The Ministry of Life; Or, What if everything you did was tax deductible?

Some years ago, when I was a single guy working at a hospital in Minnesota, I took the time to add up all the withholding from my paycheck---being that Minnesota was like Wisconsin a high tax state. Then I did some dreaming about what it might be like if one did not have to pay taxes.

One day in looking through the newspaper, I saw a story about a firm that offered a short course in becoming a registered pastor in a group of ministers called "The Ministry of Life." Well, in truth, it was a very short course indeed. It was just a small fee and a certificate. No coursework was required at all. How wonderful! I did some further research on this group and found that the IRS was not too keen on their claim of tax exempt status, and indeed, had filed some legal actions against it. That did damper my enthusiasm.

I has studied some business law and contracts, and was aware that with rights and responsibilities come freedoms. I theorized that with the right and responsibility that each man has to be a "minister" to others of the gospel, there must be some freedoms and benefits to such responsibility. Yes, it was the privilege of being tax deductible in all that one did that was in the scope of being a minister. Which was pretty much everything that I planned on doing, since indeed all of my life as I saw it was pretty sacred. I felt called to such a ministry with such benefits. As the cost of living went up, the call became even stronger. "This must be a vocation," I thought.

Over the years, I have had a fascination with tax laws and the rules and procedures of the IRS. Yes, I did even work for them a couple of years keying tax returns. I never did register to be a minister. However, each year around tax season as I review the amount of taxes paid, I review what the benefits would have been if indeed the tax laws had simply recognized a very deep truth---that we are all called to minister, and that there SHOULD BE a tax deduction somewhere, in fact ANYWHERE, in fact even a very little one would be better than none.

So, I just leave it up to you. What do you think? You make the call.