Is The Gospel For Sale?

Recently, I have heard of a number of local churches which are charging for public outreach type services. This immediately brought a question into my mind, "Is the gospel for sale?" Some of these churches are doing very well financially and are of substantial size. So, I have to ask, "Why are these churches charging to deliver the good news of the gospel?" Listen to what Jesus told his disciples before he sent them out to the public,

 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.  Matt 10:8

Did you get the last phrase in that statement, freely received so freely give. I have been involved in a lot of outreach ministry to the secular public and have never been involved with a church or ministry which felt the need to charge a fee to hear the gospel message. Some of these were extensive and involved free food, free entertainment and the  gospel delivered for free.

The Lord paid the price on the cross with His life; our sin was forgiven and the price paid in full so why would we feel the need to charge in order to deliver the message of salvation. Paul tells us in Romans 6:23,

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

The 'free gift' of God is eternal life and that is a result of salvation through Jesus. It's a free gift, so why do we think we should charge for it? I understand that, at times, outreach ministry can be costly but, it's a sacrifice we make in order to reach the lost souls of our communities. Outreach ministry can be as simple as going into a public park and just talking to people and the only cost involved is time.

Some of these churches are charging for VBS attendance. I couldn't believe what I was hearing when I was told about this. Again, it's the larger churches which were charging this fee. If the church is doing VBS anyway, for the children who attend normally, why is there a need to charge a fee? Jesus never charged a fee for anything He did and He did some serious ministry while He was on earth. He healed people, He fed people, He preached about the kingdom of God and raised the dead. Can you imagine what that last one would bring in if He was charging? That's the big one; it's the one that will cost you all of your savings. How ridicules, charging to spread the good news of Jesus Christ.

I was involved in an outreach to the community with a local church that would set up in a different city park for four nights in one week. This was a massive outreach which included feeding anybody who came, hamburgers and hotdogs and chips and drinks. The food was quite an expense in itself and then multiply that by four. There were bounce houses for the kids and a dunk machine and other games.

But, there were also booths set up for ministry purposes such as the wordless gospel in the form of a bracelet with the colored beads which tells the story of the gospel. The kids loved this and I had the opportunity to share the gospel, as I assembled the bracelet for them, and had a number of them accept Jesus as their savior. What kind of price can you place on that? You can't because Jesus already has.

When you have children from the community coming to VBS because they were invited by one of the children from the church, how can you ask that unsaved parent of that unsaved child to pay for the child's attendance? What message does that send to the unsaved in the community? It sends the never ending stereotypical message that the church just wants your money. We can't get the gospel message across if we are tainting it with a monetary value.

I understand that expenses for a normal church operation can be steep at times. But, if the church feels it has to charge for the gospel message then maybe a different delivery system is required. A system which doesn't require a lot of expense. What has happened to our churches? Really! Is it the need to keep up with the huge church down the street? Or, and I hate to say this but, has a degree of greed crept into these churches?

I have always loved doing outreaches to the community and organizing those outreaches but never did the thought of charging a fee ever creep into my thinking and planning. The gospel message is free; it's free because Jesus already paid the price and for anyone who feels the need to add to that price is attempting to profit from the work which Jesus did on the cross for us.  

As Jesus tells us in Matthew 28:19-20,

"Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Nowhere in that command do I see instruction to charge a fee.  The gospel message is free and always has been and always should be because Jesus paid it all. Share the good news of Jesus Christ and what he has done for us for freely you have received so freely give to others.