Selling Jesus

In conversations about charging for ministry, 1 Corinthians 9 often comes up, and for good reason. It’s the longest passage we have that talks about supporting those in ministry. But people often come away with the wrong message when they read it. In this video, I want to lay our cards on the table and show you exactly how and why we interpret 1 Corinthians 9 to be consistent with our position that ministry should be supported, not sold. Prefer reading this? See https://sellingjesus.org/videos/documentary/fDoApqyqIG4

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

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

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

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 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

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