I love the emails I get from some of my fellow preachers. Today, one of my colleagues forwarded an email to me with the attention-grabbing headline, "Pastor Challenges IRS to Sue Him!"
I generally want to have as little visibility as possible where the IRS is concerned, so I kind of wondered what this particular parson might be up to. Against my better judgment, I read the email.
It seems that Pastor Cary Gordon, of Cornerstone World Outreach in Sioux City, Iowa, is upset about that state's Supreme Court ruling that legalized gay marriage in 2009.
Since three of the seven justices on the court are up for "retention votes" in November, Pastor Gordon has started a campaign to have them voted out of office. He not only has proclaimed from his pulpit that the offending justices should be ousted (and directly instructed his congregants which way they should vote)-- he has sent 1,000 letters to pastors across the state urging them to do the same.
The Sioux City Register has covered the story thoroughly; you can read more details here.
Now, Americans United for Separation of Church and State has filed a complaint against the church with the Internal Revenue Service. It is their contention that the church should not be allowed to maintain its tax exempt status if they are going to seek to directly influence elections.
As the Register reports:
"Internal Revenue Service code is clear on this matter. All section 501(c)(3) organizations 'are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office. Contributions to political campaign funds or public statements of position (verbal or written) made on behalf of the organization in favor of or in opposition to any candidate for public office clearly violate the prohibition against political campaign activity.' "
But to Pastor Gordon, it's an issue worth fighting about. He is quoted by OneNewsNow, a self-proclaimed "source for Christian news," in this way:
"I have never, nor will I ever, get a message from the Holy Spirit and then go check with the IRS tax code first to see if it's okay to preach it. I'm tired of pastors submitting to this tyranny -- and I'm expecting to try to get the IRS to sue us so that we can take it all the way to the Supreme Court and restore freedom in America's pulpits."
Well, there you go...straight from God's mouth to your ears, by way of Pastor Gordon!
I'm afraid I have to agree with the Register on this one. Writing in support of the IRS review of the Cornerstone congregation and asserting that Pastor Gordon has taken it a step too far, the Register's editorial board said:
"In our view, no other conclusion can be reached in this case. Gordon may continue to voice his opinion, urge fellow Christians to join him and wage his campaign to remove Iowa Supreme Court justices. That is his right under the laws of this country. But when he does so under the banner of Cornerstone World Outreach, that church should no longer receive taxpayer subsidies."
Nobody can or should tell you what to preach, Pastor Gordon; you listen up a storm to the Holy Spirit.
But you lose the right to be exempt from paying your taxes when you willfully choose to ignore the laws of the land in which we live.You might want to ask the Holy Spirit to direct you back by Romans 13:1 for a refresher course in submission to the authorities.
And, you can make your check payable to "Internal Revenue Service, United States of America."
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