I, like most of you, feel it is important to donate to charitable causes to help the less fortunate. It makes us feel good inside and helps make the world a better place when we give of ourselves. I've been thinking about giving my 10% directly to worthwhile causes like the homeless shelter, boys and girls club, food bank etc. where I know it is going directly to people that need a little help..instead of giving it to the church who may use it to help buy land, build shopping malls, or go toward the living expenses of GA's etc. Giving it to the church definitely takes the 'feeling good inside' out of donating because of all the crazy stuff the money could be going towards.

What would happen during a temple recommend interview, when they ask "are you a full tithe payer?" and I say that I donated 10% of my earnings to the homeless shelter or to help build a school in Africa, but I did not give it directly to the church... I think I know what I would be told "sorry, you can't go to the temple". I think a bishop deep down would feel pretty horrible having to tell someone "sorry, we can't issue a recommend"..full knowing that they essentially paid tithing, but decided to bypass the church corporation..

I see you are being very generous with the Lord's money.

The mormon church is a bit like the guy at freeway offramp who balks when you offer him a sandwich, because he's not really hungry, he just wants your money....

Hmmm....that was a little off topic, now that I think about it, but it's still true....

Wouldn't that also hold true for donating your time?

I understand that during JS's time the church accepted men working 1 day in 10 on the construction of the Nauvoo temple as a form of tithing.
So, 1 day in 10, I volunteer at a hospital, homeless shelter or food bank?
That would amount to 3 days a month of my time working in the trenches to physically help others in need.

That would save me hundreds of dollars a month that I could put toward retirement, or my kids college fund.

Would Christ be more accepting of my time spent helping others or a fat check every month?