An Open Letter to Pastors of Incorporated Churches
Dear Pastor:
What I am about to share with you may be the most important information you’ve read in a long time. How you respond to it will have a profound effect, not only on your local church but on the American Church as a whole. Yes, it is that serious.
I hope you will read what I am about to write prayerfully and Biblically.
The sin I am referring to is the sin of 501(c)3 incorporation of churches.
Imagine a wife legally joining herself to another man. What husband would tolerate such behavior? What kind of man would he be if he passively put up with his wife committing legalized adultery? God is obvious in His Law that He hates adultery:
You shall not commit adultery. Exodus 20:14
Paul writes in Ephesians 5:25:
Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.
Revelation 19:7-9 reveals the marriage feast of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, with the Bride, His Church:
Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure"— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." And he said to me, "These are the true words of God."
The Old Testament says it like this:
For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. Isaiah 54:5
God likens physical adultery to spiritual adultery:
Surely, as a treacherous wife leaves her husband, so have you been treacherous to me, O house of Israel, declares the Lord. Jeremiah 3:20
What does this have to do with the Church? Everything! Most of the churches in the United States of America are participating in this same sin. How may you ask? It is through submitting the Church to the State through incorporation.
The Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines incorporation as:
1 a: to unite or work into something already existent so as to form an indistinguishable whole, b: to blend or combine thoroughly
2 a: to form into a legal corporation, b: to admit to membership in a corporate body
3: to give material form to : EMBODY
When a church incorporates, it becomes united "into something already existent to form an indistinguishable whole.” How many "blend or combine thoroughly" the Church? When the Bride of Christ incorporates with the State "the two become one flesh." (Genesis 3:24)
The second definition is the legal side of the term. To understand this, let us consult the Cornel Law School's legal definition:
A corporation is a legal entity created through the laws of its State of incorporation. Individual states have the power to promulgate laws relating to the creation, organization and dissolution of corporations.
Since when did God give the State permission to create, organize, and dissolve the Church? Never! Neither did He give any church leaders the right to join the Church with the State through incorporation.
Biblically speaking, the Church is the Bride of the great Bridegroom, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is not only the Husband of the Church; He is her Founder and Creator:
Jesus said to Simon Peter, And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Matthew 16:18
Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. Psalm 127:1
The house of God is the church of the living God. 1 Timothy 3:15
Built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Ephesians 2:20-22
And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. Colossians 1:18
When a church voluntarily incorporates, the separation between Church and State is destroyed. Jesus Christ, the sovereign head of the Church, is replaced by a new sovereign. The local expression of the Bride of Christ becomes the wife of a new husband once the corporation papers are accepted. The problem with this is as Jesus so eloquently stated in Matthew 6:24:
No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Speaking of money, the main reason most churches incorporate is because of money. First of all, Church leaders want the tax-breaks that not-for-profit corporations benefit from in the United States. They also believe the only way people can write off contributed money is through incorporation. No one does their homework to find out that the True Church already has these rights because of Church and State's separation.
They don't tell you that once the church becomes a fictitious legal person created by the State, it becomes taxable. The State cannot tax the True Church because of the separation of Church and State. The Church is non-taxable. But now that the church has blended with the State through incorporation, it is taxable. The next hoop an incorporated church must jump through is to apply for tax-exemption through the 501(c)3 line of the tax code. Once this happens, the marriage is complete.
The other monetary reason churches incorporate is because of the fear of being sued. They don’t tell you that incorporated churches are sued all the time, and savvy attorneys know how to "pierce the corporate veil." Church leaders line up to voluntarily fill out their incorporation papers out of fear, misinformation, and because of money.
I know from experience that it is possible to plant, pastor, and administer a church that does not incorporate with the State because I did it. I was the pastor of an unincorporated church here in Connecticut for over twelve years. The only inconvenience I had was when stores such as Staples asked for the tax-exemption number. I would explain to them that a church is automatically “tax-exempt.” They would look at me with a blank expression because they need a number to put into their computer.
If paying sales tax was the price we had to pay to remain the Bride of One Husband, we gladly paid. My point is that it is possible to be an unincorporated church in the United States. I could write a book on this, but for now, I offer these words of encouragement. It is possible to not incorporate.
By the way, all contributions to churches that remain churches are automatically tax-deductible, so there’s no excuse here. Even if they weren’t, that would be no reason to wed your church to the state through incorporation.
As a side note, the Church exists in many oppressive nations such as China. However, to legally run a church in many of these countries, you must register the church. If you do not, you may be closed down or put in prison. Non-state churches are illegal, but thanks to the faithful pastors in these countries, they meet anyway. How ironically sad that the Church in the United States voluntarily does what the oppressed Church must do in other nations.
Through incorporation, the State has the legal authority in the United States to dictate what the Church can and cannot preach or do. At this present time, the State exercises some interference, but that can and will change in the blink of an eye.
The State has no say in churches that are not incorporated. I am not referring to the duty the government has to arrest any person or persons who are engaged in illegal and immoral behavior. The Bible supports this in Romans 13.
When a church incorporates, it gives the government the right to curb, dictate, or interfere with its activity. Here is an article that outlines the ways in which incorporated churches give control over to the State. This is from an organization that helps churches incorporate, so they know what they are talking about. Among these controls is Section 501(c)(3) limits organizations from engaging in substantial efforts to influence legislation:
A church or religious organization will be regarded as attempting to influence legislation if it contacts, or urges the public to contact, members or employees of a legislative body for the purpose of proposing, supporting, or opposing legislation, or if the organization advocates the adoption or rejection of legislation. IRS Publication 1828
The word “church” here does not mean a congregation that has not subjected itself to the State through incorporation. This kind of church can do whatever it believes God wants them to do. That means they can speak against and lobby against abortion, sexual immorality, and so on.
One incorporated church went too far against the State. As a 501(c)3 corporation, they influenced legislation more than the State thought it should. It was brought to court and lost. It had to pay fines and, I’m sure, accumulated substantial legal costs. It went all the way to a Federal Appeals court where the church lost.
One website that aids churches in the sin of incorporation publish articles for incorporated churches on matters such as “Same-Sex Marriage, Now Transgender Bathrooms; What Churches Should Know” Again, read “Churches” as “incorporated Churches.”
I think it will be a matter of time before the State will require all 501(c)3 incorporated churches to do things that compromise the gospel. I hope that I am wrong, but given that corporations answer to the State, why not?
There is only one way out. It is for the Church, in whatever local expression She has, to repent of this sin. The repentance can only be accomplished by each church dissolving their 501(c)3 not-for-profit corporate marriage with the State. Only then will God pour out His blessing once again upon His Beloved Bride. Until then, Christ will remain a jealous Husband and the Church, a cheating Bride.
Pastor, you have a duty and responsibility to undo this sin. You have a significant influence in your church and people will listen to you. Since your parishioners follow your lead, the burden lies upon your shoulders.
Now that you have this information, what are you doing to do about it? I am glad to help you in any way I can. I do not promise that dissolving your church corporation will be easy. I do not promise that things will go smooth for you once you do. In fact, your difficulties may increase. But that is no reason to disobey God. He promised that in following Him, you will have difficulties in this world. He also promised that He has overcome the world.
I close with a thought from the book of 1 John 2:28
And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.
Someday, we will all face the great Bridegroom of the Bride. When He comes, I pray that we will be able to look Him in the eye in confidence because we obeyed Him in every way. Dissolve your church corporation. Release the Bride!
In Christ