Line upon Line

In the Saturday morning session of the April 2026 LDS General Conference, Elder Jorge T. Becerra discussed a rare topic – The Law of Tithing.

That sermon sent my mind racing back to my days as a missionary in Canberra, Australia. One family we were teaching made references during the series of missionary lesson to disliking religions that required “money gifts.” We didn’t think much about that because the lessons were going quite well. Then it hit us. Our next and final lesson was on Tithing. My companion and I contemplated how to approach this lesson on “money gifts.”

Desperate or inspired, we invited the bishop to attend this lesson. Sure enough, the husband gloomily listened and reluctantly participated in this lesson. We asked him how he would feel about living the Law of Tithing, to which he quickly said, “No way I would give 10% to any church. That’s a lot! That’s too much to ask!” The silence was palpable.

Undeterred, the bishop leaned forward and asked, “Did the Elders tell you about fast offerings?”

“No,” the man said as we squirmed in our chairs.

The bishop then explained the purpose of fast offerings to which the man simply said, “That sounds logical.”

The bishop wasn’t finished. He asked if the Elders had explained budget funds, building funds and the like. The man agreed those all sounded like worthy causes. The blood had drained out of our faces by that time.

The bishop smiled and said, “Brother, we welcome your baptism and participation in the Church. What percent tithing would you feel good about? 1%?”

The man replied, “Hmmm, actually, I would feel good about doing more than that.”

To which the bishop said, with a broad smile, “What percent?”

“Oh, maybe 3 or 4% max.”

“Fine,” the bishop said. “For you — do what you feel good about doing.”

“Okay, 3%,” the man said confidently. “ I think 3% would work,”

“The Lord will bless you,” the bishop said. “You do what you feel best. And contribute to those other worthy causes as you deem best as well.”

With that, the family re-committed to their baptism on Saturday. We were a bit shocked by what the bishop said but went along with the bishop – always a good practice.

About six months later as I was headed home, I met the bishop, by chance, at the airport. I asked how that family was doing. The bishop beamed and said, “They are a vital part of the ward, participating well in every calling. And, by the way Elder Stoddard, he pays their tithing every month without fail…and never less than 10%! He often bears his testimony about fast offerings in particular.” The flight home was spent cherishing mission memories.

One more illustration.

Not too long ago I read a testimony from a father who wrote:

“Years ago, we stumbled through some difficult financial times with a failing business that was confronted with at least a $1 million shortfall that could have placed us in great legal jeopardy. For several years we persevered in running our business, always managing to make our obligations – but barely able to keep the cash flow churning.

“During all these times paying our tithing was never a question – we gladly paid in full. As is typical in the Lord’s church, no one ever said anything about what we donated. It was between us and the Lord.

“One day in our planning meeting for the company, we came up with the idea of a special promotion that theoretically would provide not only the needed cash flow, but increased profit margins that would allow for us to grow and get out of the financial hole. We calculated we had to bring in at least $350,000 in the next two months to meet our financial obligations. We prayed for the bounties of heaven.

“However, the day before our final obligation was due, we were short by $10,000. On that last day a sale for $10,000 was concluded. We’d made it…this year.

“The following year we had progressed enough so that we were only $200,000 short. On the final date of this fiscal year, we needed $5,000 to meet our obligations. The phone rang and we received a sale that netted us $5,000.

“The third year we were pleased that we were nearly out of the hole – but we still needed $100,000 in sales to be solvent. We had nearly hit the goal but were $10,000 short.

“You guessed it – the next day we received a check for $10,000 from a sale. We were out of the hole. Once again, it seemed the Lord provided exactly what was needed — but not a cent more.

“Finally in the black, we gave thanks to our Father in Heaven for his obvious assistance in getting us there. However, we smiled and thought if we found ourselves ever again in such terrible financial straits, we would ask the Lord for some cushion, too! Meeting obligations on the final day is too stressful.”

As a youth I vividly recall hearing sermons in church about everyone needing to follow Malachi’s statement: “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.”

In those days we not only had talks on tithing, but we also had Budget Banquets, Building Fund dinners, and even a church movie called, “The Windows of Heaven.” Constant reminders encouraging us to pay our tithing.

Today the only time we hear about tithing is an occasional address in General Conference similar to the one Elder Becerra gave in this April General Conference or while studying the Old Testament.

I like to think that tithing is rarely discussed because members have found what these two people found: while the Church probably doesn’t need our paltry amounts, we can’t do without the Lord’s blessings. We observe the Law of Tithing (including fast offerings and other donations) as a matter of honor, not obligation.