I wrote up some research and thoughts about religion, churches, tithing, and what it means to give tithes to the Church. All the footnotes make a blogpost a difficult format for this so I made it a PDF.
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December 2019
“What is a Church?”
Belonging to a Church is, or used to be, very American. Religious freedom is a blessing that came at great
cost, and one for which I am grateful. Although recent surveys show declining
trends away from religious affiliation, religion still plays a major role for many in our society and
families. It defines part of many of us, and even connects to the physical land
itself that we live on. Despite what religions have in common, the differences are
what seem to make news, occupy conversations, and differentiate people and
sometimes family members. It can be a
divisive topic because the stakes can feel very high.
The intent of this paper is to discuss what a Church even is,
and how what we think of as Church has evolved and, in some ways, limited our
minds and Gospel hopes and created walls of misunderstanding instead of a unity
of faith. The goal is to look at the idea of a Church and show a new way to recognize
God’s continuing involvement in the affairs of men, not limited by the creeds
and traditions of man. With all the troublesome religious news in our day,
changing policies, and difficult social issues, how do we too know if we too
are joined with the right one?
Joseph Smith said:
The things of God are of deep import, and time and experience
and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out. Thy mind,
O Man, if thou wilt lead a soul unto salvation, must stretch as
high as the utmost Heavens, and search into and contemplate the lowest
considerations of the darkest abyss, and expand upon the broad considerations
of eternal expanse; he must commune with God. How much more dignified and noble
are the thoughts of God, than the vain imaginations of the human heart, none
but fools will trifle with the souls of men.
What I find especially meaningful about Joseph’s statement is it
reveals how to find truth. It’s not a
soundbite, not a Facebook post, not a meme, and not a matter of just accepting whatever
a Church authority tells you. It explains that God is not a quick-answer genie,
or Siri.. It takes time, experience and careful and solemn and
ponderous thoughts to find out the things of God. That is how I try to
approach the Gospel. It’s not how I always did, but it’s how I try to
now. I’ve found Joseph’s statement to be true. For me it takes more than a
quick perfunctory glance at any subject or speaker, regardless of calling, to
find out what is true.
One of Brigham Young’s thoughts I like is how the Gospel
comprehends all truth, regardless of who possesses any given truth, it belongs
to the Gospel. Those quotes are found
in various LDS manuals. I believe the
truth should expand our views, and elevate our minds, challenge us, point out
falsehoods, and continually point us to God. Not reassure us all is well,
not pat us on the back, and not tell us how special we are compared to everyone
else. Truth elevates, not because of the
speaker, but because of the light and source of truth. Which I believe we are all called upon to
seek and find. Christ is the truth and
the light but we are also warned not to mistake truth for error.
I hope to talk about true things in this
paper. I hope it’s edifying. Not confusing, or critical, but along the
lines of what Joseph said in that it expands the mind and casts away vain
imaginations. Truth is not always comfortable, but scriptures assure us only
the truth will ultimately endure. With
that said:
Mommy where do Churches come from?
How a person defines the word Church can be really diverse.
Sometimes Church refers to the local chapel, stake, and one's local ward geography. Other times it's the entire organizational
structure, with handbooks, procedures, manuals, real estate, websites and
office buildings etc etc. Other times the “Church” refers to the overall
belief system, including the culture, and the current doctrines and
policies. For others the Church refers
to the current leadership leading from downtown SLC. Looking at the Greek
origin of the word, it’s defined as “an assembly”.
To others, such as the government and IRS, the Church is a
corporation sole, with one sole owner, which corporation has dozens of for-profit sub entities and
non-profit tax exempt entities which includes everything from 2% of the state
of Florida, shopping malls, big pharma stock, communications, news outlets, cultural
centers, and hotels.
So how can we decide what is and isn’t “The Church”? Who
gets to decide anyway? Supposing God gets to decide, what does God say a
Church is? I stopped to think how
scriptures define the word Church, and what other influences exist that perhaps
influence the majority of member's or even America's view of the word. To find
the answer I had to start back in the Old Testament.
Daniel, Dreams, and Destiny
The second chapter of Daniel in the Old Testament tells how
Daniel interpreted a dream of King Nebuchadnezzar, ruler of Babylon. The king
saw a gigantic statue made of four metals.
He saw its gold head down to its feet of mingled iron and clay; as he
watched, a stone "not cut by human hands" destroyed the statue and
became a mountain filling the whole world. Daniel explained to the king that the statue
represented four successive kingdoms beginning with Babylon, while the stone
and mountain signified a kingdom established by God which would never be
destroyed nor given to another people.
The interpretation of the king’s dream in Daniels words:
Thou art this head of gold. And after thee shall arise another
kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear
rule over all the earth. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron:
forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that
breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. And whereas thou
sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom
shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron,
forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. And as the toes of the
feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly
strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay,
they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave
one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. And in the days of these
kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed:
and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces
and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. Forasmuch as thou
sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it
brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the
great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and
the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. (Dan., 2: 38–45.)
