Note to the Church: protection from government does exist

There has been a growing backlash against the Church by secular government agencies and anti-Christian organizations for decades, which prompted President Trump to re-open the White House Faith Office that had been initiated during his first term. What President Trump addressed at two prayer breakfasts February 6, regarding the increased antipathy to Christianity, was necessary and it is time that First Amendment rights are fully protected as the Founders intended.

Too many religious leaders aren’t aware of how the Reagan administration created an umbrella to do just that in 1986. As Rev. John Amanchukwu mentioned in an appearance on WarRoom, the problem with government targeting Christian churches and organizations stems from the 1954 Johnson Amendment that places limitations on non-profit corporations.

Remove churches from secular and unqualified IRS oversight

Go ahead, ask how that created hurdles for the Church. In fact, it didn’t until lawyers began convincing church leaders that they needed to incorporate as non-profits in order to operate as a tax-exempt entity. Beforehand, churches rarely went the route of creating a corporation for the body of Christ, nor was it necessary after the Johnson Amendment passed Congress. It was the greatest of bamboozles the increasingly left-leaning government instituted to rein in and undermine the Gospel.

Church leadership, taking more and more of an apolitical stance, hearkened to the legal advice of attorneys that made money on creating corporations and maintaining them for businesses. Christians followed the expert direction to incorporate, paying out healthy fees, that placed churches under the purview of the Internal Revenue Service that could then decide whether or not to bestow non-profit status.

In 1986, the Reagan administration recognized the issue and, through Congress, amended the Internal Revenue Code to provide an alternative for churches that would remove them from secular and unqualified IRS oversight. To this day, most churches still have no idea regarding the implications of Section 508 or how to take advantage of it, nor do attorneys recommend its implementation because it isn’t a moneymaker for them. Most attorneys aren’t even familiar with the section because it doesn’t serve the concept of amoral, nonreligious government control of American society. If it can’t be taxed, it should be shut down because it doesn’t feed government’s voracious appetite. 501(c)(3) non-profits come under the authority of the IRS that decides how they may operate or if they can operate.

It is a welcome move by President Trump to locate, investigate, and target government interference with First Amendment rights

Government has insinuated itself into the Church by convincing church leadership that government agencies’ have the power to determine the structure and mission of the Church and its membership. That is what incorporation does and why its been foisted on the Church, but it’s all been a ruse to strip the Church of recognizing God’s supremacy over their speech and actions. Once a church has voluntarily placed itself under the hand of the IRS by incorporating as a “non-profit,” it has relinquished the sovereignty of the Almighty to the control of what’s become anti-Christian government.

From the beginning of this nation, faith has played a distinct and invaluable role; a role that leftist infiltration of a streamlined operation designed by the Founders, turned around to create a top-heavy administrative state that suppresses freedom of speech and religious expression, especially that of Christians. What occurred during the Covid pandemic demonstrated just how far Christians would go to “obey” government edicts rather than God’s exhortation to assemble together in faith.

It is a welcome move by President Trump to locate, investigate, and target government interference with First Amendment rights, and put an end to the unconstitutional practices within virtually every administrative agency. Churches should also be made aware they needn’t suffer under the iron fist of the IRS that comes by way of incorporating as a non-profit, when that status has always been available to churches. It just took a savvy President Reagan to create a legal haven to protect churches from anti-Christian bias that riddles government.

Government is the creation of God to serve mankind, it is not God’s overseer. Nor does government determine whether or how His Word is shared and carried out among the nations.