Selling Jesus

As Tim and his pastor continue their conversations, they tackle the question: Where should our sense of obligation lie when giving to support Christian ministry - to God or to man? Looking at biblical illustrations like a soldier's wages and an ox treading grain, they walk through 1 Corinthians 9 to see how Paul unpacks the idea of "mediated obligation." Giving should stem from love of and obligation to God, not indebtedness to one of his servants. This is the difference between prohibited "reciprocity" (quid pro quo payment) and permitted "co-labor" (voluntary support of shared gospel work). Just as temple offerings supported priests, congregations should fund pastors freely and cheerfully. Compulsory giving (forced by paywalls) nullifies the sacred standard of Scripture. We must foster true obligation to God alone for Christian ministry, and not require payment directly from those Christ has called us to minister to. Read the conversation ⁠here⁠. ⁠⁠sellingjesus.org⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠thedoreanprinciple.org⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠copy.church

This series on "Christians Who Sell Jesus" takes profiles that represent real-world scenarios wherein well-meaning individuals are actively engaged in the Jesus trade, often unwittingly. Our intention is to engage with practical matters and have an open conversation about how each person can follow more closely in Christ's footsteps and give ministry freely. Jane believes that there are no guiding principles in Scripture regarding money and ministry because “everything is ministry, if it’s done as unto the Lord, right? As long as we’re loving God and our neighbor and seeking to make disciples, all of life is ministry! A janitor can work for the glory of God, and when he does, that’s a ministry just as important as preaching. A Christian flipping burgers can be a ministry just as much as praying for someone’s healing!” So Jane has concluded that, just as a janitor can demand payment for the work he is doing, a preacher can demand payment for each sermon he preaches. It’s true that all of life should be lived to the glory of God, and that all believers are priests and should actively participate in building up the Body of Christ. But Jane has believed the lie that Scripture does not distinguish spiritual things from earthly things. Although she is well-meaning, and wants to glorify God, she has mistakenly oversimplified what it means to do Christian ministry. She also has wrongly conflated the truth that we should do everything as unto the Lord with the truth that some things are uniquely suited for the edification of the Church. The sincerity of encouragement and love are utterly compromised when done in exchange for money. Even unbelievers understand that some things like friendship and marriage should not be sold, and if they are sold, they are no longer real. Jane means well, but has been led astray by her culture’s obsession with money and materialism, along with the desire to force Scripture to support the status quo. ⁠⁠sellingjesus.org⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠thedoreanprinciple.org⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠copy.church⁠⁠ Music: "Amazing" by Liborio Conti, https://www.no-copyright-music.com

As Tim and his pastor continue their conversations, they try their best to grapple with some passages from the Apostle Paul that can be confusing. Why is Paul willing to receive money from people in some circumstances and unwilling in others? Walking through key passages in 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians, they explore the distinction Paul makes between reciprocity (payment in exchange for preaching) which he rejects, and co-labor (sharing resources to spread the gospel further), which he permits. Using illustrations involving a daughter's misguided attempt to pay her father and a new believer's desire to repay an evangelist, they clarify Paul's motivation - to avoid even a hint of commercializing the free gospel while welcoming assistance that aids its advance. The implications for pastors' salaries and modern ministry financing are also discussed. Join them as they unravel Paul's nuanced perspective on funding the work of God's kingdom. You'll gain a new appreciation for both the purity and partnership Paul exemplifies regarding money and ministry. Read the conversation here. ⁠sellingjesus.org⁠ | ⁠thedoreanprinciple.org⁠ | ⁠copy.church

This series on "⁠Christians Who Sell Jesus⁠" takes profiles that represent real-world scenarios wherein well-meaning individuals are actively engaged in the Jesus trade, often unwittingly. Our intention is to engage with practical matters and have an open conversation about how each person can follow more closely in Christ's footsteps and give ministry freely. Joe is a gifted author who writes books to help churches be healthier. He has valuable biblical teaching to share, and he genuinely wants to serve the Body of Christ. Since he has friends in high places, he’s been able to get his books published by a large and influential Christian publishing house. He’s happy that the publisher only charges $14.99 for each of his paperbacks, and $9.99 for the e-book versions. They pay him a dollar royalty for each sale. When people ask him about how much he makes from his books, he’s always quick to say that he’s not in it for the money, and the small kickback he gets doesn’t even cover the amount of time each book takes him to write. The fact that he’s losing money (in the sense that his profits don’t equal the value of his time) makes him feel good that he’s making a sacrifice for the Kingdom of God. Although Joe is well-meaning and sincere, and willing to sacrifice time and money to build up God’s Church, he has been deceived in several ways. First, he wrongly assumes that Scripture allows the sale of ministry. What he’s doing is clearly Christian ministry, and both Jesus and Paul make it crystal clear through their lived example and teaching that ministry should never be sold, but it should definitely be supported by the free generosity of God’s people. Second, Joe wrongly believes that the only way Christian writers can care for their families and keep from poverty is by putting price tags on their books. The Bible and Church history are full of examples of servants of God who were provided for through the free giving of his people to do ministry, or who worked a secular job (like making tents) in order to pay the bills. Third, Joe has been deceived by promises of renown and acclaim if he publishes with a big-name publisher. Although he knows that he could distribute his book for free online digitally, and self-publish a paper version without receiving any profit, the lure of being perceived as a “legitimate” or “real” author because of the imprint of a well-known publisher prevailed. However, he covers up this desire for prestige by telling himself that a big publisher will reach more people. This may or may not be so, since he has never tried the alternative, but it doesn’t matter. God does not measure success in numbers of copies distributed, but rather in obedience. And obedience would mean giving his writing away, and supporting his ability to write by some other means than selling it. Joe is unintentionally living the lie that reaching more people with his writing is more important than obeying God. For him, the ends justify the means. ⁠sellingjesus.org⁠ | ⁠thedoreanprinciple.org⁠ | ⁠copy.church⁠ Music: "Amazing" by Liborio Conti, https://www.no-copyright-music.com