Typical of Latter-day Saint teachings on this passage are that
the kingdom never to be destroyed is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints. This is widely accepted as fact. It certainly makes
us feel good. What is interesting
however, is The Kingdom of God, and The Church were said by Joseph Smith to be
two separate entities and Joseph taught that The Church was not what Daniel was
referring to as the stone:
April 1844: “There is a distinction between the Church of God
and kingdom of God [or Council of Fifty]. The laws of the kingdom are not
designed to effect our salvation hereafter. It is an entire, distinct and
separate government. The church is a spiritual matter and a spiritual kingdom;
but the kingdom which Daniel saw was not a spiritual kingdom, but was designed
to be got up for the safety and salvation of the saints by protecting them in
their religious rights and worship.
Council of Fifty, Minutes, Apr. 18, 1844, in
JSP,
So we have fundamentally conflicting official statements about whether
the Church is actually the stone cut out of the mountain. But that's a side matter. The point
here is the vision Daniel interprets makes the destruction of the “head of gold,”
or Babylon, a latter-day event.
How important is it to get out of Babylon?
D&C
64: 24 For after today cometh the burning—this is speaking after the
manner of the Lord—for verily I say, tomorrow all the proud and they that do
wickedly shall be as stubble; and I will burn them up, for I am the Lord of
Hosts; and I will not spare any that remain in Babylon.
So we have to get out of Babylon, we can’t be proud, and we
can’t do wickedly. Or we won’t be spared.
We have been warned. What good is
this scripture if we don’t know what Babylon is or it’s influences? How can we
flee from it? First, we have to
recognize it. Does this involve moving
to the mountains?
Where is Babylon now?
How can Babylon, which left the earthly scene roughly 2,500
years ago still be around today? And how can it be “ground to
dust”? The Medes, Persians, Greeks and Romans have also all passed into
history long ago; yet according to the vision, their influences exist among us,
and will be ground to dust by a latter-day restoration occurring in our
day.
Language, art, mathematics, science and culture itself all have
their foundations in these prior ancient civilizations. Our mindsets, business
practices, governments, and even religious institutions are influenced by Babylon. We build over their ruins and inherit the legacies. As
one author put it: "The horse
path of the Medes becomes the worn and widened road of the Greeks, and the
cobblestone pathways of Rome, and our own paved highways today. We do what they
did, and go where they went. Not just in our foot-traffic, but in our
legislatures, art, and even in our minds. Though these civilizations have long
since passed from the world’s center stage, while they occupied it they left an
influence which persists today. From commerce to language, thought to dress,
all these world-dominating cultures hold a continuing influence among the
people of Western Civilization. Western Civilization in turn dominates the
world."
Although these prior cultures are not active governmental powers
today, they are alive and influential in not just America’s thoughts, but
mankind’s thoughts and culture. They affect every aspect of our modern-day
lives. But the good news is Daniel’s interpretation of the king’s dream
promises in our day we will break free from these influences. But how would that happen? Would it be
a mass exodus or gathering of Mormons to Jackson County Missouri? The problem with that is if all we do is physically flee
and gather someplace, we’d simply bring all those influences with us and they would
just crop up again creating hell rather than heaven. So it makes sense
the influences are something we can address here and now.
Fleeing Babylon is a scriptural concept (mandate) that we're all
somewhat familiar with and is necessary if we want to find Zion. But isn’t Church where we go to flee from Babylon?
What if Babylon has already infiltrated what we think of as Church?
A few ideas to consider. Not just American culture has
been affected by all those influences spoken of by Daniel, but so has LDS
culture. In Hugh Nibley essays on Approaching Zion he talks at length and
demonstrates Babylon’s continuing influence among the Saints. He talks about how having a bank called Zion’s
bank is an oxymoron and has nothing to do with our proximity to the scriptural
Zion. We have no economic
life as Latter-day Saints apart from the larger world economy. The United Order
and other restored but unpracticed laws which might have helped us move away
from “Babylon” are not being practiced at all in the Church. They were replaced by the law of tithing which
itself has undergone changes and alterations, but that’s a topic for another
day. The point here is our day is the
one prophesied when the Babylonian influences are to pass away.
How do we flee? What do we flee?
Interestingly one of the very first things which God provided to
us in this dispensation was the Book of Mormon. What’s often overlooked
is The Book of Mormon was first published before the Church was even restored. This book is unique for a variety of reasons.
Lehi’s family left approximately four years before Jerusalem’s fall to Babylon.
They took with them records and a tradition of faith which they then continued
to preserve in a new land. That record and practice of faith were not
influenced by the subsequent Babylonian captivity of the Jews Lehi and family
departed from. From the time they left, through the end of the Nephite record,
the Book of Mormon escaped Babylonian culture, thought, customs and language. The
Book of Mormon is the only pre-exilic document in existence today, that was
transmitted by a prophet to a prophet, to publication and then to us. All other
records have passed through hands (and minds) influenced to one degree or another
by the Babylonians, Medes and Persians, Romans, and modern corruptions.
