Romans 13:6-7

NASB	NLT	VOICE
6 For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing.	6 Pay your taxes, too, for these same reasons. For government workers need to be paid. They are serving God in what they do.	6 Pay your taxes for the same reason because the authorities are servants of God, give their full attention to take care of these things.
7 Pay to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; respect to him respect; honor to whom to honor.	7 Give to everyone what you owe them: Pay your taxes and government fees to those who collect them, and give respect and honor to those who are in authority.	7 Pay all of them what you owe. If you owe taxes, then pay. If you owe fees, then pay. In the same way, give honor and respect to those who deserve it.

This verse tugs hard at my tax preparer heart. However, I understand the frustrations when it comes to understanding why we must pay taxes and more frustrations when preachers use this scripture to justify the broken tax system in the United States. This is a broken system. However, the people who work in this system are humans. The people responsible for supporting the system are humans. We do need to respect those people who are trying to make a living through the broken system. HOWEVER – what we need to do is work towards reform. Work towards a system that provides equal treatment to all people regardless of skin color, disability, gender identity, and sexual orientation. Those who are trying to make a living supporting themselves and their families should be treated with kindness and respect for they are not the problem. Those who use their power to discriminate and manipulate the agenda are the problem. Those who created the system and continue to follow it without concern and without question are the problem. Let’s work to be better.

Matthew 21:21

NASB	NLT	VOICE
21 And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen.	21 Then Jesus told them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen.	21 I tell you this: if you have faith and do not doubt, then you will be able to wither a fig tree with one glance. You will be able to tell mountains to throw themselves into the ocean, and they will obey.

Many have wondered about Jesus’ statement that if we have faith and don’t doubt, we can move mountain. Jesus was not suggesting that his followers can use prayer as “magic” and perform these “mountain-moving” acts. Instead, he was illustrating a strong point about the disciples’ and our lack of faith. Jesus is encouraging his to do what we were created to do without overthinking it. To trust in the ways that he teaches and do what he’s called us without any doubts.

Mark 12:17

NASB	NLT	VOICE
17 And Jesus said to them, “Pay to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” And they were utterly amazed at him.	17 “Well, then,” Jesus said, “give to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and give to God what belongs to God.” His reply completely amazed him.	17 Then give to the emperor what belongs to the emperor. And give to God what belongs to God. They could not think of anything to say to His response.

Jesus avoided the trick question from the Pharisees by showing that believers have a dual citizenship: one on earth and one in heaven. The citizens in a nation require that we pay money for the services and benefits we receive there. We pay our taxes that go and support and fund the sources we need to receive to manage our lives. Unfortunately, sometimes our money is not used in the way we were told they would be, which calls for a deeper reform in our governmental systems. However, our citizen in the Kingdom of Heaven requires that worship God only and primarily obey and stay commitment to him.

As God’s followers, we have legitimate obligations to both God and our government. We need to keep our priorities straight though. When the teachings of God and the rules/laws/guidelines of the government conflict, we must continue to follow our obedience to God. God calls us to love each other and care for one another he cares for us. When we see new rules and laws being passed that harm the more vulnerable people of our world, or any person in our world, it’s our job to work towards still caring for those individuals. It could be through contacting our government and demanding change. It could be supporting different non-profit agencies that work towards caring for those vulnerable demographics. It could be directly with those vulnerable demographics to see what’s needed to do to help; sometimes people want to be heard instead of being forced help upon one another.

Next slice of Manna: Manna of the Mind #200