Louisville Process Theology Network

Letter-to-the Editor appearing in The Courier-Journal this
week

I noticed a church sign the other day that to me at least, in
the religious sense, made no sense at all. The sign said, “If God asks for only
10 percent then why should the IRS ask for more than 10 percent?

Now, I do realize that the words of this sign were laid out a
bit “tongue in cheek,” however I do believe that the underlying message is
cruel, callous and incredibly selfish especially considering that it was a
church sign.

One would suppose that some inside this church have read the Bible.
You would at least surmise that the one responsible for the sign hasn’t had to
blow the dust off his or her Bible lately.

Jesus said in Matthew 22:21 in regard
to taxes to “render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s; and
unto God the things that are God’s.” The collection arm of today’s Caesar which
is the United States government is the IRS.

So Jesus would be telling us today
to give unto the IRS what is theirs and unto God what is God’s.

The IRS does require a bit more than 10 percent from those of
us that have the income to be capable of giving it.

In James 1:27 we are told that “religion that God our Father
accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their
distress.”

In Acts 2:44-45 we are told about the “early church of Jesus Christ”
the following; “All the believers were together and had everything in common.
They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.”

Many of the religious right persuasion of today resent the
thought that the government does some redistribution of their hard-earned
wealth.

The government takes their money through taxes and gives it to people
that they view as undeserving of it in the form of welfare, food stamps,
government housing and other government programs. Those claiming to be
Christians obeying the God of the Bible are told in the Bible in no uncertain
terms to help the needy as we have seen in the cited verses.

When I see a church sign that says “If God asks for only 10
percent then why should the IRS ask for more than 10 percent,” what I see is a
church that is so selfish that it wants to take money away from the needy and
keep it for themselves. That’s why in the religious sense the sign made no sense
at all.