So if we want to see reality, and see what a Church is, we
should use as our source something not inflected by Babylonian influences that
are slated to be ground to dust.
So The Book of Mormon is not only a gift but a key. The wrong way to use a key is to try and force it to
open something it wasn’t built to open. What
I mean by that is if we take our modern day Church and Gospel paradigm, and
overlay it on top of the Book of Mormon text we risk putting on a
blindfold. The key doesn’t open anything
when used like that. To be more direct, I don’t believe the Book of Mormon’s
purpose is to solidify that ours is the only true Church and superior to all
others. That is more like a key to arrogance and may only prolong the
condemnation the Lord put upon the Church as a result of neglect of the Book of
Mormon. More on that in a minute.
The religion and faith in the Book of Mormon brought its authors
into direct contact with Christ. It’s
not how it’s typically presented but consider if the book is as an ascension text
that will convince people of Christ by bringing them literally to Him. It teaches how to
receive Christ with literal examples. The first page even. Not emotional and whimsical events, but
literal, tangible experiences with God and angels. But if we misuse it to say “this” thing that
we do in our religion in 2019 is the exact same as “that” thing you read about
in the Book of Mormon then the key is useless.
We (our day) is not the measuring standard; the Book of Mormon should be
the standard we apply to ourselves and measure ourselves against.
For example when we read about a High Priest in the Book of
Mormon, we might overlay our 2019 mental picture of a High Priest onto the text
and assume they refer to the same kind of person and office. Sometimes we are
even taught to make these kinds of equivalencies between our day and the vocabulary
words we see in the BofM.
A High Priest in scripture was quite different than one in our
day. Back then it involved a
person’s relationship to God, and produced different fruit, God was involved in
the ordination. To be a High Priest in our day focuses on other men laying
hands on your head, biological age, income, what callings you’ve had, and your
managerial skills. Unfortunately those holding this office in our day often
perpetrate abuse of the worst kind.
In the scriptures being a priest or high priest wasn’t a role in
an intuition or formal office. It was a position of service as a result of one’s
relationship with Christ. Christ did the final ordination. Not man.
So overlaying our ideas of Church vocabulary words onto scriptural text
causes errors, but we can watch out for it.
Anyway, so how might the false kingdoms in Danie’s vision have
influenced our definition of the word "Church"? And can the
Book of Mormon help us understand what God’s view of a Church is? Is it possible western though has so
influenced our minds that we have trouble contemplating a Gospel of Jesus
Christ without their influences?
Church as taught in the Book of Mormon
Looking at how the Book of Mormon describes and speaks about
Churches. Lehi was originally part of
what we typically think of as a "Church". He was a practicing Jew. He preached to the members of that
predominant religion he lived among and in like pattern to Christ, was
rejected, not because his message was wrong, but because their religion had
become corrupt and it blinded them. But
who wants to hear that? More likely the
people would dismiss him as false.
Lehi and his message were rejected because no one in any day and age likes hearing
that they believe incorrect things, are corrupt, or have missed the mark. So Lehi and family had to leave
Jerusalem. For many generations thereafter he and his descendants practiced
religion apart from any formal, organized form. This type of less than
formal “Church” is common throughout the Book of Mormon. Missionaries
preached, people were converted to Christ, and the “Church” existed as a body
of believers without centralized control as we have in 2019 where everything is
directed by headquarters. What kept them united was Christ, the Holy
Ghost, scriptures, and true doctrine. God sometimes sent many prophets,
concurrently, to preach to the people. It wasn’t a top down
structure like GE or any other American business.
To us, such a system might look terribly unorganized, or even chaotic.
But as we’ve seen, ours is not the superior mindset no matter how advanced our
technology. We easily cite the global
church, the enormous financial success, and political influence as evidence of superiority and or success. The Book of Mormon interestingly contradicts
that idea.
Nephi who saw our day in vision has a message about our
"Churches". (2 Nephi 28) Starting in verse 11.
Yea, they have all gone out of the way; they have become
corrupted. Because of pride, and because of false teachers, and false doctrine,
their churches have become corrupted, and their churches are lifted up; because
of pride they are puffed up. They rob the poor because of their fine
sanctuaries; they rob the poor because of their fine clothing; and they persecute
the meek and the poor in heart, because in their pride they are puffed
up. They wear stiff necks and high heads; yea, and because of pride, and
wickedness, and abominations, and whoredoms, they have all gone astray save it
be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led,
that in many instances they do err because they are taught by the precepts of
men.
He says they are built up to get gain, popularity, and do not
seek the welfare (much less to build) Zion. And they are "all"
corrupt he says. He says they love their fine sanctuaries (church
buildings) more than the poor. Who is he talking about? If this book is a key, what does it open if
we allow the key to open something?
These are Church centered criticisms from Nephi about the modern
audience (us) he observed in vision.
