For American churches experiencing some angst over what to do about preserving their precious State-sanctioned 501(c)(3) status, I respectfully offer for your consideration this simple, foolproof, and utterly biblical solution to the 501(c)(3) problem:
Stop licensing/regulating church speech in accordance with standards imposed by the American State.
Stop encouraging the ludicrous and dangerous notion that the State should have any role in regulating or censoring the speech of the church, even if the State has thankfully not acted on this presumed power…yet.
Stop filtering or agreeing to filter your preaching for a tax break from the American State.
Repent of the unbiblical covenant that would have preaching from church pulpits regulated by the State.
Start serving the King without State-imposed filters or limits, and let the tax brackets fall where they may.
That is all.
[This post was edited in August of 2018 to more concisely and accurately address its subject. Thanks for your interest in these things! – SAB]
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The true answer to the problem is to eliminate income taxation. Repeal the 16th Amendment and pass the FairTax Act. A tax system that is fair, simple, transsparent and cannot be used to abuse citizens. The founders knew full well what they were doing — and what evil would be done if they did not do it — when they banned direct taxation of individuals. Thus the 16th Amendment may be the greatest evil (and that is saying something) foisted upon us (at least until Obamacare.
Agree Scott. Tailoring the sermons to be tax exempt compliant is a disservice to the congregations and unfaithful to their calling. There are pastors who won't bow to the Johnson amendment and send copies of their "non-compliant" sermons to the IRS, daring them to take action. So far, no action from the IRS. Still, most pastors comply for a variety of reasons usually rooted in fear or a misinterpretation of Romans 13. Maybe it's time to advance mass non-compliance from the pulpits while building a network of small house churches to eliminate the overhead of large buildings.
Simple, yet hard. But necessary.