“When they had finished, they brought the rest of the money to the king…” (2 Chronicles 24:14)

            After implementing their processes, significant funds were raised.  The money was paid to the masons and carpenters and the work was begun.  Eventually, the temple was restored and services resumed.  And they even had a surplus!  The surplus was returned to the king.  Once again, I must confess that this next illustration is quite a stretch and ask the reader to remember I am not attempting to interpret Scripture, only sharing points this passage brings to my mind.  Because this topic is not very pleasant I will keep it short!

            Key: What I was reminded of, when I read that the surplus was returned to the king, was that like it or not, in some respects the church is accountable to the government.  In spite of our nation’s long held and cherished belief that the government should not interfere in the affairs of the church, the church does have a few responsibilities to government it must comply with. 

            Unfortunately, churches and ministries are coming under increasing scrutiny by the federal government.  A discussion of why this is taking place is beyond the scope of this discussion as is any treatment of church and state issues.  Key: However, to avoid unnecessary conflicts that have the potential to cripple a church’s ministry, each church should be diligent in three areas which in recent years have become hot button issues.

• First, be very careful to establish salaries and benefits that are reasonable.  One way to insure that salaries are reasonable is to have senior level salaries set by an independent compensation committee that keeps minutes of its decisions and relies on compensation comparison data to insure that the church’s salary is consistent with the market.
• Second, be aware of two types of IRS non-compliance by churches and ministries that frequently make the news.  If a church reimburses its employees for business expenses incurred on behalf of the church, it should do so using a written reimbursement plan that complies with IRS regulations.  Also, if a church issues credit cards to its employees, expenditures should be governed by a credit card usage policy as well as the reimbursement plan. 
• Churches should also exercise caution in soliciting and accepting gifts from donors.  All gifts of cash and property must be substantiated in the form of a written statement that is prepared in accordance with specific guidelines issued by the IRS.