Moroni (Mormon 8:36-38) was also was one who spoke to US as if
we were present and he seems to have a very similar message as Nephi:
Behold, I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are
not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your
doing. And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and there
are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their
hearts, unto the wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying, and strifes, and
malice, and persecutions, and all manner of iniquities; and your churches, yea,
even every one, have become polluted because of the pride of your hearts.
For behold, ye do love money, and your substance, and your fine apparel, and
the adorning of your churches, more than ye love the poor and the needy, the
sick and the afflicted.
O ye pollutions, ye hypocrites, ye teachers, who sell yourselves
for that which will canker, why have ye polluted the holy church of God? Why
are ye ashamed to take upon you the name of Christ? Why do ye not think that
greater is the value of an endless happiness than that misery which never
dies—because of the praise of the world?
“Pollutions”? Is he
talking about smog? Environmental
waste? What on earth is he talking
about? If we believe the Book of Mormon
to be true, and that it’s addressing our day, then this seems to merit
substantial consideration. According to
these two Book of Mormon authors "all" churches (which includes ours)
in our day are corrupt and polluted. Because of false teachings, false
teachers, seeking for “praise of the world” such that even the humble followers
of Christ err. That gives me pause. Our entire conception of “Church” according to Moroni
and Nephi is corrupt.
The solution they offer is repentance. We in our day define repentance almost
exclusively in a moral context, and don’t hardly ever consider it in terms of
our religious traditions. But we
should. Moroni and Nephi describe a
religious situation that is corrupt, fallen, mislead, and we are in dire need
of waking up to our awful situation. But like a deep sleep,
it’s unpleasant to wake up.
I take Nephi's warning personally, and
seriously. The problem is, is that applying
their message to our own Church contradicts a great deal of what we are taught from
manuals and the pulpit. This can be
terribly upsetting. Or feel like the
foundation is crumbling. But faith
exists regardless of and independent of religious institutions. We often pride ourselves at being the only
true church, which curiously has no support from the Book of Mormon. So we have
to make a choice to either consider if we are in fact Nephi and Moroni’s
audience or not. That’s for each to
answer.
Suppose we are Nephi and Moroni's audience. How do we respond? It would place us smack
into the same difficulties we read in the Book of Mormon, where corruption and
pride overtake people and the people are the last to realize it. And they often reject
those who are sent to warn them. In true Book of Mormon pattern, the
warning from God is not accepted because the people think themselves righteous,
and they think their religious traditions are correct or good enough to save
them. They, like the Jews, are very religious people, but yet do not recognize
Christ, nor the messengers Christ sends.
We are at risk of repeating the exact same pattern.
Returning to Daniel. It's possible the influences of the
head of gold and the other symbolic parts of the statue Daniel saw have so
biased our minds and perspectives that we need to pause for a moment and see if
Nephi and Moroni’s view of our entire religious society and how we define words
are not only incomplete, but sometimes blinding. Daniel’s vision and the
Book of Mormon go hand in hand. The Book
of Mormon shows us what reality looks like.
And it’s often not the same as we have become accustomed to seeing
through our 2019 lenses.
Here one day, but not the next
The Book of Mormon has a really interesting situation with
regards to Church worship. A group of
people were “cast out” of their places of worship, or in our language
“excommunicated”. It was the priests or the leaders who did this to them.
The “church” as they knew it was there one day, available for them to worship
in, but suddenly for them, it was seemingly gone the next day. They
themselves had labored to build the synagogue but now found themselves without
one. They were disoriented and had to
ask what to do. Here’s their own words
and then Alma’s response to them:
Alma 32: 5 And they
came unto Alma; and the one who was the foremost among them said unto him:
Behold, what shall these my brethren do, for they are despised of all men
because of their poverty, yea, and more especially by our priests; for they
have cast us out of our synagogues which we have labored abundantly to build
with our own hands; and they have cast us out because of our exceeding poverty;
and we have no place to worship our God; and behold, what shall we do?
6 And now
when Alma heard this, he turned him about, his face immediately towards him,
and he beheld with great joy; for he beheld that their afflictions had truly
humbled them, and that they were in a preparation to hear the word.
7 Therefore
he did say no more to the other multitude; but he stretched forth his hand, and
cried unto those whom he beheld, who were truly penitent, and said unto them: I
behold that ye are lowly in heart; and if so, blessed are ye. Behold thy
brother hath said, What shall we do?—for we are cast out of our synagogues,
that we cannot worship our God. Behold I say unto you, do ye suppose that ye
cannot worship God save it be in your synagogues only? And moreover, I
would ask, do ye suppose that ye must not worship God only once in a
week? I say unto you, it is well that ye are cast out of your synagogues,
that ye may be humble, and that ye may learn wisdom; for it is necessary that
ye should learn wisdom; for it is because that ye are cast out, that ye are
despised of your brethren because of your exceeding poverty, that ye are
brought to a lowliness of heart; for ye are necessarily brought to be humble.
Alma taught the people that they are not limited to worship in
their synagogues, nor once a week. The people apparently were not aware
this option existed. But after being
sufficiently humbled, then it seemed they became open to new ideas. Then they learn about faith outside of and
independent of their synagogue (what a thought). This strongly suggests the
"buildings" and all that go with them, are incidental to true
worship, not dependent on them.
