Selling Jesus

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. Recommended reading (even though, sadly, none of these books are free): Competent to Counsel The Biblical Counseling Movement after Adams Counseling the Hard Cases Speaking Truth in Love Check out th...

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...

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 ther...

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 preachi...

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 autho...

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 fr...

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. Con...

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 throug...

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 unpac...

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.or...

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...

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 (W...

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.  Regardle...

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

In this episode I'd like to tell the story of how I got to where I am today in my conviction about freely giving ministry—the belief that ministry should be supported, not sold, and that spiritual resources should be published as public domain. My journey hasn't been straightforward. Indeed, it's been somewhat complex and multifaceted and messy. I share these experiences to reassure an...

Our purpose here is to highlight and exalt the radical generosity of God’s heart, confront the commercialization of Christianity, and promote the biblical teaching that ministry should be supported but never sold. We want to explore the history of how we've gotten to the point where it's the respectable default to monetize ministry, and take a deep dive into the Scripture’s teaching on the...