To vote for Jesus is to vote for tax policies that promote personal responsibility and government accountability from everyone who earns an income at a fixed percentage of their income...

This week we have been spending our time together addressing the issue of taxes. We have been asking the questions “Does the government have the right to collect taxes? And if so, then what type of tax system would Jesus promote?

So far, we have discovered that  when it comes to the question “Does the government have the right to collect taxes?"  throughout the message and teachings and the letters that make up the Bible, we see that the government has the right to collect taxes and that followers of Jesus are to fulfill their responsibilities to pay taxes. Now, that leads us to the next question which we need to ask and answer, which is “What type of tax system would Jesus promote?”

Wednesday, we examined the current conversation surrounding the issue of taxes.  At one end of the conversation when it comes to the issue of taxes are politicians and others who advocate for an increase in taxes through an increase in the progressive nature of the current progressive tax system. On the other end of the conversation when it comes to the issue of taxes would be politicians and others who advocate for a decrease in taxes.

We looked at some statistics regarding taxes, provided by the Federal Government, and discovered that 45% of Americans pay nothing in federal taxes. By contrast, the richest 20% of Americans pay nearly 87% of all federal individual income tax in America. In addition, the  top 1% of Americans, who have an average income of more than $2.1 million a year, pay 43.6% of all the federal individual income tax in the U.S.; of the top 0.1% — just 115,000 households, whose average income is more than $9.4 million, pay more than 20% of the federal income tax in America.

We looked at the argument in support of the current progressive tax system and the statistics that involves the issue of justice, efficiency and happiness.  We discovered that you can see these argument on almost any website that promotes the progressive tax system.

Today, I would like for us to evaluate whether or not the arguments of justice, efficiency, and happiness that are used by those who promote the current progressive tax rate that we have in America hold water. To do that, let me give you an illustration. Let’s say that you went out and bought an ice cream maker, because you like ice cream. You purchased the ice cream maker legally, with your own money. Let’s say that you purchased all the ingredients necessary to make ice cream with your own money, legally, and began to make ice cream for your friends, because all your friends love ice cream.

However, as you finish making the ice cream, your neighbor comes over and takes half of your ice cream for his friends, without asking. Later, you notice half of your ice cream is gone so you confront your neighbor. When you confront your neighbor about taking half of your ice cream, your neighbor says “Well you still have enough ice cream for you and your friends to be happy. It’s not fair that you have access to an ice cream machine and I don’t, so it’s only just that I get half of your ice cream.”

Now, what would you do after your neighbor took all of your ice cream without asking?  What would you do after your neighbor took all of your ice cream that you made with your own money, legally? Would you be justified to call the police?

Yes you would. And the reason why you would is because your neighbor took what you had legally earned without permission. You would be justified because your neighbor stole from you. And you would be justified because of what is written in Exodus 20:15:

You shall not steal.    

As we talked about last week, almost everyone is somewhat familiar with this statement because it is one of the Ten Commandments that you have heard about. This command is the eighth of the Ten Commandments that God gave to the Jewish people. And this command is straightforward and easy to comprehend. Do not rob someone of something that is theirs. Do not jack each other's stuff.

Now here is a question to consider: If you earn your education, your training, and a position of employment legally: If you work hard in an industry that is legal and in a way that earns money legally, and then someone comes and takes more of a percentage of what you have earned than someone else, is that any different than the above illustration? Is that not stealing? 

If you work hard and earn a legal income and purchase assets legally, and then someone comes to take a higher percentage of what you have earned than someone who earns less than you so as to redistribute that income to the person who makes less than you so as to make up for income inequality, is that not stealing? The writer of Proverbs addresses this very point in Proverbs 17:26:

It is also not good to fine the righteous, Nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.

You see, there is no justification in the letters that make up the Bible for a progressive tax system that charges a higher percentage of taxes to a person who legally earns an increasing income. What the letters that make up the Bible do advocate for when it comes to taxes is that everybody pays something in taxes. What the letters that make up the Bible advocate for when it comes to taxes is what is referred to in our culture as a flat tax system.

A flat tax system is a system where every person is charged a flat percentage of their income in taxes. For example, in Leviticus 27:30-32 we see that every Jewish person was to tithe. Now a tithe simply means a tenth. So every Jewish person was responsible to pay a 10% flat tax. In addition, in Exodus 30:13-15, we see that every Jewish person was responsible to pay a census tax. This census tax was a fee of half a shekel, which would equate to $5 in today’s economic terms, which was required regardless of one’s income level. What the letters that make up the Bible also advocate for when it comes to taxes is that everybody pays something.

Now maybe you have been paying close attention to all that I have written this week and you caught that I have not addressed one of the arguments for a progressive tax rate, which is the argument of efficiency. In other words, we need increased taxes and a progressive tax system to provide increased revenue for goods and services that government provides.

Now this leads to the question, how much taxes should people pay? A great statistical tool when it comes to answering this question is referred to as the Laffer curve. The Laffer curve demonstrates the impact that higher taxes will have when it comes to the level of tax revenue that a government will collect. Too low a rate of taxes, as seen here on the graph, results in too little tax revenue for government.

However, too high a rate of taxes will also result in decreased tax revenue for a government, because at some point people will stop working to earn income if all that income is going to taxes. At some point between too little and too much there is a tax rate that will generate the maximum amount of revenue for any government. The goal is to find that amount and then spend that amount in a way that promotes good for people and punishes the evil of people.

So, with all this evidence in mind, “Does the government have the right to collect taxes? And if so, then what type of tax system would Jesus promote?" It is the answer to this question that provides for us a timeless truth when it comes to voting for Jesus. And that timeless truth is that to vote for Jesus is to vote for tax policies that promote personal responsibility and government accountability from everyone who earns an income at a fixed percentage of their income.

You see, to vote for Jesus is to recognize that we have been divinely designed to live in relationship with Him and one another and to live lives of responsibility in our relationships with one another. And a part of that Divine Design and responsibility is the responsibility to pay taxes. To vote for Jesus is to promote tax policies that provide the necessary resources for the government to fulfill its Divine responsible to promote good for people and punish the evil of people. To vote for Jesus is to promote tax policies that create the environment for economic growth that results in opportunities for people to improve their economic status. 

To vote for Jesus is to promote tax policies that encourage personal responsibility by having everyone pay a fixed percentage of their income, regardless of their income. And to vote for Jesus is to promote tax policies that result in that fixed percentage of income that is collected by taxes being used in a responsible manner by that government to fund the necessary aspects of government, including the military and defense.