Suppose for a moment that the LDS Church in an instant ceased to
exist. There one day, and gone the next in some fashion. How would
the membership be affected?
What’s interesting is removing the Church structure would
seemingly cause widespread disorientation. But think for a minute what would happen if
you flip that, and remove Christ from the religious picture. A religious business can continue without
Christ’s direct involvement. They can maintain the vocabulary, maintain
the organization, and they can continue make claims, do service, teach some
truths and to operate uninterrupted with whatever relics of truth they may
have. This has happened in history. Christ came and went, and
religion of various kinds found a way to continue. In Joseph Smith's day
the Lord said all the existing religious were corrupt contained abominable
creeds. Yet they still existed,
still had members, still had donors, and still operated. So we have to
conclude it is possible for a Gospel lexicon and a religious structure to
endure even with the absence of Christ's presence or approval.
I believe it's possible the members of the LDS Church in
2019 have developed a faith "In the church" that may overshadow and
even replace at times their faith in Christ. If the Church organization
were removed or otherwise became disreputable, I suspect we would find
ourselves too asking Alma: “what shall we do”?
And I suspect we would receive the same instructions as they received.
When Lehi and family left Jerusalem, what was primary to their
continued worship were the scriptures, not religious formal organizations.
It's possible the corporate mindset has infiltrated religious so fully
that religion and the Gospel of Jesus Christ seemingly can't exist apart from
chapels, manuals, correlated curriculum, corporate entities and handbooks of
instruction. Obviously, synagogues and Churches existed in the Book of
Mormon. But what's interesting is we
have examples in that book of prophets who saw our day and sharply call out the
Churches of our day, including our own, with words like corrupt, filthy,
polluted, and with priorities out of whack.
First Century Christians
The first century of Christianity had no formal organization and
no central control. Christians met informally in small groups and
worshiped together in homes or public places. Very reminiscent of the
Book of Mormon style of Church worship. First century Christians did not
compensate ministers or have any need of large living stipends for their top
leadership. And certainly had no
for-profit arms. Yet it changed the world without using the world’s form
of power or money. They did not need billions
of dollars to achieve God’s objectives. Since
there were no buildings to maintain, they did not need to gather money to
maintain them. They gathered money and they used it to help the poor and needy
among them.
In authentic Christianity, the poor are primary, not the sanctuaries and church buildings. Which links back to Nephi’s words about
latter day Churches preferring maintenance and construction of fine sanctuaries
in much greater financial proportion to that of caring for poor. When trying to understand what Nephi is saying I believe the
poor are “robbed” in the sense they were not given what they were rightly due. And instead the money was funneled into the
fine sanctuaries due to the legitimate costs of maintaining such sheer number
of them.
Perhaps, just perhaps this mindset may all be part of the influences
Daniel spoke of. You decide.
A Model of What?
But what of the Latter-Day restoration of the Church and it’s
structure? Aren't all the offices, structure, formalities and corporate
presence part of the restoration? Are not these things found in D&C? Is God not the author
of the structure we see operating out of downtown Salt Lake City exactly how
Joseph Smith revealed it? Isn’t the wealth,
influence and power of the Church evidence of God’s approval and
endorsement? Thanks to a living Prophet
is the Church not advancing and progressing in perfect harmony with God's
will?
This takes us to the next topic of Church, which are the Church
models. Why does the Church have this
model? What is it modeling anyway? I am still learning about this topic and have put my current understanding below.
When Christ came to minister on earth and to serve and to
sacrifice in Israel, He came inside a very corrupt Church environment.
So corrupt in fact we know it was the religious leaders who conspired to have
him killed. Christ came during a Church model that had been passed down from
Moses. The leaders “sat in Moses’
seat” according to Jesus. Meaning the leaders
occupied an authoritative position held by, then handed down from, Moses. Moses was someone they all knew and respected
as a prophet of God. Similar to how we
might say President Nelson holds a position and authority handed down from
Joseph Smith as our prophetic dispensation head.
The religion that Moses set up was less than what was originally
to be restored because the people were unwilling to accept more. The Children of Israel
wandered and although still watched over by God, did not receive what they
might have received and were kept out of the promised land. A pattern was established through Moses who
gave a law of lesser performances, observances, rites in order to point forward
to something else that would be coming so that maybe when it arrived, it could
explain to them what their lesser law was intended to point to. The observances
and rites pointed to Christ. Was
intended to anyway. It didn’t have that
effect for very many devout Jews though.
Christ was not a leader of the Jews. He didn’t occupy any
religious authoritative position. Nor was John the Baptist. This is a pattern we should pay attention to
because God sends messengers this way. The Jewish leaders thought
John a crazy wild-man from the desert and questioned his authority to perform
baptisms. These two men from God were
not part of the established religious hierarchy that descended from
Moses. That no doubt was part of what caused the Jews to reject them as it
just didn’t fit inside the model they expected. They had become fixated
on the rituals and rites as ends in themselves which history shows did not aid
them in recognizing Christ, even though he was what all of that pointed
to. Fixation on even God given symbols
and rites can sometimes be blinding. I
speak of this with humility and offer charity to those former day people as I
realize we too face the same challenge.
