Death and Taxes, Really!?

Two Worldviews?

In a letter to a French political historian, Benjamin Franklin commented on the new constitution of the United States: “Our constitution is now established, and has an appearance that promises permanency; but in this world nothing can be said certain, except death and taxes.”

This is exactly what I’d expect from a great man with the worldview of Benjamin Franklin. Yet, though ole Ben liked the idea of God and the teachings of Jesus, he wasn’t buying into the idea that the Bible was God’s Word or that Jesus was God’s Son. It was this world which mattered most to Franklin because it was all he was sure of.

And if all you know for certain is this world and what you see in it and what you think about it in your own mind, then Franklin’s maxim is absolutely true: In this world nothing can be said certain, except death and taxes.

We Christians claim that this world isn’t all there is. We claim to believe that what we see and hear and think isn’t the final reality. We claim to embrace Jesus Christ as the Son of God and the Bible as His Word.

Really?

Then Why?

Then why is it that every time I turn on my computer some Christian is forwarding me a “chicken-little” email from a high-profile Christian leader that tells me the sky is falling because the President or another elected official is raising our taxes?

Then why does the most listened to Christian drive-time talk radio host whine on day after day about the evils of big government instead of the evils of Satan’s strongholds in our neighborhoods and the church’s failure to make a significant difference?

Then why do so many Christians worry more about the day they file their taxes than they worry about the day of Christ when they will stand before Him and give an account of their lives to Him?

We’re supposed to be the ones who live above the cares and challenges of this world because our eye is on another Kingdom in the world to come.

Last Time I Checked…

The last time I checked, we serve another King Who is coming soon…very soon. And when He shows up and I stand before Him, suddenly every concern I ever had about this world, my comfort, my rights, and yes even taxes, will seem small, petty, and selfish.

Because they are! In fact, according to Paul, they’re just “rubbish.” So what are you most concerned about? Your bank account after taxes, or your ledger of rewards at the Judgment Seat of Christ? Your accountant’s, “I think we saved you a lot of money?” or your Lord’s, “Well done?”

“Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.” –Paul, 1 Corinthians 15:17