Most Christian churches are registered as 501(c)3 non-profit organizations and receive a tax exempt status by the government. According to the IRS, to maintain this status churches must abstain from devoting a substantial part of their activity to influencing legislation and intervening in or contributing to political campaigns. In addition to this, church leaders may only make partisan comments if they do so as a reflection of their personal opinions and cannot make such comments through church publications or at official church functions.

From time to time Christian churches endanger their tax exempt status by speaking strongly for or against some particular issue that has a partisan bent. Usually only when Christian churches speak out against the prevailing political or cultural winds do they find themselves under investigation by the IRS. The State appears far less concerned about separation of Church and State when the Church agrees with the State. In all honesty, if these requirements were fairly and consistently enforced, I believe these investigations would be far more routine as I have seen Christian churches blatantly violations these requirements many times.

While these issues probably deserve more discussion, these are ultimately moot points to me because I believe all Christian churches should lose their tax exempt status. I believe this because it is categorically impossible for Christian churches to take the teachings of Jesus seriously and obey the requirements laid out by the IRS at the same time. Given the choice to follow Jesus or obey the IRS, I would hope Christian churches would follow Jesus even though this would mean losing their tax exempt status. There are two primary reasons I believe Christian churches cannot obey Jesus and the IRS at the same time.

First, numerous statements made by Jesus and other New Testament authors proclaim that Jesus is Lord over everything.  Jesus did not just claim authority over the personal, private, moral or spiritual dimensions of His follower’s lives.  Jesus claimed to be Lord over everything, which certainly would include all aspects of His follower’s lives.  This would include their finances, their politics, their public lives, how they treat the poor, how they treat their enemies, etc. If the claims about Jesus’ lordship and authority are to be taken seriously, no Christian church can suggest their members only owe Jesus their spiritual affections or their intellectual assent to specific doctrines while Jesus can be safely ignored on all other matters. Either Jesus is seen as the absolute Lord over the entire world and Lord over all aspects of the of the lives of His followers or the followers of Jesus must admit that they are ignoring some of Jesus’ own words and claims made about Him in the Bible.

Second, the claims of Jesus and His teachings had and have social and political implications. Jesus did not just encourage His followers to pursue personal piety but to pursue justice. Jesus did not just teach on morality but also on ethics. Jesus taught that we are to love our enemies, that we are to take care of the poor and the marginalized, and that we are to love our neighbor as ourselves. All of these teachings involve many issues that are today governed by politics and legislation. How then could a Christian church today obey Jesus and remain unconcerned with politics and legislation? While it is true that many of these teachings can obeyed or pursued at a personal level, with no involvement in politics whatsoever, there are some issues that are primarily or exclusively handled in our contemporary society through politics and legislation. For example, any stance on war will naturally involve politics. In addition to this, certain issues may require political or legislative reform to address in a more comprehensive manner.  For example, volunteering to feed the homeless at a soup kitchen is certainly taking care of the poor, but if you want work towards ending poverty you will need to get involved in local, national and global politics.

In this situation, how could a Christian church ever hope to abide by the requirements laid out by the IRS?  Because of Jesus’ claims to absolute and complete authority, Christians cannot offer their personal and private lives to Jesus while keeping who they vote for, what legislation they pursue, and how they treat others as a matter of personal preference. If Christians believe Jesus is Lord, they cannot, “I pray and believe according to the teachings of Jesus, but I do not let my faith impact how I vote. That is a private and personal matter.”  How could a Church take Jesus’ teachings regarding the poor and the marginalized seriously and not pursue specific legislation regarding  homelessness, economic exploitation in capitalism, environmental injustice, Welfare, Medicaid, universal health care and immigration reform?  How could one expect Christian leaders , whose job in part entails espousing the teaching and ideals of Jesus, to not speak about partisan issues in an official capacity or at an official function? How could a Christian leader take Jesus’ insistence that we love our enemies seriously and not speak out against wars in an official capacity?

At the end of the day, Jesus’s claims and teachings had and have political implications and this will always guarantee that at some level following Jesus will be a political endeavor. Following Jesus has always meant being willing to break from the prevailing cultural and political winds and in the contemporary context this will mean involvement in legislation and the democratic process which is highly partisan.  In light of all of this, it is impossible for Christian churches to obey Jesus and the IRS at the same time without seriously compromising the teachings of the former to receive the tax-exempt status of the latter. I would hope that Christians would follow the teachings of Jesus and live a political life and pursue a political agenda that reflects the person they believe to be God, even though doing so will mean losing benefits they may have grown accustomed to.