i had just finished dinner with the husbands family when my phone rang. i answered the phone to hear a lot of commotion and my brother saying, "hi, i have a really random question"...not thinking much of the situation i said "okkkk...."
this is what he said, "is it true mormons have to give 10% of their income to temple?"
OK... random is right, that really came out of left field! my brother is a self-proclaimed atheist so i am wondering at this point, which of his friends brought that up, and what else are they talking about?!
i answered his question, "well, we do pay a tithing of 10% of our income, but it doesn't just go to the temples. there are many other things the money goes to. it is also a choice to pay tithing, no one can make you do anything, we all can choose to pay or not, that is between us and the Lord."
he just couldn't seem to get over this fact...asking me how they monitor if we really pay 10%, if they check our pay checks and what they do if we don't pay the money...after explaining that it is all based on honesty he seemed to understand. i related tithing to the offerings made in the episcopal church we grew up in, this helped tithing make much more sense to him.
we finished our conversation with me reminding him that if he ever reads or hears something weird about the church to make sure he asks me before believing what he hears and he said "i know, i figured i would call you and brett because you are the the ones i trust about this stuff"
i am so happy that my brother was able to call me and ask for the truth about something one of his friends was just throwing around in a conversation.
it also made me a little sick to my stomach to think that my brother and his friends were talking about the church, when none of them are members. i know what a lot of people think about the church, and it isn't all good.
so here is the confession: it sucks to know that my family hears a lot of garbage and false truths about the church, and most likely believes it...it sucks to know that my family talks about me behind my back.
{my brother and i on top of tiger mountain}
Sorry to hear about that. Family is the ones who can hurt you the most by their actions. Hope it workes out. Im followin now, and maybe youll visit me some day.
ReplyDeletethebookness.blogspot.com
I think it's great that he called you about it! Sounds like he was really nervous, but it's a big deal to have non-member family members ask questions. My first time in Poland with husband's family they asked some questions about the temple and we gave them a little presentation (maybe a little overboard?) but it was nice to open up the dialog.
ReplyDeleteI think just keep reminding them that you would love to talk about it with them. And talking about your faith in a public way shows them you are open to having conversations about it.
In regards to the question he posed, it can get really frustrating huh? I never understand why that's so difficult to people, but I guess they forget that there are all sorts of things in life that we have to earn. Going to the temple isn't a right, it's a privilege! We earn it by being faithful to God's commandments, and paying tithing is one of them.
i think you are totally right about opening the dialogue. i really need to do that with my dad and his side of the family...i feel like they think there is an unwritten rule to not bring church up!
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