Why Pay Taxes?
A great post today by Mark Beeson...
There will be times when those with earthly power claim your earthly possessions. Caesar didn't politely ask; he demanded. And those who failed to comply lost their already limited freedom (they were jailed), they lost their material possessions (what they tried to withhold was taken anyway), and many lost their lives (thereby setting an example to others who were thinking they could avoid giving the powerful the things they demanded).
Jesus said it was OK to, "Give Caesar what is Caesar's," but we shouldn't give Caesar what belongs to God. Instead, we should make sure to, "Give God what is God's."
So give God your love. Give God 1st Place in your life. Seek first God's Kingdom and His righteousness. Put your trust in Jesus. Put your hope in Christ.
Pay your taxes and but don't be deceived. Remember that the whole universe was made for Christ. One day everything will be gathered together in Him. As surely as you are careful to, "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's," you'll be wise if you "Render unto God what is God's."
Are we doing that?
C.S. Lewis wrote in Mere Christianity:
"It is easy to think that the Church has a lot of different objects – education, buildings, missions, holding services…[But] the Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them into little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time. God became man for no other purpose. It is even doubtful, you know, whether the whole universe was created for any other purpose. It says in the Bible that the whole universe was made for Christ and that everything is to be gathered together in Him."