Selling Jesus

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

With this short conversation between Tim and his pastor, we want to set the foundation for further discussions of generosity and biblical thinking about money and ministry. And that foundation is that we worship a stunningly lavish God who did not even spare his own son, but gave him up for us all, and freely gives us all things. sellingjesus.org | thedoreanprinciple.org | copy.church

Read the written version of this article here. Truth was already being sold way back in the 8th century BC in the time of the prophet Micah, and what he wrote has implications for today’s monetizing of ministry. So, I invite you to join me in taking out the microscope and meditating on Micah 3:11. "Could it be possible that the richest, most materialistic societies in all of human history (Western nations) might have a tendency to do what is right in their own eyes regarding money and ministry?" Song fragment: Ballad in Plain Red by Derek Webb sellingjesus.org | thedoreanprinciple.org | copy.church

Conley Owens is a pastor at Silicon Valley Reformed Baptist Church and a software engineer.  This is his story of discovering the Bible’s view of ministry fundraising. "I don’t know who may be listening to this or watching this.  Maybe you are a pastor who has been selling ministry material for a long time.  Maybe you are a new Christian who has never even been involved in ministry.  Regardless, I hope you will join us here on this channel in our pursuit of both personal reformation and global reformation, as we call the church to offer the gospel and biblical teaching the way Jesus did: freely." —Conley Owens sellingjesus.org | thedoreanprinciple.org | copy.church

Through many twists and turns, Jon comes to the conviction that God is actually the owner of his Word, and that the commercialization and legal restriction of it is contrary to the gospel, the spirit of Christ, and Scripture itself. Visit his website ⁠copy.church to learn more. sellingjesus.org | thedoreanprinciple.org | copy.church