Does God hold us responsible when we pay taxes to a government that uses the money for sinful purposes, such as funding abortions?
Question:
I live in a State where Medicare covers abortions. Since our taxes pay for Medicare, will God hold us responsible for this? We are told in the Bible to pay taxes, but as citizens, we don't have control over how the money is spent.
Thank you for your reply.
Answer:
"Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God. Therefore whoever resists the authority resists the ordinance of God, and those who resist will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to evil. Do you want to be unafraid of the authority? Do what is good, and you will have praise from the same. For he is God's minister to you for good. But if you do evil, be afraid; for he does not bear the sword in vain; for he is God's minister, an avenger to execute wrath on him who practices evil. Therefore you must be subject, not only because of wrath but also for conscience' sake. For because of this you also pay taxes, for they are God's ministers attending continually to this very thing. Render therefore to all their due: taxes to whom taxes are due, customs to whom customs, fear to whom fear, honor to whom honor" (Romans 13:1-7).
When Paul wrote these words, Christians were living under the Roman Empire. The tax money being collected went in part to finance state-supported idolatrous worship. I'm positive there were many things the Roman government was involved in that wasn't righteous; yet, Christians were told to pay their taxes because the government exists by God's order and for all its faults, the government does provide essential services to the Christian -- such as punishing lawbreakers.
Thus, we too must pay our taxes, even though our government is misusing the funds and committing sin with some of the money. It is still a government in power because God is allowing it to continue to exist for now and it does still provide essential services, such as our police force. If we are in government, then we are responsible for the decisions made. But when we are paying for governmental services through taxes, the responsibility for how those funds are used lies with the government and not with ourselves.
Response:
Thank you.
