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Is the “Tithe” in Jeopardy?
By Lafe Tolliver, Esq
Guest Column
On December 13, 2013 the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals
upheld the decision of a bankruptcy trustee to have a church
return the entire portion of tithes that a bankruptcy couple
gave to their worship center over a period of two years
prior to their bankruptcy filing. (see: McGough v.
Wadsworth; Appellate case: 12-1142 @ the 10th
Circuit Court of Appeals…Google it.)
Needless to state, if that decision is upheld (will
probably for now apply only to those states within the
jurisdiction of the Tenth Circuit but can be an example for
other bankruptcy courts across the nation), it can cause a
firestorm unless and until Congress quickly amends the
applicable law.
But, until that change comes, and it probably will, it
gives a “whole heap” of materials for commentators to write
about.
My take on this decision? It is great and about time
that the separation between church and state becomes clearer
and clearer.
If Christians or those who profess to be believers and
their belief principles include the Old Testament concept of
giving a “tithe” (in this current day, it is figured at 10
percent of one’s income, gross for some… and net for others)
they are sorely mistaken that somehow this court case is
going to “doom” the
existence of the church.
When you count all of the IRS tax laws and exemptions
that pertain to or impact the “church” and how it is run and
how the monies that pour into it are calculated, one glaring
fact should stare you straight in the face.
And that is, it doesn’t have to be this way at all.
Unless of course the professing Christian Church is in bed
with the government and its revenue collecting arm known as
the IRS.
The relationship between the IRS and the church is too
cozy for the good of the church. The church has dined at the
ever-flowing teat of the IRS and now, when someone wants to
muzzle in on that relationship which involves mammon or
money, someone else yells, “foul!”
Unless the professing church really realizes and
places into operation the fact that the IRS is not needed
for them to be a church body and that the church can stand
and prosper without the goodies and trinkets of the
government, the church will be forever kowtowing to the
government for its financial existence.
That is not how it was originally planned out by the
head of the Church, Jesus the Christ. The Body of Christ,
aka: the Church was to be an independent entity, dependent
upon no man-made organization to enable it to thrive and
prosper and to undertake its mission and purpose.
But that was then and this is now.
Now, the churches in America have grown fat and greasy with
their hands out to the IRS for their sustenance and any
hiccup that rattles that ungodly relationship is met with
alarm by a church that is beholden to a “Caesar” that kindly
tolerates them.
Of course, the present-day church has not done much to
change that image what with all of their pomp and
circumstance and programming and doctrines that would be
totally foreign to the early Christian Church.
With mega-churches and pastors and preachers preaching
a smorgasbord of both correct and heretical doctrines, one
can be easily deceived that the present-day church is a
proper child or grandchild of the early church that had no
devotion to “Caesar” (aka: world system and government) or
was beholden to him for their existence.
Weak church doctrine and even weaker personalities in
many of the church’s pulpits do not even lend lip support to
orthodox Christian principles and, as such, a different
gospel has been propagated that in essence is no gospel at
all.
If churches want to mount a campaign to have Congress
change the laws so that all church giving over X dollars is
exempt from being attached by a bankruptcy trustee, so be
it, but remember…the more the professing church plies Caesar
with its entreaties, the more that Caesar will be emboldened
to conform the church to its image.
This court decision, overturned or not, is a wakeup
call to the church in America that its precarious reliance
upon the fickleness of legislators for its existence is
diametrically opposed to the walk of faith as postulated in
the Bible; and for the church to continue to blindly wave
the flag of America while singing the songs of Zion, causes
conflict and a clear division of loyalty.
Church organizations do not need the following to
exist: [1] large and costly mortgaged facilities; [2]
over-paid pastors and staff; [3] car allowances; [4] housing
allowances; [5] IRS exemptions for its members to give for
its upkeep; [6] by-laws; [7] 501(c) (3) exemptions; [8] pipe
organs; [9] stained glass windows; [10] padded pews; [11]
private jets; [12] television programs; [13] garish costumes
to wear in the pulpit [endowments]…you get the picture?
Can you image the courage it would take for a church
or any church to simply cut the umbilical cord with the IRS
and state governments and for those associations to be
independent from reliance on the whims of a judge or a
Congressional mandate or a bureaucrat and continue to
operate as a church body? It can be done but will it be
done?
I am not advocating throwing out the baby with the bath
water but I am advocating that the baby, at some point in
time, needs to get off of its milk diet and start eating at
the meat platter.
Too much of the church in America is bloated with its
own pomposity and pride to the point that sometimes you
cannot tell the difference between the wiles and guiles of
the church and the influences and trappings of the world.
Contact Lafe Tolliver at Tolliver@Juno.com
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