Joy,

The problem we face translating then to now is not an easy one. "Rendering to Caesar" seems pretty staight forward until you start parsing tax codes. In an ideal world, I would rather have my tithes and offerings disconnected from issues of tax deductions. In my case, the tax deductability has NO impact on how much I give. However, if the government decides to offer me a deduction for "charitable contributions," I am happy to take it for my church giving as well as my support of colleges, medical research, and the like. Afterall, the money the government takes from me is seldom used in ways that I support anyway. Legally reducing the draw accomplishes a couple of purposes at the same time.

[BTW, I do itemize, so the deductions matter. In fact the IRS is auditing me now because, like so many people in ministry, they didn't believe that my income justifies my contributions.]

Does this entangle us and make us part of a corrupt system? The problem will probably disappear on its own soon. My guess is that church contributions will not be tax deductible in the future and that is fine with me. Our giving will be a little more "clean" and untangle us from this system. The same applies to churches being tax-exempt. However, until that day comes, expect me to keep itemizing.

__________________
Dennis E. McFadden, Ex Mainline Baptist (in Remission)
Atherton Baptist Homes, CEO
First Baptist Church of Alhambra, Member, Transformation Ministries (CA)

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