| |
Freely Ye Have
Received, Freely Give
...a
proper perspective
MP3
Since my early years in the church, I have seen the following
scripture misused and misapplied; usually by the one seeking to receive.
Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils:
freely ye have received, freely give.-Matthew
10:8
The other day I received another e-mail requesting we send them a series
of DVDs. I replied by telling him that due to cost of production,
we were only able to send DVDs to our established fellowship groups and
chartered churches. He countered with Matthew 10:8 reminding me
that we have received freely and therefore should provide him with the
DVDs ...freely. Is this what Matthew 10:8 is saying? If it
is, where do we draw the line on the giving? If we are required by
the scripture to freely distribute DVDs, why not DVD players? And
if DVD players, why not a high definition TVs and six-speaker,
sense-around sound systems to better enjoy our DVDs? Since we have
web sites on the Internet, shouldn't we be freely providing computers
and high-speed Internet access to anyone requesting such, so they could
access them? As we are about to see, the scripture is not speaking
to VHS tapes, DVDs and other high-cost forms of media. Notice the
commentaries...
[Freely ye have received, freely give]
That is, they were not to sell their favors of healing, preaching, etc.
They were not to make a MONEY-MAKING BUSINESS of it, to bargain
specifically to heal for so much, and to cast out devils for so much.
This, however, neither then nor afterward precluded them from receiving
a competent support. See Luke 10:7; 1 Corinthians 9:8-14; 1 Timothy 5:18.
~from Barnes' Notes
Matthew 10:5-15
In doing good freely; Freely ye have received,
freely give. Those that had power to heal all diseases, had
an opportunity to enrich themselves; who would not purchase such easy
certain cures at any rate? Therefore they are cautioned not to make a
gain of the power they had to work miracles: they must cure gratis,
further to exemplify the nature and complexion of the gospel kingdom,
which is made up, not only of grace, but of free grace. Gratia gratis
data (Rom 3:24), freely by his grace, Buy medicines without money, and
without price, Isaiah 55:1. And the reason is, because freely you have
received. Their power to heal the sick cost them nothing, and,
therefore, they must not make any secular advantage to themselves of it.
Simon Magus would not have offered money for the gifts of the Holy
Ghost, if he had not hoped to get money by them; Acts 8:18. Note, The
consideration of Christ's freeness in doing good to us, should make us
free in doing good to others.
~from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole
Bible: New Modern Edition
The meaning is clear. The ministry was not to take money [net
gain] for healing and preaching. They were not to sell
their services to the congregation. As pointed out, they did
accept competent [what is needed without excess]
support. They could receive what was needed but they could not
charge with the idea of making profit from spiritual gifts given to them
freely by God. There is nothing here specific or implied about
items costing the Work overhead. Clearly, by virtue of tithes,
offerings and donations, the Work has traditionally given cassette
tapes, booklets, 21st Century Watch and other publications at no charge.
With the advent of the VHS tapes and now DVDs, we have encountered a
media that demands tremendous overhead in production, materials,
packaging and postage. Further, we are under absolutely no moral
or spiritual obligation to use or provide this media to the public.
We do it as we are able. The VHS tapes we once sent to the
congregations and now DVDs are sent at no cost to those congregations.
I am quite sure that if income allowed, we would have a steady stream of
DVDs going out to the general public. Indeed, if income allowed,
we would be on ten times the number of radio and television stations we
broadcast from now. Until such time as God sees fit to provide
this kind of funding, we will do what we can as we are able...freely.
|
|