As far back
as I can remember, the leaders have promised that if a person has the faith to
pay tithing, then “the Lord will open the windows of Heaven and pour out his richest blessings”. Leaders repeat this promise
over and over, in different permutations of the original revelation on tithing made by the
leader Lorenzo Snow, who promised that if members had the faith to pay tithing, then rain would come to rescue the crops from drought. Leaders talk about
how you can’t afford not to pay
tithing. They give examples of people
who paid tithing and were miraculously able to make ends meet. They promise - over and over - that having
the faith to pay your tithing will result in blessings.
And since
Mormons tend to be literal when interpreting the promises of their leaders,
this creates an odd dynamic. As we
repeated, over and over, “The Church is perfect. People aren’t.” Since the Church is perfect - and the
imperfection of people provide such an easy scapegoat - a lack of material
blessings is assumed to be correlated with a lack of faith.
My parents
were poor for many years. For them, paying tithing was
an extreme act of faith, as often the money that was paid to the Mormon Church
was needed to feed the family.
And yet paying tithing didn’t result in more material wealth. My parents struggled along, trying to make
the pennies match up, while performing the requirements of Mormonism with
diligence. The faith of my parents - to
pay tithing even when tithing was a struggle - is an awe-inspiring testament to
their commitment.
If you look
at the members that rank higher in hierarchy - bishopric, stake
presidency, General Authorities, Presidency - you will notice that these
leaders are notable more for their professional and financial success. Thomas S. Monson, the current President, was
an advertising executive and eventual general manager for Deseret News
Press. His first counselor, Henry B.Eyring, is a graduate of Harvard Business School and was a professor at
Stanford, as well as the president of Ricks College. His second counselor, Dieter F. Uchtdorf, was
a German aviator and airline executive.
These men were part of the middle to upper class, with significant
professional achievements, when they were recruited for leadership. I have no doubt that there are many good and
faithful men from modest backgrounds; however, these men do not seem to be
reflected in the makeup of the authorities that are responsible for guiding the
Mormon Church.
Within my own
ward, the leaders who were never from the “ragged” families - the families that
worked blue-collar jobs while following the command to have lots of children,
even if you couldn’t afford them. Most
of the leaders selected were either college professors or white-collar professionals. I didn’t notice much of a
difference between the leaders and the poorer families in terms of their
character or faith. But I did notice a
difference in which families were called to leadership positions.
For what it
was worth, I don’t think the stigma was applied to me, even though I was from a
poor family. I was a bright student and
enthusiastic about my studies. There
were a number of wonderful women that stepped in to support and guide me. But with the oft-repeated promises of
receiving blessings if you are faithful enough, there is the mindset that a
lack of blessings correlates with a lack of faith.
