Registered Church

A registered church is a religious organization that has registered with their state or gained 501(c)3 status from the government. In actuality, such an organization is a corporation- however they are considered to be not-for-profit, and thus tax exempt.

A corporation is created by the US government. It is subject to all its laws, and has a responsibility support public policy. Included in the regulations is the ban against spreading propaganda. Because propaganda can include any system of belief, that restriction can apply to any religion, including Christianity.

There are numerous ways in which government regulation of these not-for-profit corporations are in direct conflict to the God given mission of the church.

One way that the church registration conflicts with scripture is the fact that a registered church asks the government for permission to exist. Registration is gained by governmental permission, at the whim of the government. This is something that absolutely no basis can be found for in the Bible. There is no record of the early church asking anyone for permission of operate. They existed solely on God’s authority, and worked according to His rules. That is something that the church has lost in modern America.

Even once a church has gained permission to exist, the nature of permission is that it is revocable. For virtually any reason whatsoever, the government has the right to revoke the permission and make it illegal for the “church” to operate. They can do this because the state is the head of the corporation. This raises the question: are churches something that is created by God, or by the state? If by God, than no state should be able to terminate a church at whim, and it is pointless for the church to request permission. If by the state, then it is basically a government organization and it should stop falsely calling itself a “church”. A registered church creates a serious headship conflict: the registered part that is answerable to the state, and the church part that is answerable to God. A registered church is vainly trying to serve two masters, a feat that no one will ever accomplish. As the state dangles out economic benefits for those that comply, most registered churches choose the state as its ultimate master.

In addition to a headship conflict, there is a major conflict of interest. According to 1 Timothy 3:15, the church is to be the pillar and ground of truth. According to IRS codes, the non-profit organization must not conflict with public policy, teach only on subjects that it considers acceptable, and must recognize the state as its ultimate law. Anything that might influence legislation or elections is strictly forbidden. Huge portions of the Bible have historically had huge impact on governmental and social issues, so according to the IRS, those topics must be avoided.

In a society where God’s word is increasingly in conflict with the secular trends of the day, it is almost certain that preaching the truth will go against many areas. Sermons can and should be preached on topics like abortion, sodomy, war, human rights, education, cloning, entertainment, religious liberty, law enforcement, to name a few. The Bible addresses all these issues because the Bible is applicable to all areas of life. However, the registered non-profit churches have agreed to “a hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil” sort of arrangement. In exchange for their non-profit status, churches have to agree that certain subjects are off limits, as if the Bible does not speak to all areas but only on those subjects that are deemed “spiritual”.

In summery, registered churches’ non-profit status has accomplished just that: made them of no profit. By agreement, in exchange for tax exemption, churches have agreed to be of no profit to God’s kingdom, but rather to serve an earthly king. They have chosen earthly comfort and riches rather than treasure in heaven. As such, the these registered organizations are not truly churches in the scriptural sense of the word, but are rather earthly corporations, earthly organizations, with an earthly master, and as such are of little heavily value. They are merely unprofitable organizations that tend to turn out unprofitable Christians.