Freely Give

The purpose of FreelyGive.net is to call followers of Jesus to do the work of the Kingdom for His glory and without motivation for money or fame.

The heart behind Freely Give

When Jesus was sending His disciples out, He said:

Freely you received, so freely give. (Matthew 10:8)

Likewise, Paul wrote this to the Corinthian church:

What then is my reward? That when I preach the Good News, I may present the Good News of Christ without charge, so as not to abuse my authority in the Good News. (1 Corinthians 9:18)

And again:

Or did I commit a sin in humbling myself that you might be exalted, because I preached to you God’s Good News free of charge? (2 Corinthians 11:7)

It wasn't that Jesus or Paul thought that Christian workers shouldn't be supported. Indeed, immediately after telling His disciples to "freely give", Jesus said:

Don’t take any gold, silver, or brass in your money belts. Take no bag for your journey, neither two coats, nor sandals, nor staff: for the laborer is worthy of his food. (Matthew 11:9-10)

Paul also acknowledges this:

Even so the Lord ordained that those who proclaim the Good News should live from the Good News. (1 Corinthians 9:14)

Yet the attitude you see in Jesus and Paul is a desire to spread the Good News freely. Not to demand payment but even to give up the right for payment in order not to be a hindrance to the hearers.

Contrast this attitude to what exists today:

• Christian music has become an industry, where you have to buy tickets to attend concerts and pay money to download the songs.
• Many artists are like pop stars who gain wealth and fame from their work.
• The songs themselves are copyrighted and not freely distributable.
• Many worship songs on YouTube are monetized with ads.
• Many online Bible-related websites are filled with ads.
• Lots of Christian software costs money or has ads.
• Christian authors get profit and fame from what they write.
• In a world where it needn't cost anything to distribute a digital version of a book, Christian books are not free.
• Likewise, translators and publishers put copyrights on the Bible. This protects their economic interest to profit from book sales. You're not allowed share a digital copy or to print your own copy. It's the Christians themselves, not a hostile government, who've put a copyright on God's word and have made it illegal to freely share it with someone else.
• A large number of pastors, worship leaders, and missionaries require a monthly salary.

How did so much of modern Christianity get so caught up in money?

Matthew 21:12-13 relates this story:

Jesus entered into the temple of God and drove out all of those who sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the money changers’ tables and the seats of those who sold the doves. He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a den of robbers!”

What would he say about how money has filled the church today?

It's not that there hasn't been any good to come out the work of those who pursue money, or have simply gotten caught up in the subtle lure of money. God has used their work in many ways.

Paul also comments on the good that has come from the work of those with less than pure motivations:

Some indeed preach Christ even out of envy and strife, and some also out of good will. The former insincerely preach Christ from selfish ambition, thinking that they add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the Good News. What does it matter? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed. I rejoice in this, yes, and will rejoice. (Philippians 1:15-18)

An appropriate response

What are your motivations for serving Christ?

• If you've put money before God, then repent!
• If you preach Christ out of love and yet still get your living from the Good News, there's no condemnation in that. You're free to continue with a clear conscience.

However, it's the purpose of this site to call a few of you to something more:

• Will you, like Paul, give up your right to financial gain for your kingdom work?
• Are there some who are even willing to remain anonymous, to work for God and not for fame?

You don't need to participate in the community at Freely Give in order to do this. You can work in your own way as God leads you. However, the community here is a place to share ideas and work together toward some common goals.

What you can do

As long as you're a follower of Jesus, you can help. Here are a few ideas:

• Are you a billionaire? How about buying a Christian publishing company and releasing their copyrighted Bibles and Christian books to the public domain?
• Are you a musician? How about giving away your music for free?
• Are you an app developer? How about working on an open-source project for an unreached people group?
• Are you an author? How about not letting the publishers get the copyright but rather distribute an epub version for free.
• Can you read and write? How about supporting another project by fixing typos and grammar mistakes?
• Can you speak? How about recording Bible stories or Christian audio books?
• Can you speak more than one language? How about translating Christian materials?
• Can you teach or preach? How about teaching the Bible for free?
• Can you draw? How about illustrating a children's Bible or making graphics for an app or website?
• Can you work with your hands? How about moving to another country and making it your ambition to lead a quite life, practicing your profession and living out your faith among a people who don't know the Lord yet?

Current projects

In the future, as more projects are added, they'll be listed here.

• Scripture songs: A collection of songs that are based on the Bible. The lyrics are taken from World English Bible (WEB), which is in the public domain. The music is generated by Suno and released to the public domain.

Contact

You can reach FreelyGive.net at freelygive@proton.me.