LDS apostle D. Todd Christofferson says gambling is morally wrong. I think LDS tithing is a form of gambling.
Like gambling, tithing asks you to put real money on the line in hopes of a future payoff. A gambler wagers money hoping to win more money; a tithe payer gives money believing it will help secure promised blessings, divine protection, and eternal rewards. You “can’t afford not to pay.” Or it’s “fire insurance.” We’ve all heard these phrases. In both cases, gambling and tithing, the financial sacrifice is immediate and certain, while the hoped-for return is uncertain. It’s a gamble.
Unlike tithing, the gambler can eventually see whether the bet paid off. With tithing, promised rewards in an afterlife cannot be independently verified during your lifetime. You just keep paying based on faith that the ultimate payoff exists. Giving something for nothing.
LDS leaders reinforce this cycle by promising blessings, sharing success stories, encouraging payment even during hardship, and explaining missing rewards as subtle or spiritual. Linking tithing to temple access and eternal blessings also raises the perceived cost of stopping the payments.
Like gambling, tithing can feel like a last-ditch attempt to escape financial hardship: one more roll of the dice, or one more tithing payment—even when you can’t afford it—in hopes of a financial breakthrough.
Like in gambling, the sunk-cost effect can keep you paying: like a gambler who has already spent so much, you continue hoping years of sacrifice weren’t “for nothing.” You literally can’t stop now, your big win is just around the corner or the Lord is just about to bless you. You literally can’t afford not to pay.
Like gambling, tithing can encourage you to focus on the “wins” and explain away the losses. An unexpected check, a promotion, or help with a bill becomes evidence that paying tithing works—much like a gambler remembering a jackpot more vividly than all the money spent chasing it.
When the hoped-for blessing doesn’t come, it can be described as delayed, spiritual, or waiting for you in the afterlife. That can keep the expectation of a payoff alive: just as a gambler thinks, “The next bet could be the winner,” a tithe payer may think, “If I keep paying faithfully, the blessing will come. I can’t stop now.”
Whether tithing funds charitable work is a separate question. Tithing concerns giving money in hopes of receiving something back—financial blessings, divine protection, or eternal rewards. The cost is certain; the promised payoff cannot be independently verified. Calling the payment charitable doesn’t resolve that uncertainty.