But in
any event, we all know Christ set up his Church. First Presidency,
Quorum of the 12, 70’s etc etc. He set
up Peter, James, and John as three who had unique roles from the other members
of the twelve for things like at the Mount of Transfiguration And then
there were the twelve that were called and ordained and sent out as messengers.
And then there were seventy who were called as missionaries also to go
out. Was this an innovation? Or is Christ modeling something
that existed prior? And if so, what?
What if Peter,
James and John point back to a remembrance of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob? And
what if the quorum of the twelve that Christ organized and sent out are a
remembrance, or an honor to the twelve sons of Jacob, the twelve tribes of
Israel? And the seventy, where did that
come from? Exodus chapter 1 verse 5, talks about seventy souls who went
into Egypt at the time that the rest of the family joined Joseph and the brothers,
and their descendants came to live in Israel. So the Church structure we
see Christ set up was perhaps not new or some disconnected concept, but was a
remembrance and honor of an earlier more complete religion.
So what Christ
set up looks a lot like the reestablishing or a restoration of the family of
Israel. The structure of the Church
itself pointed the mind back to an earlier time, before Babylon. So this isn’t a
church model to fixate on, because the model was modeling something
earlier. It’s possible it was more a homage or restoration back to the
original, which was a covenant family. Not just an institution for people
to look at and idolize, but instead a Godly family to belong
to.
Christ’s
model is what we pride ourselves in having been restored in our day. We
view offices like First Presidency and 12 as ends unto
themselves. Which has a tendency to cause organization fixation.
What’s forgotten is that it was not intended as a centralized hierarchy like we
see in the Babylonian world of business institutions. It was pointing
somewhere back in time, something needing additional restoration.
The restoration
as we know began through Joseph Smith. That restoration barely even got
it's foot in the door before Joseph and Hyrum were killed. But if we take
what was restored, and make it into an end, and give it finality, and worship
it, we could miss what the restoration was pointing to and may not notice when
God continues that restoration.
Status of the latter-day Church, according to Scripture
In our day the restoration barely got started before the Church
found itself condemned. Consider these
D&C statements, from God, about the Church, placed into chronological order. The fact that our seminary teachers never did
this doesn’t matter, it’s right in front of us in the scriptures:
-In 1830 the Lord called the church “true and living” (D&C
1:30).
-By 1832, 2 years later, the Lord stated that the entire church was
“condemned” (D&C 84:54-57). And that they would remain under the
condemnation until the requirements were met.
-By 1841 the Lord says He has taken the fullness of the priesthood
away from the church and it would need to be restored (D&C 124:28). The
Nauvoo temple was where the fullness was to be restored. The saints got expelled, forcibly, from Nauvoo and had
to abandon the temple which then was destroyed by both mob and mother
nature.
-Fall of 1844 Joseph and Hyrum Smith were murdered and D&C
all but stopped growing and has actually shrunk in the last 100 years.
-In 1986- General Conference Ezra Taft Benson said:
To do so, we must first cleanse the inner vessel by awaking and
arising, being morally clean, using the Book of Mormon in a manner so that God
will lift the condemnation, and finally conquering pride by humbling ourselves.
As of 1993: Elder Oaks June 6th 1993: “For a year, President Benson had been
stressing the reading of the Book of Mormon. Repeatedly he had quoted these
verses from the Doctrine and Covenants, including the Lord’s statement that the
Saints’ conduct had “brought the whole church under condemnation” (D&C 84:55). In that temple meeting, President Benson reread those
statements and declared, “This condemnation has not been lifted, nor will it be
until we repent.”
-Elder Oaks June 6 th 1993 said: “Along with other General Authorities, I have a clear
recollection of the General Authority temple meeting on 5 March 1987. For a
year, President Benson had been stressing the reading of the Book of Mormon.
Repeatedly he had quoted these verses from the Doctrine and Covenants,
including the Lord’s statement that the Saints’ conduct had “brought the whole
church under condemnation” (D&C 84:55). In that temple meeting, President
Benson reread those statements and declared, “This condemnation has not been
lifted, nor will it be until we repent.”
- LDS.org 2010 from Elder Oaks video: https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2010-07-070-the-church-under-condemnation?lang=eng
This simple chronology of
D&C statements tells a story. It’s unflattering, concerting, troubling to
name a few things. But it’s also
true.
The condemnation upon the whole Church, according to leaders
alive and serving today, remains in place. For me personally it would be both presumptions and
arrogant to take what the Lord said in 1830 about the Church’s status and
disregard everything he said after that including Church leader's statements
confirming the Lord's earlier words of condemnation, and go applying the 1830
description of the Church to us in 2019. It’s seems sort of tolerant for primary
kids to do that over the pulpit, I guess, but at some point, it’s probably wise
to not repeat things that are false and misleading.
