Churches' first mistake: asking the IRS for non-profit status

Once again, the administrative paper-pushers at the IRS that have been immersed in Marxist ideology have made their mark by crossing the line of folly into megalomania. However, the transgression of the bureau's drones is a learned reaction to a non-profit application that probably should never have been filed in the first place. Christians Engaged is an organization that partners with Christian churches and endeavors, by its own description, to rely on the Holy Bible for guidance in cultural affairs that directs believers in how to approach government. Among those guidelines are prayer for those in authority, and application of biblical tenets regarding community involvement which, by its nature, includes considering politics.

501(c)(3) and the Church

The problem lies in the notion that churches and church affiliates and aggregates engaged in charitable and educational endeavors have a requirement to procure corporate non-profit status in order to conduct their works. That is not the case and after 25 years of trying to get through to pastors that incorporating as a 501(c)(3) lures churches into the purview of the IRS, some are waking up to realize the trap. The First Amendment already covers the freedom to exercise one's religion, which indeed includes marshalling prayer meetings and educating believers in how to apply their faith in their community. The works that the religious organization or church is called to do is not up to the government to decide. It is determined by the pastor, minister or leader and congregation or members. What churches and religious organizations have been hornswoggled to think is that they need the anointing of the IRS in order to operate outside the tax rolls. Not so. Setting government above God occurs by convincing churches they need the IRS to bestow tax-exempt status that, essentially, they already had. The Johnson Amendment, approved July 2, 1954, initialized government extortion of religious organizations over content delivered from the pulpit, in church classes and even evangelism. By the way, this is not exclusive to Christian churches. Any religious organization was targeted and encouraged to file for 501(c)(3) status although Christians were and are, by far, the most “dangerous” to a secular government bent on instituting control over the People. Why? Because our founding documents are solidly based on the Bible, making it necessary to undermine and even eradicate biblical teaching in order to eventually do away with the Constitution as old, worn-out and no longer applicable in a post-post-modern era. Another part of the equation is that attorneys have themselves been indoctrinated by law schools to assume that a church must first file incorporation papers and beg the IRS to give them tax-exempt status before engaging the public. Decades of pushing incorporation on houses of worship and faith-based organizations to believe there is need to operate as a “business” has settled minds to accept inevitable servitude to the IRS. The fact that members of Congress felt compelled to write a letter condemning the action of the IRS denying Christians Engaged non-profit status further speaks to the problem.

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Churches and religious organizations engaged in doing the works of their faith are not tax-exempt, they are mandatory exceptions

Luckily, there are legal teams out there assisting churches to put the genie back in the bottle. Point of Connection won a land use issue in Oregon with the help of First Liberty Institute that has taken up the challenge for Christians Engaged. That situation had to do with a county using zoning to block the ministry from aiding men in crisis. It didn't work because the county's argument was unconstitutional. Government does not have the authority to dictate what constitutes the work or worship of a church or religious organization. It's time church and religious leaders were disabused of the fallacy, and to help it along, take a good gander at 26 U.S. §508 (1969) and §6033 to open the eyes of the faithful that churches and religious organizations engaged in doing the works of their faith are not tax-exempt, they are mandatory exceptions. Although the freedom of religion argument is sufficient to force the IRS to do their job rather than assailing the Bible as rightwing “propaganda,” churches ought never to enter the IRS' sphere of influence in the first place. The First Amendment is enough upon which a church can operate freely without harassment from government agencies. They are better off to ‘go forth' and spread the gospel according to God's direction without offering themselves up as sacrificial lambs to the jaws of ravenous wolves wrapped in shepherds' cloaks. Churches must exercise individuals' God-given rights to worship by acknowledging God first and foremost.