Should Christians Pay Taxes?

July 4th, Patriotism, being a Christian and Paying Taxes


The latest fad to hit seems to be something called a Tea party. It is hard to find any real information on this movement. When you Google it, you get a lot of YouTube videos of rally’s, and the official Tea Party site. I went to their official site to check it out.

The site talks a lot about how much the Obama administration is spending. It even has a cute counter on it to let you see how much our national debt is. The site list other cutesy facts like how many times our debt would stack up to the moon and back. It list why the Obama administration is spending way too much. To me, it seems like a lot of hype with the goal to scaring you. Scare you into what you ask? Well, joining their movement of course.

Now don’t get me wrong. I don’t like how much the present administration is spending either. Neither do I like that I’m being forced to watch and support homosexual activities. In short, I’m not a fan of the Obama administration. I wanted to say that right up front. But neither do I think that we should be attacking our government.

The Tea Party was set up with this specific name to be a direct reflection on the Boston Tea Party. In case you were asleep during history class, like me, I will refresh you on this.

The Boston Tea Party was a direct action protest by colonists in Boston, a town in the British colony of Massachusetts, against the British government. On December 16, 1773, after officials in Boston refused to return three shiploads of taxed tea to Britain, a group of colonists boarded the ships and destroyed the tea by throwing it into Boston Harbor.

It was basically a revolt that situated around them feeling that they got unfairly taxed without appropriate or adequate representation. It was the Boston Tea Party that is said to have had a direct impact on our American Independence.

Now, I won’t go into if the Boston Tea Party was a good idea or not. I will only say that I do not believe Christians should take part in a revolt against their government.

The Tea Party movement here seems to be saying that they do not want more taxes. Though as I mentioned before, I cannot verify much, as specific details of the movement seem to be hard to find.

However, it sounds like a pretty similar theme to the Tea Party in Boston. I also found another web site that I wish to mention here. This movement is called Fairtax. I’m not listing the site address here, because I don’t wish to promote them. This group has a disturbing agenda to say the least. They wish to abolish all personal tax and instead institute some sort of nationwide sales tax.

Perhaps I’m dense or something.

Doesn’t most every state already pay sales tax?

And if we were to abolish federal tax, how would we pay for our kids to go to school, feed the hungry, and all those other programs that the feds have?

But this is not the main problem that I see with these groups. According to the Bible, we are to pay to Caesar what is Caesar’s. To put that in modern day terms, we are to pay to the federal government what belongs to the federal government. And who decides what belongs to the federal government. Well, they do of course. Hey, no one said that the system was perfect, but it’s the best that we have.

This came from an email I received from GotQuestions. I agree completely with the them.

“As far as a Christian’s responsibility towards government, we know from Romans 13:1-7 that we are to be subject to the governing authorities and to honor them, even when they are not honorable because it is ultimately God who has placed them in authority over us. So as Christians, we are under obligation to God to be model citizens, subject to the governing authorities over us by obeying laws, paying taxes, etc. However, our responsibilities are first and foremost to be obedient to God. In America, a democratic republic where individual citizens have the ability to change and influence government by voting or by being politically involved when appropriate and in appropriate ways, part of being a good citizen is voting and having whatever positive influence we can on government.It is very hard to love oppressive governments. However, as Christians we are still obligated to pray for our leaders (1 Timothy 2:1-4). God will honor our obedience to this command, and in His perfect timing, He will judge leaders who turn away from Him.”

I do have a few things to add to this. You knew I would, right?

Most that complain about paying taxes say that they don’t want to pay because;

The government is corrupt
They are just lining their own packets
We have way to much debt
Or they don’t like the agenda of the current government

Now, listen up carefully folks.

According to the Bible, obeying ones authority, in this case the federal government, does not depend on if you like them or not, or if you think they are corrupt, or misusing your tax dollars, or even what their agenda is. God does not give us a choice in these matters. He tells us that we MUST obey all authority.

It does not matter one bit if we like them or not. God says that all authority was set up by Him. Let’s follow through with that train of thought. If we do not obey authority, we are not obeying God. And if we are not obeying God, we are serving Satan.

Simple, right?

Have you ever noticed that most of the people that jump on these band wagons, of not wanting to pay taxes, are middle income to wealthy? I think it’s because most of these folks are greedy and want to keep their wealth. My opinion is that they are just a bunch or whiners that do not want to pay their share.

There are millions of people in third world countries that would gladly give most anything to have even the smallest portion of what we have. If these people, that have nothing, were to be given the opportunity to come to America, they would not be whining and complaining about paying taxes. They would be so grateful for the opportunity, that they would gladly pay them.

They would not be carrying signs in protest against our government and defying them. They would be grateful for what God has given them. It’s only those that live here and have lived like, or turned into, spoiled brats that do all this complaining.

My advice for these folks.

Go live in the ghetto and slums of a third world country for a while. Perhaps after you have done without, you will learn to be grateful for what you have.


Just Keeping it Real
Pastor Phillip Dacus
http://needsmet.us/
208-899-5766