Your Best Questions, My Best Answers, #3

TITHING: DID YOU SAY TEN PERCENT?

The principle of tithing, or giving a tenth of one’s income to the Church, may well have kept more people out of the kingdom than any other. So many people can decide to accept all of the teachings of God so long as it doesn't require much sacrifice on their part, but at the mere mention of tithing, they are ready to reject everything they professed to accept and believe, because parting with a substantial portion of their income is more than they have faith to bear.

There are two issue to consider here. The first is whether there is even a need to make contributions to an earthly organization. My experience is that almost every one agrees that for the Church to function, funds are required, to build buildings, pay the utilities and upkeep, etc., and so they are prepared to donate, well, something, toward the cause. I know many people object to paying for a church leader's wealthy lifestyle we sometimes see in the media (I object, too!). When it is explained that The Church of Jesus Christ has a volunteer ministry, and thus tithing is not going towards paying a local minister's salary, that seems to feel right to most investigators.

The second issue is just how much should be contributed, and this is where many seem to have difficulty. "Ten percent of one's income" is often challenged. A few important points:

• I have read that the word “tithe” comes from the Hebrew word ma'aser {mahas-ayr'} or ma'asar {mah-as-ar'}, and has as one if its definitions “tenth part”, or payment of a tenth part

• One of the precedents for paying tithing is the example set by Abraham, who according to the Bible paid tithes to the King of Salem (Melchizedek)

• Malachi asks the penetrating question, "Will a man rob God?", referring to the person who doesn't pay tithing.

Tithing can indeed seem at first to be a sacrifice for those investigating the Church. In some cases, it is extremely difficult to pay tithing, requiring great faith on the part of the saints that God will somehow provide for them if they willingly give the first ten percent of their income to the Church. Addressing this subject of religion calling upon people to sacrifice, the prophet Joseph Smith is quoted as saying:

Let us here observe, that a religion that does not require the sacrifice of all things never has power sufficient to produce the faith necessary unto life and salvation; for, from the first existence of man, the faith necessary unto the enjoyment of life and salvation never could be obtained without the sacrifice of all earthly things. It was through this sacrifice, and this only, that God has ordained that men should enjoy eternal life; and it is through the medium of the sacrifice of all earthly things that men do actually know that they are doing the things that are well pleasing in the sight of God. When a man has offered in sacrifice all that he has for the truth's sake, not even withholding his life, and believing before God that he has been called to make this sacrifice because he seeks to do his will, he does know, most assuredly, that God does and will accept his sacrifice and offering, and that he has not, nor will not seek his face in vain. Under these circumstances, then, he can obtain the faith necessary for him to lay hold on eternal life. (Lectures on Faith, Lecture 6, P. 58)

Paying tithing, or ten percent of one's income (or better said, what ever amount God requires at a given point in history), makes complete and total sense, but only if it is really what God requires. So for me, it comes down to not so much a question of how much one should pay, but a “first principles” type of question: Is God really asking people to pay tithing? Once one finds the answer to this question, the amount becomes immaterial. I am convinced that any person who knows God exists, knows the nature of God and man’s relationship to Him, and knows that God will only direct us for good, will be eager to know whether God has inspired a living prophet to give a tithing commandment to us.