Ministry Media - To Charge or Not to Charge

Ministry Media - To Charge or Not to Charge
By http://ongoministries.blogspot.com/

A wise friend and former leader of many international ministries puts it bluntly: you either believe that money follows ministry or ministry follows money. Of course, we all love to claim that we believe God will provide for our personal and ministry needs, but does our ministry pricing reflect the same?

Case in point: an international ministry which I know and love recently removed almost all free content from their website. Now their only freebies are the occasional YouTube video and podcasts. My ministry veteran friend believes that the leader of this organization would be mortified if he found out about the pay-to-play moves of his staffers.

Case in point 2: Hearken back to the ministry of John and Charles Wesley, one a great evangelist and the other a gifted hymn writer, who God used to fan the flames of the First Great Awakening in 18th Century England. The Wesleys famously never made a single appeal for ministry support. Rather they clung tightly to God in prayer. Lo and behold, God miraculously provided for the Wesleys, including folks dropping literal bags of money at the front gate of the orphanage John and Charles oversaw. At least, that's the way the story was told me by a ministry confidante not particularly thrilled with fundraising.

The reality of the Wesleys fundraising was a bit different. The Wesleys were fervent in prayer and John Wesley kept his cost of living at the same level, when his annual salary was 30 pounds and when it leaped to 1,400 pounds. At the same time, the Holy Spirit often worked through fellow Great Awakening preacher George Whitefield to raise money for the Wesley orphanage. Whitefield's impassioned pleas even persuaded famously stingy Benjamin Franklin to chip in.

So which is it? Does money follow ministry or does ministry follow money? Is it wrong to charge for resources? After all, the Gospel is free.

The answer is: ask God.

I know. It's no fun when somebody answers a question with question. But if the tactic rang true with our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, then it might be the best way to answer this ministry biggie.

The Spirit says through Paul, "Each of us shall give account of himself to God." (Rom. 14:12) You must seek God wholeheartedly about what to charge, if anything, for your resources and events, bearing in mind God's promise that if we first seek His kingdom and His righteousness (found in His perfect Son, Jesus Christ), then He will add food and clothing unto us.

Our God truly will "supply all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." (Phil. 4:19) That doesn't rule out presenting opportunities for folks to financially partner in the work to which God has called you, or perhaps charging for ministry media. In fact, partners in ministry receive untold blessings, as Jesus Christ said, "It is more blessed to give than to receive." (Acts 20:35)

But God's call to seek Him first and trust Him to provide, does demand that your fundraising efforts are rooted in dependence upon Jehovah Jireh, not secular principles of content monetization. Perhaps then, it's not a question of free but of faith.