For nearly a century, copyright legislation has been subtly but effectively applied, misused and abused in regard to the Word of God in order to chain the Bible to a new pulpit, differing in kind but not in essence from the restrictive practice so loudly decried in the Middle Ages. While the contemporary difference can be described in terms of dollars and cents, the net effect is identical: the free and unhindered access by God’s people to the revealed truth of his Word is restricted once more, this time not by the ecclesiastical hierarchy, but by the chains of copyright and financial ransom as demanded by the proprietary publishers. Has God’s Word suddenly ceased to be the “intellectual property” of God’s people? Must it now remain under the peculiar control of executives, scholars, and lawyers? This is a paper presented at the Evangelical Theological Society in 1996 by Dr. Maurice Robinson. Dr. Robinson is a professor of New Testament and Greek, with expertise in NT textual criticism. We'll be talking more about copyright and intellectual property in the future and discuss whether they are biblically defensible. In the meanwhile, please visit ⁠⁠copy.church to learn more about this topic, especially the bondage of God's Word. ⁠sellingjesus.org⁠ | ⁠thedoreanprinciple.org⁠ | ⁠copy.church⁠ Music: "Hidden Beauty" by Liborio Conti, https://www.no-copyright-music.com

People often attempt to justify the Jesus trade by dismissing the command of Christ in Matthew 10:8 as irrelevant to Christians today. They say that the command to freely give just doesn’t apply to us anymore, so we can sell the spiritual and the sacred without any problem now. In this episode Conley Owens addresses the issue and argues that the command of Christ does indeed apply to us today. Conley is the author of The Dorean Principle: A Biblical Response to the Commercialization of Christianity, and is a pastor at Silicon Valley Reformed Baptist Church.  sellingjesus.org⁠ | ⁠thedoreanprinciple.org⁠ | ⁠copy.church Music: "Hidden Beauty" by Liborio Conti, https://www.no-copyright-music.com

In this episode Jon, Conley, and Andrew discuss some of the common objections that typically come up when Christians encounter resistance to the Jesus trade. There are a lot of people with their entire lives invested in a system that monetizes ministry like everything else on the market, and when we point out that the Bible condemns the sale of ministry, but commends the support of ministry through the free generosity of God’s people, there are a few knee-jerk reactions that tend to come up often. So this conversation is about these typical objections, and we do our best to respond. We hope this is helpful and edifying, and we realize that not everything we say in these conversations will be perfect or exhaustive, and so we encourage you to diligently search the scriptures for yourself and weigh what we have to say in the more thorough articles and resources over at sellingJesus.org.  Music: "Hidden Beauty" by Liborio Conti, https://www.no-copyright-music.com/ sellingJesus.org | thedoreanprinciple.org | copy.church

As Tim and his pastor continue their conversations, they discuss the history of how we got to this point in history where the monetization of ministry is so normal and such a respectable sin. They talk about how the early church had standards about money and ministry that would be foreign to us today, and how examples like Martin Luther's put most modern believers to shame. Finally, they unpack the way the American sprint towards wealth and materialism over the last 100+ years led to a series of compromises within the Church. The desire to do bigger and bigger ministry created the temptation to get more money to fund that ministry, and if it required the commercialization of Christianity, the ends justified the means. Books referenced: Faith in Reading God and Mammon More Money, More Ministry sellingjesus.org | thedoreanprinciple.org | copy.church

As Tim and his pastor continue their conversations, they discuss the interpretation of Matthew 10:8-11 and other key verses that help shed light on the difference between selling ministry and supporting ministry. They look at how believers should give support out of obligation to God, not man, and why Jesus' command to freely give applies to us today. sellingjesus.org | thedoreanprinciple.org | copy.church

As Tim and his pastor continue their conversations, they explore how the tendency to do "whatever works" has often triumphed over obeying Scripture, especially when it comes to money and ministry. They look at examples of how Christians can be tempted to sell spiritual things for the sake of expediency and outcomes that are perceived as beneficial to God's Kingdom. They also discuss the temptation to judge success by results instead of faithfulness to Scripture. It's important to anchor ministry firmly in Scripture rather than adapt to culture just to achieve outward growth and impact. sellingjesus.org | thedoreanprinciple.org | copy.church