If the Church is still condemned then repentance takes on new meaning and has different context
than just personal improvement, or moral uprightness. It would involve letting
go of false traditions. And instead,
adding new light from God, a new and fresh view of the restoration, and a
living connection to God who speaks again, and whose voice we can recognize
amidst the detractors. It calls for
unity, across religious divide, across culture and time. It calls for all of us
to see the Gospel was intended to come to unity of faith, not division. We have a
common enemy, and it’s not each other.
What is the Lord’s Storehouse
for?
If we ask the scriptures this
question, we hear a clear and unified response: The poor, widowed, and orphaned
have first claim on the tithes given to storehouse.
JST Genesis 14:37 And he lifted up his voice, and he blessed
Abram, being the high priest, and the keeper of the storehouse of God; 38 Him
whom God had appointed to receive tithes for the poor.
D&C 42:33 And again, if there shall be properties in the hands
of the church, or any individuals of it, more than is necessary for their
support after this first consecration, which is a residue to be consecrated
unto the bishop, it shall be kept to administer to those who have not, from
time to time, that every man who has need may be amply supplied and receive
according to his wants. 34 Therefore, the residue shall be kept in my
storehouse, to administer to the poor and the needy…
D&C 51:13 And again, let the bishop appoint a storehouse unto
this church; and let all things both in money and in meat, which are more
than is needful for the wants of this people, be kept in the hands of the
bishop.
D&C 78:3 For verily I say unto you, the time has come, and is
now at hand; and behold, and lo, it must needs be that there be an organization
of my people, in regulating and establishing the affairs of the storehouse
for the poor of my people, both in this place and in the land of Zion—
D&C 83:4 All children have claim upon
their parents for their maintenance until they are of age. 5 And after that,
they have claim upon the church, or in other words upon the Lord’s storehouse,
if their parents have not wherewith to give them inheritances. 6 And the
storehouse shall be kept by the consecrations of the church; and widows and
orphans shall be provided for, as also the poor. Amen.
I am hard pressed to find justification for the accumulation of
100 Billion dollars and calling it the Lord’s storehouse. That is a contradiction with scripture. Sometimes we think corruption only in terms
of evil people committing felonies. But
there is another kind, which is corruption away from the word of God, as found
in scripture, and departure from the Lord’s ways in preference to Babylonian
mindsets, tools, and reasoning. This would be a little harder to recognize,
but the scriptures help make it clear.
Conclusion
What if God sends a true message about the terrible state of
mankind, and the news is bad? Can God only tell us good things? If we will only
allow ourselves to “feel the spirit” when we hear good news, or hear what
confirms what we already think, how can we ever be told our awful state before
God?
In conclusion, giving tithing to “The Church” asks us to
understand what a Church even is. The
topic goes much deeper, it stretches much higher, and causes me to need to
reach up to God for understanding. Because I was born into the influences
and the mindsets that prophecy and the Book of Mormon paint with bright red
paint. The Book of Mormon for me has brought clarity. It's identified the
Church follies of our day and shown the path out. It tells me to stop
trusting in man, or intuitions and turn my focus to Christ who is a sure
foundation. When then opens the door for an entirely new discussion with
anyone, of any religious belief. It is
the tool that God said would remove the condemnation upon the Church. This paper is only an introduction to some of
the ideas. I'm aware of numerous alternative viewpoints, but this was only
a step. It helps give some fresh color to the idea of giving
tithes to the Church.
This started with asking what a church even is. And how does the Lord define Church assuming
He gets to define it. Is the Church the people? Or the
organization? Are our definitions contaminated and misleading? How does scripture define what constitutes
His church?
D&C 10:67-70
Yea, if they will come, they may, and partake of the waters of
life freely. Behold, this is my doctrine—whosoever repenteth and cometh unto
me, the same is my church. Whosoever declareth more or less than this, the same
is not of me, but is against me; therefore he is not of my church. And now,
behold, whosoever is of my church, and endureth of my church to the end, him
will I establish upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against
them. And now, remember the words of him who is the life and light of the
world, your Redeemer, your Lord and your God. Amen.
This even has a warning about what we declare as constituting Christ’s
church. I don’t know if what I’ve said
has come across as intended or not. But
hopefully gives some context for a much bigger discussion and hopefully some
common ground where we don’t need to judge each other’s tithing decisions as
wrong or unorthodox. I am pro faith, pro
Book of Mormon, pro Joseph Smith, and of course pro Christ. I hope for a unity of faith, among Christians,
Buddhists, Mormons, Hindu’s and all others who’s devotion to God can bring
people together rather than divide. I am not for religious falsehoods or false
traditions that lead to pride and a closed mind. Faith in my view endures despite the pitfalls
all religions seem to fall into sooner or later.
If I had to say what the conclusion is, or what direction this
is all pointing to, it would be something found in the book of Mormon. To arise, and awake. To wake up to the awful
situation we are in. If we are willing
to consider our false religious traditions.
