1. The Gift Is Free; the Workman May Be Fed
The Gospel is not merchandise. The gift of God is not for sale. Yet Scripture also says the workman is worthy of food and wages. The Word therefore requires a disciplined distinction: lawful support is not spiritual commerce.
And, as you travel, proclaim the fact that the Kingdom of Heaven is approaching. Restore the feeble, cure the lepers, cast out demons; you have received freely, give freely. Provide neither gold, nor silver, nor copper in your purses; nor yet a bag for the journey, nor two cloaks, nor shoes, nor staff: for the workman is worthy of his food.
— Matthew 10:7–10, FFT
Christ joins the truths: freely received, freely given; yet the workman is worthy of food. Ministry becomes corrupt when the gift is priced and the workman becomes a seller.
2. Charity Must Not Become Display
"Take care and do not display your charities before men, with the intention of being observed by them; for if you do, you will not have a reward from your Father Who is in heaven. When, therefore, you do a kindness, do not blow a trumpet before yourself, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues, and in the streets, so that they may secure the praise of men. I tell you, however, that they obtain their reward. But whenever you do a kindness, do not let your left hand know what your right hand does; so that your kindness may be secret, and your Father Who looks into the secret will return it to you openly.
— Matthew 6:1–4, FFT
Alms can become theater. The poor must not be made props in the giver’s drama. The Father sees in secret.
3. The Father’s House Is Not a Market
Now when the Jewish Passover was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. And entering the temple, He found dealers in oxen, and sheep, and pigeons, as well as money-brokers transacting their business. Then, having made a whip of cords, He drove all out of the temple, including the sheep and oxen; and He scattered the money of the brokers, overturning their stands; and said to the pigeon-dealers: "Take these outside; do not turn My Father's house into a market." His disciples were then reminded that it was written: ZEAL FOR YOUR HOUSE WILL CONSUME ME.
— John 2:13–17, FFT
Then Jesus entered the temple of God; and sent out of the temple all the buyers and sellers, and overturned the tables of the money-brokers, and the stands of the pigeon dealers, and told them, "It is recorded, MY HOUSE SHALL BE CALLED A HOUSE OF PRAYER; but YOU HAVE TURNED IT INTO A DEN OF THIEVES."
— Matthew 21:12–13, FFT
Practical religious commerce does not become holy because it is convenient. Christ overturns tables when worship is turned into market.
4. Widows Must Not Be Devoured
"Alas for you, play-acting professors and Pharisees! because you devour the property of the widows by the pretence of long prayers; for which you will receive a heavier punishment.
— Matthew 23:14, FFT
In the course of His teaching, He told them, "Be on your guard against the professors, who delight to walk about in flowing robes, to be addressed in the markets, who secure the front seats in the synagogues, and the places of honour at banquets; they desolate the homes of widows, and then gabble long prayers by way of extenuation. Their punishment, however, will be all the more severe."
— Mark 12:38–40, FFT
Religious costume, long prayers, public honour, and financial predation are joined in Christ’s rebuke. Prayer must not cloak extraction.
5. Lawful Support and Apostolic Restraint
Who campaigns at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard, and does not eat of its produce? Who feeds cattle and does not consume the milk of the cattle? I do not say this humanly; does not the Law also say the same? For in the law of Moses it is written: You SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE THRESHING BULLOCK. Bullocks are an object of care with God. But he speaks for us also, he wrote for us as well; because the ploughman ought to plough in hope, and the thresher ought to share in the hope. If we have sown spiritually for you, is it much if we reap the necessaries of life with you? If others exercise this right to be paid by you, how much more can we! But we have not used this right; on the contrary, we went short Of everything, in order that we might not give trouble to any one on account of the gospel of Christ. Do you not know that those serving the temple eat from the temple? that those devoted to the altar are maintained from the altar? And so the Lord ordained to the preachers of the gospel, that they should live out of the gospel.
