Lawmaker tries to preserve clergy housing tax break

WASHINGTON -- With a California court seemingly poised to strike down a longtime housing tax break for ministers, Rep. Jim Ramstad, R-Minn., is preparing legislation to clarify the provision and "prevent America's clergy from facing a devastating tax increase."

In a case that could have financial repercussions for every church, synagogue and mosque in the nation, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco announced earlier this month that it is reviewing the constitutionality of the so-called "parsonage" tax exemption.

You misunderstand me.
My disgust not for the amount of money he makes, but that he uses it for creature comforts, when he, as a Christian minister is called to deny himself and devote his life and earnings to himself and his fellow man.
"For he that humbles himself shall be exalted..."
"For it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven."

I oppose the taxation practices of our government as much as anyone, and I do not wish for the government to take his money, or to make or cancel any law whatsoever about this issue, but my disdain for this man is on a theological level, one who earned that much money in Christ's name and spent it on his own pleasure.

How much money, in your biblical and theological opinion, can this man make? Exact amounts too. No generalizations...no waffling.

Base it on Scripture too, please. This kind of determination ...that of setting limits on the income another man can make, especially when it is already established and governed by those whom this man serves...needs some kind of authority other than, "in my opinion."

Also, is this amount to be relative to culture and time? Or is it to be based on absolutes...like the rate of pay that existed in the time the Scripture was written?

And if it is relative; if it is to be culturally based, whose culture is it to be based upon? Mid-east (biblical lands) culture? Western culture? East coast western culture? Midwestern western culture?

For instance...should it be based on the culture in which the person ministers? Comparable pay to who are members of the congregation?

You missed my second point.

If a tax deduction is unconstitutional because of the "establishment clause" of the First Amendment, then any tax at all assessed against a religion is unconstitutional because it violates the "free exercise thereof" clause of the First Amendment.

Thus, the small congregations you refer to that can barely afford to pay a livable wage, would not have tax issues to deal with and could devote more of their tithe to paying a livable wage.

A final thought here. I believe that many good and well meaning people have lost the art of thinking well and thinking biblically.

We have been living in a culture that has characterized any minister who has money as an Elmer Gantry huckster. The fact that there have been many men who lived up to that caricature (Swaggart, Baker, et al) does not mean that everyone who is gifted with a good income (by the people who they serve) is the moral and spiritual equal of the huckster.

Being rich is not the equivalent of being evil, unspiritual and ungodly.

The Bible does not condemn wealth. It condemns the luxurious self-indulgence of the wealthy, with their non-payment of wages and their oppression of the poor, "Come now you rich, weep and howl for your miseries...behold, the pay of the laborers who mowed your field, and which has been withhelod by you, cries out against you..." James 5:1-6

Making a profit is very biblical "All hard work brings a profit, but mere idle talk leads only to poverty." Proverbs 14:23; and, "The laborer is worthy of his wages" 1 Timothy 5:18.

Money is not evil, it is the love of money that is evil, "People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap...for the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil" 1 Timothy 6:9-10.

The clearest word is that money should not be idolized, but should be enjoyed: "COMMAND those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly PROVIDES US WITH EVERYTHING FOR OUR ENJOYMENT" 1 Timothy 6:17 (Everything even means the money we have to enjoy).

Have you ever considered the fact that poverty too can be idolized. /soapbox

My problem is not with the amount of money a pastor can make, but with how he spends it. I should aslo make clear that I believe he should be LEAGALLY eligable for the tax breaks, but personally he should give more to God and his fellow man if he truly is a Christian minister.
Here's my scriptural support:
"Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth...but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven[good works and devotion]..." Matthew 6:19-20
"...A man ran up an knelt before him, and asked him 'Good Teacher, what must I do to inherie eternal life'...'You know the commandments:"Do not kill, Do not commit adultery, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Do not defraud, Honor thy father and mother."'...'Teacher,all these I have observed from my youth.'...'You lack one thing: go, sell what you have and give it to the poor,and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.'" Mark10:17-21

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