As of July 7, churches are now free to endorse political candidates. This IRS reinterpretation of the Johnson Amendment may well impact the health of the US church.
My foremost concern is for the church, its mission and its identity. Others can speak to concerns of other faith traditions as well as constitutional or political implications.
Here are 10 things you need to know.
- For 70 years, the Johnson Amendment has prohibited churches from endorsing political candidates
While not negating the Johnson Amendment altogether, this new court filing says it no longer applies to religious gatherings. When Congress passed the Amendment as part of the 1954 tax code, it limited the political engagement of 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organizations, religious or otherwise.
Religious, charitable, scientific, educational and other nonprofits could speak out on issues and ballot measures but could not endorse candidates or political parties. Religious leaders were permitted to endorse candidates if they were not doing so as official representatives of a church – a tricky distinction.
Such nonprofits, including churches, don’t pay taxes. Likewise, donations made to them are tax exempt.
Moreover, churches and other houses of worship – in contrast to other nonprofits – don’t even have to file paperwork with the IRS. They are exempted from applying for 501(c)(3) status or filing 990 tax forms.
A whole other category of nonprofits can engage politically – these are 501(c)(4) or social welfare organizations. Their main purpose, as defined by the IRS, is to promote the common good and general welfare of the community. Note the word “promote” – they are not restricted in advocating for laws and on behalf of candidates. Like churches, they do not have to pay taxes; unlike churches, donations made to them are not tax deductible.
501(c)(3) nonprofits (including churches) also can lobby on behalf of legislation or ballot measures, but only on a limited basis. When I worked for a statewide religious organization, we had to clarify each year that we had not exceeded our legal lobbying limit.
2. The IRS has never strictly enforced the Johnson Amendment
People of faith on both the political left and the political right frequently accuse those on the other end of the spectrum of violating the Amendment. Truth is, a few characters on both sides have done so with little pushback from the IRS. Only in a couple of cases in the past 70 years has the IRS revoked a church’s or religious organization’s tax-exempt status.
Some churches and religious groups have pushed the legal boundaries with soft-sell advocacy. But most churches have strictly adhered to the Amendment.
Last week’s ruling reinterpreting the Johnson Amendment was part of a move by the IRS to settle a lawsuit brought by the National Religious Broadcasters association and two Texas churches. The suit challenged the Johnson Amendment, arguing it infringed on their 1st Amendment rights of freedom of speech and religion.
I sense that, moving forward, the soft-sell folks will be set free from their implicit inhibitions. However, most churches will stick with the endorsement limitations on principle.
3. The new ruling affects only religious communities and their speech
The new ruling is limited to religious organizations only and not to other 501(c)(3) nonprofits. It allows houses of worship (e.g., churches, synagogues, mosques) to discuss electoral politics and make endorsements in their religious services.
This reinterpretation applies only to discussions within religious communities. It likens political endorsements within houses of worship to “family conversations.”
But religious organizations are still not allowed to spend money on more broad-based political activities such as advertising campaigns. While churches can now endorse candidates, they cannot fund campaigns.
4. Political activism by churches may impact the tax-exempt status of churches
As society is growing increasingly secularized, people are questioning the social value of religious organizations. And now, the new IRS interpretation favors the free speech of religious organizations over all other nonprofits, striking some people as undue favoritism.
Granted, most churches in the US are poorer than the proverbial church mice. Yet notable exceptions have captured headlines leading to growing calls for taxation of churches. Never mind that there are less than 400,000 religious congregations (250,000 of them churches) compared with 1.5 million nonprofit organizations in the US, the taxation floodlights are fixated on churches.
People tend to have a lower view of partisan politics than they do of churches. What if the church comes to be seen as just another political operative? Those already viewing churches as privileged entities with low social value will deem them as even more unworthy of tax-exempt status.
5. Churches will face new financial temptations
No other institution in our nation has as little external financial accountability as the local church. The lack of government oversight keeps church and state separation intact, but it can also mean no independent eye is on the church’s financial doings.
Much social good does come because houses of worship serve as channels through which the faithful give. Yet, although churches and religious organizations tend to be poorly funded, money is always a temptation for communities of faith. Look no further than the four Gospel writers who share the story of Jesus driving the money changers out of the temple to see how scandalous money in the house of God can be.
Time will tell if concerns about churches becoming funnels for political financial operatives play out. In that churches do not report on any revenue or expenses to the IRS, questions of the potential for “dark political money” have already been raised.
Granted, the Johnson Amendment still forbids church money going to political campaigns. Yet with the already mixed record on churches adhering to the Amendment, outsiders will question that no independent observers have access to church records.
