In 1942, Methodist minister Ernest Bromley went to prison for refusing to pay tax. He declined to display a “defense tax stamp” on his car as the money would have supported the war effort, which he opposed. He decided to send the $7.09 cost of the tax to Methodist overseas relief instead.
Unsurprisingly, Revd. Bromley was arrested for his non-payment of taxes and convicted on two counts. He could face jail or he could pay a fine of $50. As the money from the fine would be used to support the war, Revd. Bromley refused to pay, so he was jailed for 60 days and lost his position as a minister.
As Christians, how should we think about taxes? We may not go as far as Ernest Bromley and go to jail for non-payment of tax, but is there ever a point where we might refuse to pay taxes? Are we culpable if our tax money goes to fund practices we disagree with and which dishonour God?
Thankfully the Bible is not silent about the issue of taxation, and Jesus himself was asked the question: should we pay tax?
Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s
The Bible tells us how two rival religious factions, the Pharisees and the Herodians, came together to attempt to trap Jesus. After they tried to flatter him, they ask a straight question: “Is it right to pay the imperial tax to Caesar or not? Should we pay or shouldn’t we?” (Mark 12:14-15)
This wasn’t a simple question about the ethics of taxation. The people of Israel were under Roman occupation. Paying taxes to Caesar amounted to collaborating with the enemy. Refusing the pay the tax would attract the displeasure of Rome and end badly for the person withholding the money.
As theologian Leon Morris puts it:
It was a tax that simply removed money from the citizen and transferred it to the emperor’s coffers with no benefit to the citizen. And if it were retorted that it paid the expenses of government, the answer would surely be that no Jew wanted Roman government and every Jew would be happy to dispense with it.
Jesus is faced with a seemingly impossible choice: endorse paying the tax, which would offend every Jewish person of the time, or oppose the tax and face the wrath of Rome.
Jesus, however, answers with great wisdom: “Bring me a denarius and let me look at it.” They brought the coin, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then Jesus said to them, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” (Mark 12:15-17)
Jesus asks for a Roman coin (which the religious leaders had, and seemed to be quite happy to carry around and use). The coin bears the image of the Roman emperor, Caesar, just as British currency carries the image of the monarch. “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s,” says Jesus.
If the people of the first century are to live under the rule of Rome, they are to pay taxes to Rome. If they are willing to use the coins that were in their pockets, bearing the image of Caesar, then they should also pay back the coins that were owed to Caesar as well. They might not like being under Rome, and would prefer the situation and government to be different. But this is where they find themselves, so they should pay the taxes that they owe.
Why Christians should pay tax
Jesus’ words teach us an important lesson: Christians should pay tax. We may argue that we have Jesus as our Lord and King, and that we belong to a heavenly kingdom, both of which are true. But here and now, we live on earth as part of an earthly society and government. Taxes are part and parcel of living in this earthly kingdom.
Jesus argues that tax is owed to Caesar, even if the people don’t see much return on their payment to the state. Here in the UK, we pay taxes and enjoy the benefit of the services that our taxes fund: streets and roads, health care and hospitals, law and order, defence and security. We may disagree with the level of funding for some of these things, or even if they should be funded at all, but it does not remove the fact that we receive benefits from them. Our taxes are, quite literally, the price we pay for living in an ordered society.
Paul makes this point to the Christians in Rome. Towards the end of his letter to the Romans, he says:
Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established… Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good… This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honour, then honour.
God has established government as a good thing. There are great benefits to living in a society with laws, structures and systems in place. Ideally, these should work for the common good and to protect those who are vulnerable. But even when they don’t (and no system of earthly government will be perfect) it is still a good thing to aim for and work towards.
To have an ordered society means paying for those who run our government. As John Calvin comments in his 'Institutes of Christian Religion', “tributes and taxes are the lawful revenues of princes, which they may chiefly use to meet the public expenses of their office”. While Calvin did not view taxes as an encouragement “to waste and expensive luxury,” he urged that private individuals “should not let themselves rashly and shamelessly decry any expenses of princes, even if these exceed the common expenditures of the citizens.”
As Christians we pay taxes because those in authority give their time to governing and deserve a reasonable wage. We pay taxes because we benefit from the goodness of government, such as policing, health care and pensions. We pay taxes because we believe in Jesus’ command to love our neighbour, and the poorest and most vulnerable depend on us to contribute to their help and support.
