Should Christians Pay Their Taxes?

Interesting enough this is the question I heard ringing in my head this morning as I woke up. Well since it is tax season why not address this very controversial subject? Most people may not know this but there are plenty of scriptures in the bible about paying taxes. You are probably thinking that it is probably in the Old Testament under some archaic law but I can assure that Jesus himself taught on this very subject so let us begin...

Matthew 22:15-22
¹⁵ Then the Pharisees went and plotted how they might entangle Him in His talk. ¹⁶ And they sent to Him their disciples with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that You are true, and teach the way of God in truth; nor do You care about anyone, for You do not regard the person of men. ¹⁷ Tell us, therefore, what do You think? Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not?”
 ¹⁸ But Jesus perceived their wickedness, and said, “Why do you test Me, you hypocrites? ¹⁹ Show Me the tax money.”
So they brought Him a denarius.
 ²⁰ And He said to them, “Whose image and inscription is this?”
 ²¹ They said to Him, “Caesar’s.”
And He said to them, “Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” ²² When they had heard these words, they marveled, and left Him and went their way.

Also see Mark 12:13-17, Luke 20:20-27

Even though Jesus was the rightful king of the earth and Rome was without a doubt the most tyrannical empire there ever was but Jesus still paid his taxes. Tax collectors and taxation was one of the most hated of professions. It was out of control.  They were being taxed for everything, For example they were even taxing them to go to church. Don't believe me. Check this out.

Matthew 17:24-27
²⁴ When they had come to Capernaum, those who received the temple tax came to Peter and said, “Does your Teacher not pay the temple tax?”
 ²⁵ He said, “Yes.”
And when he had come into the house, Jesus anticipated him, saying, “What do you think, Simon? From whom do the kings of the earth take customs or taxes, from their sons or from strangers?”
 ²⁶ Peter said to Him, “From strangers.”
Jesus said to him, “Then the sons are free. ²⁷ Nevertheless, lest we offend them, go to the sea, cast in a hook, and take the fish that comes up first. And when you have opened its mouth, you will find a piece of money; take that and give it to them for Me and you.”

I would like to point out that the temple tax was originally instituted to support the communal sacrifices, the scribes, temple and other things to keep the temple going. This of course was not needed in the time of Jesus' because Rome had taken over. Jesus paid it anyways, so that they would not be offended. We all know that temple sacrifice was abolished when Jesus became our sacrifice for us. I guess the reason I bring this up is that even though the temple tax was a ridiculous and uneccesary tax Jesus still paid it. He also paid his taxes to Rome. Jesus point out that as "sons" we walk in freedom regarding the law imposed by Moses but we are not free to disobey the laws of the land.

I know that here in America people feel it unfair to pay so much of their income to our government but we still have to obey the laws of the land. The bible exhorts us to submit to every governing authority and to pay our taxes.

Romans 13:1-7 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. ² Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. ³ For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. ⁴ For he is God’s minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God’s minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. ⁵ Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience’ sake. ⁶ For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God’s ministers attending continually to this very thing. ⁷ Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor.
I would like to point a few things: The scripture warns that if we don't obey the laws of the land then don't be suprised if you come under judgment or punishment for breaking the law. Secondly, in God's word tells us to fear those who can execute these punishments because they don't bear the sword in vain. When we resist authority we resist God. More importantly, we obey for conscience sake. It is the right thing to do.

One last thing...the only time we wouldn't obey the laws of the land is when they are completely violating the laws of God. If they passed a law to kill all Jews and asked us to tell the government where they were then I would be the first to disobey them. The wise men were instructed by the king to tell them where Jesus was born but they were warned and did not do it. Good thing they didn't because he ended killing every male child under two years old.  Here is another example from the book of Acts 4:18-20 So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. ¹⁹ But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. ²⁰ For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” 

Conclusion, obey God first and then obey the laws of the land. If the laws of the land violate the laws of God then obey God! PS If you don't file your taxes then the IRS is known to guess what you owe. Also, even if you think you didn't make enough you might get money back so it is worth filing. You might get earned income credit and actually come out ahead. Happy tax filing.

Engage God!

Engage: To attract and hold by influence or power

Not so long ago I was at a church service and the guest speaker was encouraging people to come to the altar to pray over their loved ones.  Strangely, many people continued to sit motionless on the chairs.  It was almost like they didn't hear what they were being asked to do. Again the invitation was given but only a few people came up.  The rest remained in their seats the rest of the night. It was literally like pulling teeth to get anyone to leave their comfort zone. As I was at the altar the Lord started to speak to me about this problem. 

First, we here in America have gotten used to coming to church and have everything happen behind the pulpit. Like the children of Israel we have sent Moses up the mountain to encounter God while we stay behind and build the golden calf. Our expectancy level only goes as far as believing God for a good sermon for the day. On the other hand, the only thing that is expected from the congregation in most cases is their tithe money and that is all. Honestly, I have seen more enthusiasm at a football game than I have seen in many churches.  At least at a football game people cheer and get into the game.  In some churches we can't even get people to stand up and praise God.  We have a lot to thank God about. He choose us to live life abundantly and be filled with His amazing unconditional love.  Unfortunately, many people don't receive this abundant life because they never engage God.  They never go beyond listening to the Pastor speak to hearing the Holy Ghost reveal himself through scripture, getting filled with His Presence, being touched in their bodies or being set free from their bondage.  They walk into church depressed, hurting, sick, addicted, unsaved and leave the same way they came in. This is religion.

I believe that God is about to change all of that. There is nothing more powerful than a group of believers coming into unity, with expectancy, ready to engage God so they can receive what they are believing for. If those believers love each other deeply than expect God to show himself mighty in them. As God starts to move on His people and they start to respond to the love of God be sure that every person that comes within that atmosphere will be changed forever.  As God's people ascend the mountain with Moses unafraid and unabated asking for God to show them His glory...will He not do it? My God this is how Pentecost was poured out.  A group of believers who prayed in unity, loved each other, were willing to lay their life down for the gospel and waited for the promise of the Holy Spirit. It was these empowered witnesses that received the Pentecostal fire. My friends, we already have this Holy Ghost fire and all we have to do is rekindle it at the altar of our hearts.

To rekindle this fire, we just need to engage God in our loving adoration.  He seeks those who worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.  All of heaven will stop to listen to just one thankful heart. It was always those who declared the Divinity of Christ who caused Jesus to pay attention. Jesus, son of David have mercy on Me was the cry of every desperate soul.  They would then throw themselves at the feet of Jesus and worship Him. My friends, if we are ever to get passed our mundane traditions then we must be willing to let go of our religious pride. We must be willing to leave that chair, go to the altar, weep, worship, pray or anything else that the Spirit of God moves upon us to do. If you are willing to do this...you will leave changed. Engage God!