In 2020, Pastor Gary Hamrick of Cornerstone Chapel in Virginia was required to pay a fine purportedly for violating the Internal Revenue Code restricting the political speech of churches and religious charities. The violated IRS regulation is known as the Johnson Amendment.
What IRS sin did the Rev. Hamrick commit? He preached a sermon the IRS deemed too political, simply because he attempted to measure two presidential candidates’ positions against scriptural principles.
Fear of the ire of the IRS may be why your conservative pastor or ministry leader steers clear of decrying the moral bankruptcy of certain inherent evils when they are debated in the political realm — such as same-sex marriage, transgenderism, abortion, or assisted suicide.
For conservative ministry leaders, fear of loss of their livelihood and the safeguarding of their ministries is a driving force for their silence. Violating the Johnson Amendment is a nonprofit death knell, potentially causing catastrophic revenue loss.
Just one violation of the Johnson Amendment can disqualify a charity from nonprofit status. It is capital punishment for nonprofit corporations conserving biblical principles in the affairs of their community.
Recently, the National Religious Broadcasters, two churches, and a religious nonprofit challenged the Johnson Amendment in court.
In that lawsuit, they allege IRS bias against conservative Christian churches and ministries, stating that, to their knowledge, “no investigation, and particularly no adverse action, has ever been taken against any left-leaning or Democrat-affiliated nonprofit. The proportion of adverse actions taken against 501(c)(3) nonprofits skews disproportionately against conservative organizations.”
The Institute for Free Speech stated in a memo, “In its current form, the Johnson Amendment is simply unworkable. Enforcement is rare, penalties are severe, and guidance is unclear.”
Thankfully, capital punishment for conservative corporations is on the chopping block.
Leading the legislative charge to restore free speech for Christian leaders are Rep. Mark Harris, R-N.C., and Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla. Together, they introduced legislation reversing the long-standing unconstitutional free speech restrictions “silencing pastors, churches, and non-profits.”
For 71 years, the Johnson Amendment has bullied biblical pulpits into silence. The Free Speech Fairness Act will serve to blunt the sword’s edge of IRS censorship.
But how could restricting the moral voice of the church in the political realm not be viewed as a violation of the First Amendment constitutional rights of freedom of religion and the establishment clause? That clause states, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”
The clause was not written to keep the prophetic voice out of politics but rather to keep government from mandating or regulating religion. The Johnson Amendment violates the First Amendment by silencing the church’s prophetic voice when it comes to the government’s role in human affairs.
America and our constitutional rule of law are built upon the rock of the Judeo-Christian tradition, a moral code rooted in the nature of God, in whose image humanity is created, as revealed in seed form via the Ten Commandments. That objective rule of law, appropriately, is represented throughout the architecture of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Christian beliefs manifest themselves in words, letters, symbols, and actions. These speak to the importance of understanding and reinforcing core human concepts like inherent dignity as created in God’s image, basic human modes (male and female), basic human roles (father, mother, child, sibling, neighbor), and basic governing or mediating institutions (marriage, business, church, civil government).
The Law of Moses says, “You shall not muzzle the ox while he is threshing.” According to the Apostle Paul, muzzling the ox conveys the idea of stifling the moral teaching of the church with the threat of withholding a living wage from the preacher (I Cor. 9: 8-11).
The great height of America’s tree is limited only by the depths of the taproot of the country’s morality.
But how will Americans know what is good unless they hear? And how will they hear without a preacher?
Christian pastors and leaders are to be watchman, “[speaking out] to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live.” And if they refuse to warn them, then “the wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at [the watchman’s] hand” (Ez. 3:18).
From God’s perspective, the Johnson Amendment does not alleviate the duties of Christian leaders, the watchman, to preach the truth about what it means to be human under God, helping them avoid moral shipwreck. It just requires the preacher to fear God more than man as God charged Ezekiel, “Do not be afraid of them or be dismayed before them …” (Ez. 3:9).
From one who is a leader of conservative nonprofit organizations, it would be more comfortable if Sen. Lankford and Rep. Harris succeeded in repealing the Johnson Amendment. But if not, we as pastors and Christian leaders must count the cost for our own souls’ sake and for the sake of the souls of our fellow countrymen.
This is nothing new. Governing authorities in their day gave the Apostles and other church leaders “strict orders not to continue teaching” (Acts 5:28).
Making America great again requires a moral revival. But America has no shot at a return to greatness unless courageous men refuse to let the truth be silenced and say with the Apostles: “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:30).
The Rev. Jim Harden is CEO of CompassCare, an anti-abortion medical network based in Buffalo, New York. He is married with 10 children. Recently his medical center was firebombed by anti-abortion activists. Read more of his reports — Here.
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