6. Policies easily changed can be changed again.
We live in a time when this vehicle we call a nation is wobbling dangerously on its two partisan sides. With each passing administration we lurch violently, first one direction, then the other. Sooner or later, I fear this partisan axle is going to break, the wheels will come off, and we will all be left stranded.
Short of such a dire outcome, the winds of change will likely shift in time back the other way. Note that the original Johnson Amendment was determined by Congressional vote, whereas this change is merely by agency ruling. Rules affecting churches are becoming easier to manipulate.
What we gain through political force, we can lose by political counterforce – if you can call political force a gain for the church, that is. Looking globally and historically, I notice that political strength and spiritual strength are two very different things. We fool ourselves if we do not discern the difference.
7. While the Good News does have political implications, we must maintain the Church’s missional integrity
The church is first and foremost devoted to worshipping God and declaring and demonstrating the Good News. And yet, everything about our faith – the Bible, the Good News, theology, our corporate worship – is political, meaning faith invariably impacts public life and how we govern ourselves as societies.
The original meaning of the root word “politic” is “citizen”. We say we are citizens of heaven, just passing through, but in truth, God calls us to live out our faith incarnationally, meaning very much as citizens of earth. Everything we believe, everything we do has political ramifications.
We can argue all day long about what those ramifications are, but we must realize that our faith, both individually and corporately, has direct impact on the politics of this world. We who are called to declare and demonstrate the Good News must the earthly dimensions of that demonstration.
Although it is valid for congregations to wrestle with how their faith interacts with current issues, we dare not do so through a partisan lens. For in so doing, we risk our higher calling. Our worship of God must remain far above the grubbiness of earthly partisanship.
What unintentional signals will pastors be sending when they endorse political candidates from the sacred desk? What else are we endorsing when we promote a candidate? Are political candidates also to be held above reproach, as is demanded of spiritual leadership?
8. Partisan politics is messy
Partisan politics tends to contaminate everything it touches.
I’ve written elsewhere how my father had to set boundaries for his own engagement in politics. He learned that, as a pastor, he could not compromise his higher calling by diving into partisanship.
Billy Graham learned a painful lesson in this regard. As the evangelist grew in fame, he gained access to the highest political leaders in the land. But he got burned when he aligned himself too closely with President Richard Nixon. Graham survived Nixon’s downfall, but barely. In the process, he nearly ruined his witness.
Our nation has been blessed with many good people in political leadership – in each of the major parties as well as lessor ones, and in nonpartisan roles, too. Many of these are people of faith. I am confident they could tell you how strong the temptations of compromise are due to the pull of partisanship.
Churches are not designed to navigate tricky partisan waters. They are designed, instead, to heed a higher calling.
9. When church leadership and church institutions speak out politically, they dilute their primary message and divide the church
Back in 2008, I was attending a church I really liked – until I grew uncomfortable with its political bent. It was more of a soft-sell partisanship and the pastor gave nod to both national parties, but his evenhandedness was thinly veiled. How the congregation responded to those nods and how members spoke in church gatherings made those from the other party feel less than welcome – it was that obvious who the outside party was.
So, I found another church, one where everyone – no matter how politically affiliated – felt at home. I wanted a place where all my friends would feel welcomed, where they didn’t have to change parties to come to worship.
Churches and political parties are two different things. When a church endorses a candidate or party, its identity becomes absorbed in the party – as does the image of God in the eyes of those who don’t know God. How easily identity and witness are lost in attempts to wield political might.
As news of this new IRS position has become public, friends have expressed concerns about what will happen if their pastor or church endorses a candidate. Will they feel less accepted by their pastor if they vote otherwise? Will the church confuse discipleship and conscience? If my pastor is the voice of spiritual authority, how can I disagree with her or him on endorsements? These questions are already being raised.
10. Churches will no longer be able to fall back on the Johnson Amendment
It is easier to say endorsing is not legal than it is to say we decline to endorse on principle. Pressure will come from church members and candidates alike. If you think congregants fight over the color of the carpet, you’ve seen nothing yet.
Local pastors will be bombarded by local candidates and members pushing party affiliation. National religious organizations will feel the heat from national candidates. We may think we’ve gained legal standing and found safe haven for our witness, but we may have just walked into the lion’s den.
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I’ll close with what I wrote on Facebook right after the IRS ruling came out: This is a spiritual trap for congregations and communities of faith.
God does not need earthly power to accomplish the goals of the Kingdom. That was the temptation the devil offered Jesus – shortcut God’s way with an earthly power grab. My friends, how do we benefit if we gain the whole world and lose our own souls? I beg you not to fall for it.
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Photo: St. Augustine Catholic Church, Washington, DC