Tag: tithing

3 Nephi 12: 40-42

3 Nephi 12: 40-42:

“And if any man will sue thee at the law and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also; And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain. Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn thou not away.”

This is the point Mark Twain quipped included him in the Bible. He suggested “Go with him Twain” is Divine notice given him.

The cloak covers the cloak. If someone wants one, give them both. Without conflict. Without retaliation. Give those who demand.

The law allowed a Roman soldier to compel a civilian to bear a load for a mile. Christ said submit, and go a second mile to demonstrate you have not been compelled at all. You have chosen to give the service.

When asked, give. When someone needs to borrow, let them.

What a markedly different world this would be.

The results of an entire society behaving in this manner would be Zion itself. There would be no poor. Those with the means would share, those in need would ask. The resulting cooperation and mutual assistance would solve many social ills. But such a society would necessarily be voluntary. To attempt to level the economic circumstances of society by force would be an imprisonment, not a liberation. Government cannot impose it, but men can voluntarily implement it.

In our early post-Nauvoo distress, there was a brief time when we flirted with notions like these. We did some voluntary collective work on providing a social system to benefit everyone. Those ended because of the bickering and turmoil. We went back to tithing, which still today allows us to retain our individual fortunes and limit sharing our individual misfortunes.

The question is what happens when a society continues to suffer from all the ills of our own, but a single individual chooses to live these principles. What then? Can a person really live like this when he or she alone is guided by these principles?

Common agreement is that this sermon’s admonitions are impractical. They won’t work. They can’t be lived by a single person acting alone, or a small group acting together, because a larger corrupt society will overwhelm and exploit them. Therefore, Christ is teaching what cannot be done. At least cannot be done by anyone who is unwilling to try it. Occasionally we get a Mother Teresa or a Saint Francis, but they’re Catholic. Surely it can’t work with Latter-day Saints who are busy studying Steven Covey’s books, polishing their resumes and looking to find a secure middle-management position from which to launch their successful careers. Maybe a handful of good, believing Catholics will found Zion. Then we can come in and help manage the results after it becomes well enough established. After all, we have the true franchise from which Zion will be built. We even own a bank already named for the venture.

It makes you wonder why Christ would preach something which only a handful of Catholics have successfully accomplished in an individual setting.

Where do your fast offerings go?

The ward I live in has been an exporter of fast offering donations for decades. I don’t think there has been a time since it’s beginning when we haven’t exported fast offering donations. Two weeks ago in a meeting with the Priest’s Quorum, our bishop remarked that we are using nearly all the fast offering contributions inside our own ward to meet family needs of our own neighbors.

This economy has affected the church’s “breadbasket” along the Wasatch Front. The church is able to project international efforts because of the tithing of the saints in Utah. When Utah’s economy falters, the church is affected.

The last report the US Government released (that I saw) announced that tax collections were down 40%. If tax revenues are down by this much, tithing contributions must bear some proportion near to that.

The US has been blessed for the sake of the church. When we do not merit blessings, judgments follow. The economic prosperity of the US has not been because we are better than other people, but because it furthers the Lord’s purposes. When you view our current circumstances in moral terms, then we should ask what we need to do to merit further blessings from the Lord.

There are no private sins. We have only the illusion of privacy. All eternity looks on at us, at times in complete wonder at our astonishing pride and vanity.

Tithing

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a three-year system for collecting and spending tithes.

In the first year the funds are collected.

In the second year the funds remain invested while a budget is prepared for spending the tithing.

In the third year the funds are spent.

During the time when the funds are collected (first year), they are put to use in investments or deposits which yield a return. Similarly, while they remain invested during the second year, they also yield a return. When the third year arrives, and the funds are being spent on budgeted expenses, until the day they are spent they continue to collect interest or a return.

The amount of tithing collected in the first year is the amount designated “tithing” contributions. This is the amount that is budgeted and spent in the third year. All of the return on tithing yielded in the form of interest or return on investments is treated as “investment income” not tithing.

When the church spends “tithing” on temples, chapels, publications, etc. those monies are confined to the original amount collected as “tithing” only.

When the church spends “investment money” those include the interest, return, etc. collected on the tithing money during the three year cycle from when originally collected until the time it is spent. It also includes the returns on the returns as they accumulate over the years.

Therefore, when the church announces that a project (like the large reconstruction of downtown Salt Lake City) is not “tithing” but is “investment income” of the church, this is the distinction which is being made.