Is it just about money?
I’ve been struck recently by the contrast between two Christian companies that employ completely different strategies for getting good resources into the hands of people. I will attempt to allow these companies to remain nameless, but if you are familiar with either or both of these companies, you’ll probably know exactly who I’m talking about. And I’m sure there are many other Christian companies that fall at various points along the spectrum.
On the one hand there is one company that makes many of it’s resources available for free through their website. On that site you can find the audio and even video of sermons and entire conferences that you can download for free. They also make many of their printed resources available by putting their books into .pdf format for free download. And I’m not talking just sections of books, but entire books of 200, 300, 400+ pages for free! I have personally benefited from these resources as I am working through some of the books and have many of the sermons and conferences on my iPod. This is not to say that they don’t charge for anything because they do, and they do have a link for people to donate to the ministry on their website as well. What really impresses me, though, is their “whatever you can afford policy.” If you actually decide to purchase a hard copy of a book, CD, or DVD but you really can not afford the price, they will allow you to say what you can afford and send you the resource(s) for that price (within certain limits, of course). They don’t really talk much about needing help or their commitment to get good resources out to people, but they demonstrate it with their actions.
On the other side, there is a company that to me is just the reverse. They talk much of their desire to help struggling people with their resources, whether it be books, CDs, or conferences, but they are always asking for people to make donations and don’t make much available for free other than a few short articles (specifically in contrast to the amount and quality of things made available by the other company). They even employ one of my least favorite strategies of “Make a donation of such and such amount and we’ll send you this resource.” Again this is not to say that they are evil, greedy, or stingy, but their tactics stood out in such a stark contrast to me against those of the other company.
So my question is this… Where do you draw the line between the two? Do Christian companies have the right to charge whatever they want or can get for their resources, or do they have a responsibility as a Christian company to make their resources available to everyone by either making their resources modestly priced or making certain resources available for free? I would love to hear your “two-cents worth” on this one, even if you’re not a normal blog commenter and even if I don’t know you.
I am familiar with the more giving website (If I am thinking correctly) but not the more stingy one. I understand that some organizations just have more income and perhaps a smaller staff running them to keep cost down. I can’t say that is true or not true for either of them, but I hope that is the case! I am not sure where the line is, when “ministry” is overshadowed by “capitalism” or what motives operate behind the scenes. I guess the question for me is whether the financial aim is to keep the organization above water and ministering or to simply make a profit.
We all like free stuff (Kristen Amen’s that idea)!
I agree with Tim above but I had another opinion to share on the flip side. That is, our responsibility as Christians to minister in our giving where we are spiritually fed. I think too many ppl want stuff for free these days. I try hard to balance my giving and receiving but it’s hard. I think gee we don’t have the money for that book or those tracts and yet I just bought cookies. So I often go w/o the free resource because I know I could choose to save for it. IDK where others stand on that conviction but I do know there are a lot of wolves in sheep’s clothing. I can’t give to everyone I know in need and it’s hard to decide who. Other times I don’t want to share anymore with certain ones who seem undeserving and yet I am called to~they’re family. I’m just thinking about all this from another angle. And it brings me right round to the beginning. Which was your ? and I have no idea where that line is but I feel convicted in ways that make me try to understand why a company would draw it here or there.
At the end of the year a church or christian organization should have in its bank account whatever it needed for reserve for the coming year(s). So many dollars for a new roof in 3 years or printing press in two, and a reasonable rainy-day fund are examples. Anyone going through the finances should see that the staff was paid a reasonable salary and purchases were necessary and reasonable.
What defines reasonable? There’s where we get into the first part of the debate. Paul was miffed at Peter for traveling with a wife and being hosted by the local churches whereas Paul set up shop to support himself and his ministry team. Either is acceptable to me. Both were spending themselves and their people on the work God set in front of them. It’s called ministry.
Secondly, is either of your two examples ministering or simply making money? Is an organization moving forward like a bureaucracy, finding money to pay for its expenses, or it is a ministry of God’s people doing what God put in front of them? In the latter case, is it simply a difference between Peter and Paul?
How to tell? I can’t say for sure, but what’s not acceptable to me is viewing books and CDs as a revenue source for a ministry. If the organization does so, they are a book store. I view books, CDs, brochures, etc as tools of the ministry. Paul kept his ministry free; Paul charged enough to feed and clothe himself and his people. I’m guessing neither minister had much money left over at the end of the year.
Then there’s the 3rd half of the matter: I see ministry as something done by the local church, not a separate organization. Look at your sending church and supporters from other churches as examples of local Christians doing far-reaching work. Maybe I’m all wet here, but Paul made his charge to Timothy, not to Timothy’s Traveling Salvation Team, Inc. So, does either organization answer to closely monitoring sending churches?
My guess, the organization giving stuff away has a source of support that allows it to minister like Peter and Paul.
Thanks for the comments! Tim, I think you’re right that the organizations’ overhead costs could play a big factor in this. But then you have to also ask the question, “If they cut some of their overhead costs, could they still produce quality products but be able to minister even more freely?”
And Valarie, you bring out a good point that we should not always simply be looking for free handouts. Like Tim said, we all like free stuff (when I was little going from booth to booth in Sam’s Club to get all the samples was one of my favorite pastimes!), but how far do we take it? I believe that you have a very valid point in that we can always afford the things we want the most (books vs. cookies – now that’s a hard one! =D).
Dad A, I’m with you on your third half – ministry should come primarily out of the local church. In fact, your comments were very interesting because the company that gives resources away is very strongly tied to (if not based out of) a local church, while the other is completely a para-church organization. I can’t exactly speak to the para-church organization’s cost for their resources, but when we went to one of their conferences (which wasn’t exactly cheap) they had many, many book tables with resources mostly from people within or attached to their organization. It reminded me exactly of a bookstore!
I appreciate your interaction and helping me think through this question in my head. And if you haven’t commented, by no means is the discussion closed, so feel free to chime in!