According to a report in WorldNetDaily, “Rep. Walter Jones, R-N.C., has offered a bill that would repeal the law that now prevents churches from engaging in any political activity without losing their tax-exempt status.
“‘The Houses of Worship Political Speech Protection Act,’ HR 2357, would remove from the Internal Revenue Code a 47-year-old law that has prompted some churches to avoid distributing voter guides or even taking positions on moral issues, such as abortion, that may be debated in political campaigns.”
The report also quotes Jones as saying, “This legislation removes the threatening hand of the IRS and extends the freedoms of the First Amendment to all houses of worship in America – as was the case in this country from its founding until 1954.”
While it is true that Jones’ bill is helpful and timely, don’t blame the IRS for the cowardice in America’s pulpits. Blaming the IRS for the unwillingness of modern clerics to preach the Bible is tantamount to blaming Jay Leno for a preacher’s bad jokes – there really isn’t much connection. It is true that some pastors might use the IRS as an excuse to pussyfoot their preaching, but it is almost certain that when the IRS code is changed, the conduct of the cowardly clergyman will not.
In the first place, if he were a real man of God, he would know who called him. A real preacher is not committee-called or state-sent. A genuine preacher gets his marching orders from Heaven – not Washington, D.C. Any pastor who waits around for permission from government bureaucrats to approve his sermons isn’t worth the price of a good spittoon.
Beyond that, real preachers fear no one but God. Through the centuries, courageous clergymen have challenged both the prisoner and the politician. They could not be bought or bullied. In the frontier days of America, they carried a Bible in one hand and a revolver in the other and knew how to use both efficiently.
The problem with today’s preachers is not the IRS or any other government bureaucracy. Put an Apostle Paul in prison and you have the book of Philippians. Banish the Apostle John to the Island of Patmos and you have the book of Revelation. Send the goon squads to beat Roger Williams and you create the state of Rhode Island. Imprison John Bunyan and you produce The Pilgrim’s Progress.
God’s prophets have been stoned, starved, shackled, spat upon, slapped, scalped, shamed, shot, stabbed, snubbed, strangled and sworn at, but they wouldn’t surrender or shut up. Who, then, are these uncircumcised federal bureaucrats to take the fire and brimstone out of God’s preachers?
The truth is, these pulpit phonies are not running scared from the IRS. They are running scared from their own deacon boards, or they are afraid of offending a wealthy contributor or of jeopardizing their retirement program or of a dozen other internal intimidators. The bottom line is they are not God’s men. They are hirelings. When the big bad wolf comes (whoever or whatever he is), they run for cover.
I sincerely hope Rep. Jones’ bill passes the Congress and is signed into law. However, giving pastors an old-fashioned dose of fearlessness is beyond the reach of political legislation. Then, too, it just might be that we have exactly the kind of preachers that we want, and God has accommodated.
