IRS Allows Partisan Endorsements From The Pulpit
Last week the Internal Revenue Service made a statement in a court filing allowing churches to make partisan endorsements of political candidates without risking their tax exempt status. This statement does not repeal the Johnson Amendment (the law that penalizes churches by revoking tax exempt status if they are overtly political) but the statement from the IRS carries weight because the IRS enforces the tax code. So their reinterpretation of the law sends a clear message that the current administration is comfortable allowing churches to endorse politicians. There are some Christians who view this as a good thing and other Christians who see this as negative. I believe this change is very dangerous for the witness of churches and unhelpful for the mission of churches. Let me share three reasons why I find this concerning when I think theologically. Click here if you want to read more about the news story.
1. I have sat with people who shared how heartbreaking it was for their former pastor to endorse a political candidate they opposed. Long story short, this action from pastors can fracture churches and make church members feel like they don’t belong in churches they have been a part of for years. My hope is that we are bound together as the body of Christ because of our love for God and our desire to live out the mission of God not our politics. Endorsing candidates distracts from and harms our core mission.
2. When I reflect broadly on church history I am reminded that some of the church’s worst mistakes occurred in moments when the church blindly pledged allegiance to the political powers of their day. The crusades come to mind for me, but I suspect you can think of other examples. There is a great danger in using the credibility of pastors and churches to support candidates who may do things that are in no way Christlike. If we allow partisanship to reign inside our church communities, we will risk repeating the mistakes of history.
3. Our witness to those outside the church will be greatly compromised if we make partisan endorsements. There is an old southern saying that goes something like this. “Never wrestle with a pig, you both get dirty, and the pig likes it.” I don’t want to be a pastor covered in the mud of partisan politics. I fear that whenever we engage with politics at the partisan level we forfeit the opportunity to challenge people to think theologically. We lose the opportunity to reframe conflict because we are already acting in a partisan way. Furthermore, no political party embodies the fullness of the gospel. If we are not careful, we could end up allowing politicians to interpret the Bible and more than our pastors.
Don’t worry, I wont be making political endorsements from the pulpit of our church. I will commit to preaching with the Bible in one hand and the newspaper in the other. As people of faith, we need to speak to what is happening in our world and apply the gospel as a way of making sense of everything happening. The ancient wisdom of the word of God has a way of cutting through the noise pointing our attention to the things that matter most.
I’d like to hear your thoughts on this news so please reach out to me at PastorMike@SpringChurch.org. As your pastor, I want to equip your to the grow in your faith and do the ministry God has called you to. I don’t want to tell you how to think or how you should vote. I’ll close with a commitment to two things. First, no partisan endorsements. Second, I will challenge all of us regardless of how we lean politically to continually use the values of our faith to inform our actions and our politics.
