Ask most people what topics are the most controversial and should be avoided if interpersonal conflict is also to be avoided and most people will reply with the paired answer, “politics and faith.”
And yet Jesus very willfully and intentionally injected Himself into that very discussion in Matthew 22: when the debate about whether or not to pay a particular Roman tax arose, Jesus asked whose likeness and name was on the coin. When the reply was “Caesar’s,” Jesus answered (my paraphrase), “Then give him back his coin.”
And then Jesus summarized the entire interchange with this sentence: “Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s” (v. 21).
The principle articulated by Jesus is quite simple: if a government has a tax, pay it. Give the government what it is due (e.g., taxes or honor, Rom. 13:7) and give God what He is due (e.g., worship and service from heart, Mk. 12:17b, 30).
When we avoid taxes or fail to give the government a full accounting of what we owe, we disobey God’s direct command and demonstrate the divided nature of our heart (we’re not whole-heartedly following and obeying Christ). It is not possible to cheat the government on Tuesday and worship on Sunday.
Taxes may well be undue, oppressive, and unbiblical. And they may be used for ungodly purposes. But my response to that civic duty is one revealer of my heart, and I am responsible to pay them.
Words of Grace 