Here is a sample list of LDS for-profit
companies and property holdings.
I’m not making a judgement, only acknowledging their existence:
Deseret Management
Corporation; Property Reserve, Inc. ; Suburban Land Reserve, Inc ; City Creek
Properties ; Beneficial Financial Group ; Bonneville International ; Bonneville
Communications ; Bonneville Interactive Services ; Bonneville Satellite ;
KSL Radio Station as well as other affiliates. ; Television Station (KSL);
Deseret Book ; LDS Motion Picture Studios ; Deseret Morning News ; Hawaii
Reserves : Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC) ; La'ie Shopping Center ;
La'ie Park ; La'ie Cemetery ; Hukilau Beach Park ; La'ie Water Company ; La'ie
Treatment Works (sewer) ; Temple Square Hospitality ; Joseph Smith Memorial
Building ; The Inn at Temple Square ; Lion House Pantry ; The Roof
Restaurant ; The Garden Restaurant ; Passages Restaurant ; Zions Securities
Corporation ; Farm Management Corporation ; Deseret Land and Livestock ;
Sun Ranch (Martin's Cove) ; Deseret Ranches of Florida (Orlando) ; Deseret
Farms of California ; Rolling Hills (Idaho) ; West Hills Orchards (Elberta,
Utah) ; Cactus Lane Ranch (Arizona) ; Deseret Trust Company ; LDS Family
Services ; Property Reserves Inc. (PRI) ; Ensign Peak Advisors - ;
Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators ; Brigham Young University (BYU) ; BYU –
Idaho ; BYU – Hawaii LDS Business College; Agreserves Australia ; Deseret
Ranches of Alberta, Canada ; Agreserves LTD Cambridge, England ; AgroReservas,
S.C. Los Mochis, Mexico ; Deseret Farms of CA Woodland, CA ; Deseret Farms of
CA Modesto,CA ; Deseret Farms of CA Chico,CA ; South valley Farms Bakersfield,
CA ; Deseret Security Farms Blythe, CA ; Naples Farms Naples,FL ; Deseret
Cattle & Citrus ST. Cloud, FL ; Deseret Farms of Ruskin Ruskin, FL ;Kewela
Plantation O'ahu,HI ; Rex Ranch Ashby, NE ; Riverbend Farms ST.Paul, OR ;
Deseret Land & Livestock Woodruff, UT ; Wasatch-Dixie Farms Elberta, UT ;
Agreserves Cottle CO.,TX ; Agrinorthwest Kennewick, WA
A recent article alleges over 100
billion exists in an investment fund which was supposed to be used for
charitable donations but was instead grown tax free and used for other things,
one of which is alleged to have gone towards building City Creek Mal in downtown
Salt Lake City. See here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/investigations/mormon-church-has-misled-members-on-100-billion-tax-exempt-investment-fund-whistleblower-alleges/2019/12/16/e3619bd2-2004-11ea-86f3-3b5019d451db_story.html
D&C 84: 53 And by this
you may know the righteous from the wicked, and that the
whole world groaneth under sin and darkness even now. And your minds in times past have
been darkened because of unbelief, and because you have
treated lightly the things you have received—
55 Which vanity and unbelief have brought the whole church under
condemnation. And this condemnation
resteth upon the children of Zion, even all. 57 And they shall remain
under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant,
even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I
have given them, not only to say, but to do according to that which I
have written.
More discussion on this topic here in the footnote:
In 1970 President Smith
said: “I could make a guess, and I do
not think I would be too far out if I did say that one-half of the members of
the Church have not read the Book of Mormon.”
(Joseph Fielding Smith, Seek Ye Earnestly, 1970, p. 96.) Classes at BYU
on the Book of Mormon weren’t even available until 1961. It’s hard to argue the Book of Mormon wasn’t
totally neglected.
Noel B.
Reynolds notable BYU professor and former Director of FARMS wrote in 1999
(bolding mine): “The Book of Mormon
was largely overlooked throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. A handful
of church leaders appealed for more serious attention to the book, however the
church as a whole did not respond in any dramatic way to any of these urgent
messages until after Pres. Benson's emphatic messages in 1986.” Within 18
months of the restoration through Joseph Smith, the Saints were condemned for
unbelief. By January 1841 the Saints were warned they would be rejected with
their dead if they failed to repent and keep God's commandments. They did
not repent.” (The Coming Forth
of the Book of Mormon in the 20th Century” found at BYU Studies, Volume 38.)
Moroni 10:30-31: 30 And
again I would exhort you that ye would come unto Christ, and lay hold
upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift, nor
the unclean thing. And awake, and arise from the dust, O Jerusalem;
yea, and put on thy beautiful garments, O daughter of Zion;
and strengthen thy stakes and enlarge thy borders forever,
that thou mayest no more be confounded, that the covenants of the
Eternal Father which he hath made unto thee, O house of Israel, may be
fulfilled. 32 Yea, come unto Christ, and
be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and
if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all
your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by
his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye
are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God.
