HJL,
The IRS is not evil in itself, in my view. They are a tax collection agency for the government. They are pretty good at what they do, albeit with many errors and some corruption along the way. The law makers who write the laws implementing policies that the IRS must enforce are another matter. Most of those folks we elect, and it’s not a pretty picture.
I don’t believe the IRS is where the real fight for the soul of our country is or will be. We, as Christians, can either change the law (policy) through lobbying and/or elections, or we can avoid the IRS and its rules where legally possible. The mandates within the “Rules for Churches” publication IRS Pub. 1828 are meant to be just that…rules. They are serious rules meant to restrain the activity of the church in certain areas; some of them are not clearly defined (see page 5 of IRS Pub 1828). This gives the enforcing agency (the IRS) great latitude to express the wishes of policy makers in whatever political climate they find themselves in. The current political climate is not very friendly to Christians or Christian churches who take a stand for Christ out loud. This is where agency rules bite, and they bite hard.
The thinking Christian must then ask, “Do we really need to be registered and thereby under these onerous rules at all?” The answer is NO! No church can be compelled to register with the IRS for any reason. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution makes this perfectly clear…”congress shall make no law….” Further, the IRS states this fact several times in their publications, and another SB reader has pointed this important fact out as well.
To protect the freedoms granted the Church by God Almighty working through our Founding Fathers, we need to be free to speak and act. Not only must we protect that which we still have, we must regain that which has now been lost. Serving the Living God is never easy, even in the best of times. These are not the best of times, and the fight is likely to be long, difficult, and messy. Keeping in mind Ephesians 6:12 regarding the darkness of this world and spiritual wickedness in high places, we must put on the WHOLE armor of God. For that, we must be legally free of IRS rules and then stand on our own two feet. We must possess ALL the freedom and bravery instilled in us for us by our Founding Fathers. We can then stand strong unfettered by the trappings of the corrupt policies of men, and with the unencumbered clear voice of the Gospel of Salvation for all.
Talk to your Church family. Let’s just do it, and get ourselves free for service to Him. It’s getting late. – DJF