The Church is not a whore, she is the bride.

There have been at times pivotal moments in History regarding both our nation and the church. Times that required great courage and thankfully God was gracious and willing to raise up both men and women to meet the challenges of their day.

Think back over history for a moment and consider the cost to those beloved disciples, even more so think of the cost that Christ himself paid. Think back still to a time in our not so distant past when Martin Luther nailed his thesis to the doors of the catholic church. Fast forward now another century and consider the cost to those men and women of courage who risked life and limb to sail the span of the great Atlantic Ocean. For what? For freedom, freedom to practice their faith as they felt compelled by the spirit of God himself. Most of them died that first winter. It is a sad history but this is who we are as a people. We are a people that have always made great and unimaginable sacrifices for the sake of the Gospel. Sometimes the circumstances demanded it.

Fast forward to our day, as a church we have been handcuffed for far too long by this idea that we must remain neutral in politics out of fear that we will lose our tax-exempt status. This is the great fear and the great compromise that our convention has fell victim to. Sadly our churches are beholden to the powers that be in this convention. Forsaking the bride in all her holiness in order to appease the concubine. As a result of this relationship we are now guilty of the same crime as Abraham, forsaking the promised seed and conceiving illegitimate children with that which is not our bride.

I have heard various interpretations of Mark 12:17 where Jesus says “render unto Caesar what is Caesars and render unto God what is God’s”. In fact I have my own understanding of that verse. Considering the most widely used interpretation we shall take it to mean that Christ himself hath given the instruction to pay taxes. Why then does the church feel as if we must comply with the restrictions placed upon us in order to retain our tax-exempt status? We are in fact commanded to pay taxes, and by doing so we will have shed the chains that bind us.

Drop the tax-exempt status and trust God not Government to provide our daily bread. That no more will we be led into temptation by the promise that we shall retain some monetary benefit if only we would keep silent. There is a time to speak and a time to be silent, today is not the time for silence, too much is at stake.