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I have been asked to give a talk on Tithing (Tithing Settlement Time) tomorrow and need a little help. I would like to give a talk that is different and not the same old Tithing talk that we have all heard a 1000 times. Anyone have any ideas on how to give a talk from a new perspective? Thanks.
The scamp in me wants to suggest shopping malls… But…
The discipline of budgeting, being aware of incomings and outgoings.
The history of different types of tithes. The early church didn’t ‘mandate’ it. I think it was added to the TR questions in the 20s or 30s. Abraham and other OT people tithed sheep, though it wasn’t 10% of the flock! Actually I think produce and livestock was the tithe for most of history. Again, I’m being a bit rubbish with sources and dates.
What about other symbols of sacrifice. I guess tithing today is a monthly sacrifice. Go into the other types of sacrifice. Of course, some would say it’s not a sacrifice given they consider all their material blessings a gift, so you can’t sacrifice a gift. I’m not sure I’d agree.
Finally, depending on what your ward’s like, I quite like this story:
A Mormon Bishop, a Catholic Priest and a Rabbi are talking about church contributions.
“We’re very strict,” says the Bishop proudly “we give 10% of our income every month.” The Priest nods and replies, “We prefer to pass round a collection bowl and leave it to people’s own conscience. They give what they feel is right.” The Rabbi looks at them both, surprised. “So little? Every month I take my entire income and throw it all up towards heaven. What He needs, He takes. Anything that comes back down again, I figure he’s happy for me to keep.”
If you’re worried about the anti-semitic undertones, maybe make it a Bishop, a Priest and a Jack-mormon (oooh, or better still, replace the last one with ‘a member of stayLDS.com’ – that would get the tongues wagging).
Tithing is the current equivalent of the law of consecration, having all things in common. For those Mormons who fear socialism, they are pretty much living it. i, for one, would have a hard time giving a talk on tithing….I think my views would tend to get me thrown out. For the record…it is staylds.com. But I like the idea. The staylds.org site is pretty well an anti Mormon site designed to confuse people that john dehlin/staylds is anti Mormon.
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[Thanks, cwald, for catching that. I fixed it in the comment. Ray]
cwald wrote:For the record…it is staylds.com. But I like the idea.
The staylds.org site is pretty well an anti Mormon site designed to confuse people that john dehlin/staylds is anti Mormon.
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Oops, course it is. The .org one hardly even make an effort, it’s a scruffy site.
mackay11 wrote:cwald wrote:For the record…it is staylds.com. But I like the idea.
The staylds.org site is pretty well an anti Mormon site designed to confuse people that john dehlin/staylds is anti Mormon.
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Oops, course it is. The .org one hardly even make an effort, it’s a scruffy site.
Yep.
Carry on.
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God I hate defending the Mormons. Ray, you have to know how much this hurts.
Its all good
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I could not give a talk on tithing. I’ve always thought it a little weird how much it gets stressed in church. Maybe you could give a talk that is about reality. How you don’t only get blessings when you pay tithing (I have the same blessings if I do or don’t pay). Maybe you could talk about tithing in part member families or where the main money earner won’t pay what does the tbm spouse do?
In all honesty I would just give a talk about one of Jesus teachings and not even mention tithing and then if they ask about it just say you were inspired by the spirit to change the topic.
Brian wrote:
In all honesty I would just give a talk about one of Jesus teachings and not even mention tithing and then if they ask about it just say you were inspired by the spirit to change the topic.I second this! And you’d be telling the truth, so you’d have a clean conscience. Of course you don’t have to state that the inspiration came from Brian. And if anyone get’s upset, well then, maybe you’ll be off the hook for future talks.
Love you, cwald – and I don’t mind seeing you in pain occasionally. 
Thanks for all of the help. I ended up giving a talk about how tithing is a very personal thing and that it is between you and the Lord to determine how that should work and that it is about the sacrifice and not the money. No one but you can make the determination as to whether or not you are a full tithe payer. I think it was well received. A lot of folks thanked me afterward for making it clear that it is no one else’s business about how much you should pay. Some even told me stories about wards that would get into heated discussions about how the amount of tithing should be determined (net v gross etc). I like it better when I can choose the topics…
I also like it when I can choose the topic, but it sounds like you were the right person to give that particular talk in your ward. As difficult as it was, maybe it was an inspired request. I certainly would have preferred to hear the talk you just described rather than another one given by lots of members I know and love dearly.
Thanks Ray. My main goal was to not give the same old tithing talk. I think I was able to do that.
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