When taxes fund immoral policies
Taxation is a good and honourable thing to participate in. But what if our taxes are spent on things that we might deeply disagree with? What if we don’t just think the amount of taxation should be different, or the distribution of funds could be fairer, but we have a profound moral objection to where our taxes go?
For Ernest Bromley in 1942, that moral objection was to war. He could not, in all conscience, give money which would be used to fund conflict. You may or may not agree with him on this point, but he was willing to face prison for his conviction that paying taxes for this purpose was wrong.
Today there might be other things that we would object to. Our taxes fund a system that allows transgender treatment for those who feel they need it, for example. Our taxes go toward a health-care system that allows people to undergo an abortion. While we do enjoy the benefits of government, there are some things that the government does that we do not agree with. How then can we continue to give funds that could go to support these practices?
When Paul told the Christians in Rome to pay their taxes, he wasn’t writing about a government that supported Christians. Most likely he wrote this letter around the time of the emperor Nero who did many amoral things, including persecuting Christians - possibly some of the very people Paul was writing to.
Paul does not have an idealised version of government and authorities when he encourages us to obey leaders and pay taxes. Nevertheless he says that those who lead deserve our respect and honour, as well as our taxes.
While there are things that we would prefer the government did not do, and items that we would prefer they did not fund, we cannot withdraw our taxes in response. We don’t give a tax for this piece of government spending, and a tax for that one. Rather we pay tax in general and we trust the government to spend that money for the good of the people.
American theologian and author John Piper explains it this way:
[A] reason I think we should keep on paying taxes whether we approve of all of the expenditures or not is that we are giving to a general fund, and we are not able to put our taxes into specific purposes or funds. If that were our situation — I can give an abortion tax, I can give a social security tax, I can give a military tax, I can give a welfare tax, and so on — then I think we would be bound to withhold the money from the abortion tax. But it is not operated like that. Tax dollars are spent according to how the government wishes, and we don’t get to determine that directly. So we would pursue — and I think God would hold us accountable to pursue — other ways to change the government’s decisions about where to spend the money. So my practice is: yes, I keep on giving money to the government that is funding abortion.
How Christians should think about tax
There is a place for Christians to protest against government and even resist the authorities in certain circumstances. In the vast majority of cases, however, as Christians we are called to honour and obey those in leadership, and to live peaceably with all (Romans 12:18).
We should not withdraw our taxes as Christians, but use the political power we have to influence taxation and where those tax funds are spent. In particular, we can influence government to use taxation to benefit the least in society. As pastor R. C. Sproul puts it, “I must pay my tax even if it is corrupt, but I am not allowed to participate in the corruption of such a system on my own behalf.”
We are to hold our elected officials to account for their use of our financial contributions. As John Calvin writes, “princes themselves will in turn remember that their revenues are not so much their private chests as the treasuries of the entire people … which cannot be squandered or despoiled without manifest injustice… Moreover, let them consider that their imposts and levies, and other kinds of tributes are nothing but supports of public necessity; but that to impose them upon the common folk without cause is tyrannical extortion.”
Taxation can be used as a means of support and care for those in need. We may not enjoy giving our money away in this fashion (especially if we have worked hard to earn it), and we may be tempted to do all we can to avoid paying taxes. Our vote might be used to choose a party who will lower our taxes, rather than raise them, not because we think this is the best fiscal policy for all, but because it benefits us the most.
It can be helpful for us to return to Jesus’ words about taxation: “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s.” We are to give taxes to Caesar, or any other government, if we use the money and services that bear Caesar’s image. We are to “give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s”.
We are also called to give “to God what is God’s”. When Jesus was asked about the coin, he said “Whose image is this?” Each one of us bears God’s image imprinted on our being. We are created by him, and belong to him. Therefore, as we think about giving to God what is God’s, we need to give our whole lives back to him, not as taxation but as worship.
Taxes may be money given back for the good of others and ourselves, but the money and resources we have left are not our own. They belong to God. We should gladly give those things back to God for his service. The question is not “Should I pay taxes” or even “How much tax should I pay?” It is rather, “How can I freely give all I have in worship to the God who freely gave himself for me?”