Jesus on Taxation: Part 1
Here we are rolling toward the fateful day, April 15th, which, oddly falls on April 17th this year, thus allowing an extra two days to submit the papers. Not that an extra two days will make much difference comrade, but still, it’s two days.
So far, this year, as in all others, I have heard no loud protests from the established churches. No level of criminal grabbing is enough to elicit any response from the church at large. Better not to stir a fuss lest you become the target, the person of interest as it were. Even in our discomfort we are comfortable. They torture us and we remain silent lest we get tortured more harshly. And, after all, was it not Jesus who told us to give to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s (Matthew 22)? Of course no one seems to be asking which things really are Caesar’s and which things belong to God? Naughty question that is.
Some say that since the coin they showed Him had Caesar’s face on it that therefore all money belongs to Caesar. I do not believe Jesus was trying to say that. Rather, His response was simply to indicate that some things belong (or may belong) to Caesar and some things to God. Even that conclusion is set up to be knocked down since everything, the earth and all it contains, belongs to God. The civil government and God are not equal powers that divvy up the power and goods according to some outside directive. Rather, God owns everything. Governments and men are stewards who are supposed to manage all they rightly have to His glory. Members of the trinity are equals, but presidents, congressmen, and IRS agents do not rise to that status.
So, under the standard that we give to Caesar the things that belong to Caesar, what things should we then give? Do we give whatever Caesar demands? Do we give whatever the form says when we get to the end? What if the form says that Caesar wants more than God? Is it possible that the things that belong to Caesar are in greater proportion than the things that belong to God? What if Caesar demands things not his? These are the types of questions our modern churches never pose. Our forefathers, including church leadership, discussed these issues all the time. They came up with startling conclusions. Their interpretations set us on a course for liberty not experienced since the days of the Judges. We admire our forefather’s courageous words and bold actions, but find it difficult to mouth those words with the courage they displayed. Biblical thought and its clothing fall away. The sound of the riveting of chains ought to alarm us, but instead we dispassionately fold our wrists behind our backs while the links are hammered tight. Whether we look to the right or to the left our Christian liberty is evaporating. Heavy taxation is evidence of our enslavement. Where is the voice of the church? Where is the voice of the church? Where is the voice…
For Christian Culture,
Don Schanzenbach 4-13-12
Related Articles
Romans 13: Paying What You Owe
Suspender Man™, Don Schanzenbach, has long been an outspoken advocate of recapturing culture for Christ. He holds a MA in applied Biblical studies and a doctorate in applied theological studies in the field of political philosophy and government from New Geneva Seminary. He has been thinking, writing and speaking on Christian culture for two decades.
Leave a Reply