Pay Your Taxes

“Well, then,” Jesus said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.” Mark 12:17

The church I attend enjoys the property-tax exemption that is extended to houses of worship. As long as we avoid profit-making enterprises, we don’t pay the tax.

An attorney joined our board and suggested that our occasional book table and various other activities violated the exemption. He suggested we designate a small area as nonexempt and pay a minimum tax on it.

It saddened me to learn of quite a few local churches that were willing to ignore the law rather than, as Jesus instructed, “give to Caesar” what was legally due.

Most see the law as unfair, and even silly, but Scripture is quite clear on our responsibility to obey it, or work to change it while obeying it.

How are you doing in this area? Are you obeying the law in your hiring? Taxes? Computer software and copyright laws?

In this case, it’s not a case of wondering what would Jesus do. We have a clear example of what Jesus did.