— I Corinthians 9:7–14, FFT
But I have availed myself of none of these; nor have I written this so that it might be done thus to myself: for better to me to die rather than that any one should destroy my boast in that manner. For if I am preaching the gospel, it is no credit to me: rather a necessity is laid upon me; because it is a punishment for me if I am not preaching the gospel. Yet if I do this willingly, I have a reward; if unwillingly, I have been entrusted with an office. What are my wages then? That preaching without pay, I lay a foundation for the gospel; while none can deprive me of the power which that gospel gives me.
— I Corinthians 9:15–18, FFT
Paul defends the right to support and then shows the Gospel may require restraint from that right. The right is real; the Gospel is above the right.
6. The Gift of God Cannot Be Bought
And when Simon observed that the Spirit was transmitted through the agency of the imposition of the hands of the apostles, he proffered them money, saying, "Grant this power also to me, so that if I place my hands upon any one, he may receive Holy Spirit." But Peter replying to him, said: "May your wealth go with you to perdition, because you have imagined that the gift of God can be bought with money. There is no part nor lot in this message for you; for your heart is not upright in the presence of God. Change your mind, therefore, from this wickedness; and pray the Lord, if, perhaps, He will remove from you the intention of your heart. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness, and the bonds of iniquity!"
— Acts 8:18–23, FFT
Simon’s error is permanent: spiritual power, office, blessing, rank, access, and the gift of God cannot be bought with money.
7. Balaam, False Teachers, and Religion as Trade
They have eyes full of adultery, and unrestrained sin; alluring unsteady souls, they have a heart practiced in greed; they are wandering children of a curse; having left the straight path, following in the way of Balaam, the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of wickedness:
— II Peter 2:14–15, FFT
Woe to them because they have marched the way of Cain, and with error they have rushed for the wages of Balaam, and shall perish in the revolt of Korah.
— Jude 1:11, FFT
But false prophets also came among the people, just as there will be false teachers among yourselves, who will shuffle in destructive errors, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing speedy destruction upon themselves. Many also will follow them in their debaucheries, on account of whom the Way of the truth will be defamed; and in greed they will trade upon you with a fine flow of delusive reasons. Their conviction, long recorded, will not be deferred; and their destruction will not be postponed.
— II Peter 2:1–3, FFT
disputes of depraved men, corrupting the mind and perverting from the truth, by adopting the idea that our religion is a mere trade. Yet the all-satisfying religion is a great acquisition. For we brought nothing into the world, nor are we able to carry anything out; therefore, having food and clothing, let us be satisfied with them. But those who design to be rich fall into a temptation and snare, and many senseless and ruinous desires, which sink those men into loss and destruction; for the love of money is a root of all these evils, some going mad for which, have wandered from the faith, and surrounded themselves with many distresses.
— I Timothy 6:5–10, FFT
True religious speech can coexist with corrupt desire. False teachers may trade upon the flock with delusive reasons. Religion as mere trade is a corruption of mind and truth.
8. Cheerful Giving Without Compulsion
The sparing sower, however, shall reap sparingly; and the generous sower will also reap plentifully: as each is incited by his heart, not as though grudgingly, or as if compelled; for God loves a cheerful giver.
— II Corinthians 9:6–7, FFT
The Gospel does not sanctify coercive extraction. God loves a cheerful giver, not one handled by manipulation, shame, promise of multiplication, or clerical pressure.
Trial
Every doctrine, practice, counsel, ministry habit, and public word touching this matter must be tried by the Word.
- Does it confess that the gift of God is free?
- Does it permit lawful support without merchandising the Gospel?
- Does it protect widows and the poor from extraction?
- Does it reject Balaam’s wages and Simon’s purchase?
- Does it refuse to serve Mammon while naming support lawfully?
Settlement
We will not sell what God gives freely. We will not call greed support, or Mammon ministry. We will not devour widows under long prayers.
We confess that the workman may be worthy of food and wages; we also confess that the gift of God cannot be bought with money.