politicians, in a challenge they hope will abolish the restriction.
The Alliance Defense Fund, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., will ask the clergy to deliver a sermon about specific candidates Sept. 28. If the action triggers an IRS investigation, the legal group will sue to overturn the federal rules, which were enacted in 1954.
Under the IRS code, churches can distribute voter guides, run voter registration drives, hold forums on public policy and invite politicians to speak at their congregations.
However, they cannot endorse a candidate, and their political activity cannot be biased for or against a candidate, directly or indirectly.
The Alliance Defense Fund said Friday that the regulations amount to an unconstitutional limit on free speech and government intrusion into religion.
?It certainly does have a chilling effect,? said Mike Johnson, senior counsel for the fund. ?I think that there is a lot of fear and intimidation and disinformation about the parameters that do exist.?
Johnson said about 100 pastors have expressed interest in participating so far.
The IRS has stepped up monitoring of nonprofit political activity during the 2008 election. Punishments can range from a financial penalty to loss of tax-exempt status.
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Personally, I don’t promote pastors seeking 501c-3 tax exempt status, but those who desire such a distinction from government should FOLLOW THE RULES OR FORGO BEING TAX EXEMPT.
Consider this:
Romans 13 (New American Standard Bible)
1 Every person is to be in subjection to the governing authorities For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God.
2 Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves.
3 For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same;
4 for it is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil.
5 Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for conscience’ sake.
6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing.
7 Render to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honor to whom honor.
8 Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
9 For this, “YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, YOU SHALL NOT MURDER, YOU SHALL NOT STEAL, YOU SHALL NOT COVET,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”
10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
11 Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed.
12 The night is almost gone, and the day is near Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.
13 Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy.
14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts.
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There is nothing there that exempts the church as a group or individuals from paying taxes, but rather gladly paying them IN FULL. So no church needs to be trying to change rules to hold to being tax exempt.
It’s one thing if a church pastor has a reason IN LINE WITH PREACHING THE GOSPEL OF THE LORD JESUS to speak about a certain politician. But for a pastor to intentionally STAGE A SERMON to aggravate government brings condemnation on themselves.
On 9/28/2008, how many pastors will forget the following?
1 Peter 2:13-17 (New American Standard Bible)
13 Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether to a king as the one in authority,
14 or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and the praise of those who do right.
15 For such is the will of God that by doing right you may silence the ignorance of foolish men.
16 Act as free men, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as bondslaves of God.
17 Honor all people, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king.
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I find it DANGEROUS when a group of lawyers, even lawyers who claim the Lord’s name are trying to encourage pastors to preach a particular message to their flock.
So today ends my promotion of the Alliance Defense Fund. All these supposedly Christian groups that do everything EXCEPT actually proclaim JESUS IS THE ONLY WAY TO SALVATION are going to end up being the ones to cause more hassle than benefit for Christians. And I thought I had seen something awful when ACLJ head man Jay Sekulow sucked up to Mormon Mitt Romney. Now this from the ADF. I can’t say which is worse, because it’s all just wrong.
Hat tip to brother Job at Jesus Christology. Be sure to read his post on this matter as well.
In all honestly, we Christians in America DON’T EVEN NEED AN ARMY OF LAWYERS right now. These Christian legal groups should have their armies of attorneys working in places like China and other nations. To help our brothers and sisters in Christ who face REAL PERSECUTION. We should be engaged in efforts to help those facing the real persecution. Rather than harping about rules a pastor agreed to, but now feels he wants to break and not have to pay taxes.
Related post: I?m Sick of the American Family Association. You Can?t Force the Immoral to Christ!
May 12th, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Excellent analysis & stand, IC.
I agree 100% - these lawyers will trip overthemselves to represent pastors for defying a violation of non-profit tax code…but will they board a plane to represent our brothers and sisters to the evil governments that trample their ability to publicly proclaim the Name of Christ?
And if pastors really believed the Gospel that they claim to preach, then they would stand flat-footed and declare the Word of the Lord instead of hiding behind their precious 5013-c status.
I mean really, they preach about how God is going to “open up the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing”, yet they really on the sheep to feed them - not Him! Then, they puff up all big and bad at the government (i.e. “the man”) until they see that they might have to actually pay taxes, then the Gospel becomes an inconvenience.
What’s next - an army of gay-friendly lawyers will encourage pastors to preach how much Jesus loves gay people who remain in their sinful lifestyles, or they’ll threaten to take away their tax exempt status?
It’s detestable.
May 12th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
IC:
It is all about the Roman Catholic Church’s trying to destroy the barrier between church and state so that they can complete the process of bringing us under the Vatican. Evangelicals are just being used and deceived.
May 13th, 2008 at 6:55 pm
Brilliant…the IRS agrees to keep the church separate by not collecting taxes, but then places unconstitutional restrictions on what a church can or cannot preach (even though the church should only preach Christ and His gospel alone). It’s their way of keeping some semblance of control over the church.
The real first ammendment restricts NO ONE from endorsing any candidate…the real first ammendment does restrict the Government from forcing one religion on everyone and from “preventing the free exercise thereof.” (still not promoting politics from the pulpit, just the right to preach without big brother dictating a pastor’s outline).
Unfortunately, however, the only way to overturn a law known by everyone to be unconstitutional (i.e., IRS restrictions on the church, whether mutual agreement between the two or otherwise), is to have it challenged in court.
Ahh, what a dilemma! I say let the government deal with their own politics and give Ceasar what is his, and give us Jesus! They will all bow the knee before the true King one day anyway, whether they like it or not
IndependentConservative reply on May 13th, 2008 at 7:36 pm :
SJC, you’re not making any logical sense.
If a church assembly desires to go political, fine, they should forgo their tax exempt status. There is nothing for them to “challenge” in court and nothing “unconstitutional” if they decide to go political. They simply need to stop acting like they can avoid paying taxes AND play in politics.
May 13th, 2008 at 9:41 pm
I completely agree that if a church desires to go political, they should forgo their tax exempt status as required by the law. I would even go a step further and state that they should forgo calling themselves a church if Jesus isn’t being declared out of the pulpit. However, it’s aspects of that same law (IRS code enacted in 1954), that I was declaring to be unconstitutional and simply trying to say that ANY legislature (whether unconstitutional or not) can’t be overturned by the courts unless it is preceded by a case that challenges said law.
I hope I’m making “logical sense” this time, because I think it’s more a problem with my written communication skills
To sum it up though, my point is/was this: “according to the constitution,” though the government may have a right to tax any organization they want, they have no right to dictate what a church preaches (I think that’s what the ADF wants to challenge, though they should do it without asking pastors to use the pulpit as a means to do so).
So, bottom line, I agree with your comment about no politics behind the pulpit (which includes playing politics with lawyers), but have to disagree with any IRS code or other law that so plainly ignores the constitution. And in order to make these two opinions consistent, let me say that it’s the Word of God that suggests what comes out of the pulpit, not the ADF or IRS.
IndependentConservative reply on May 13th, 2008 at 10:17 pm :
I think I better understand you now SJC. Thank you for the follow up.
You have to first understand, that the entire IRS in and of its self is unconstitutional.
Here’s a post and video to check out: America: Freedom to Fascism, A Movie Worth Viewing.
So really the whole federal tax system violates the US Constitution when we want to be honest about it. However, it is a law that we Christians must abide by just the same and pay our taxes. The church is not called to battle with government over the tax laws of man.
(I sometimes talk about taxation here, but it’s my personal viewpoint in those posts.)
May 15th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
Why not just give up the 501C3?? You can’t serve God and mammon, but they seem to want it both ways anyhow.