Sierra Leone: What Would Jesus Do?

Christians often like to ask "What Would Jesus Do" as a guide for their actions, but they may not like it when others ask that question and expect Christians to live up to that standard. Tax officials in Sierra Leone recently argued that Jesus would pay his taxes and that has Christians outraged.

SBS (via Pagan Prattle) reports:

The half-page advertisements said that when Jesus was asked if he was against a law requiring the payment of taxes to the Roman emperor he replied: "Pay the emperor what belongs to the emperor and pay to God what belongs to God," quoting from the Gospel of Matthew (chapter 22, verses 17-21). All Christians should follow the teachings and example of Jesus Christ. This week: pay your taxes."

Anglican priest Thomas Carew said he could not "believe his eyes". Methodist pastor Cyril William described it as a "blasphemy" and called on the tax department to drop the advert.

I can certainly understand Christian leaders not wanting the government to interpret scripture for Christians — but I don’t know if Sierra Leone has a separation of church and state. Still, government interpretations of scripture are one of the consequences of inserting Christianity into the government. I wonder if evangelicals in America realize this?

Read More:

• Separation of Church and State 101
• Church and State News
• Secularism 101