Here at Selling Jesus, we advocate that ministries be funded by fellow workers for the truth rather than by sales (3 John 7-8). This has applications for seminary tuition, conference tickets, and other paywalls on biblical teaching. We often point to verses such as Matthew 10:8 (“freely give”), 2 Corinthians 2:17 (“we are not peddlers of God’s word”), and many others.
While some are willing to interact with these passages, surprisingly, a majority of the pushback we receive does not address the biblical texts at all. Instead, it typically moves immediately into the realm of practical concerns. While such matters are certainly relevant considerations, they cannot be determinative when in conflict with a biblical principle.
While numerous passages could be cited in support of the priority of principle over pragmatism,[1] the point is so straightforward that an extensive discussion may blunt its edge. As such, I’d like to offer a brief exposition of Proverbs 11:24 as applied to the topic of ministry fundraising.
One gives freely, yet gains even more;
another withholds what is right, only to become poor. (Prov 11:24)
This may be divided under the complementary heads of duty and blessing.
Duty
Proverbs 11:24 contrasts giving freely and withholding what is right. Literally it commends “scattering” (פָזַר), an idiomatic term that contextually refers to generosity (cf. Psa 112:9). Additionally, it condemns withholding “what is right” (BSB, CSB, LSB)—as in some translations, what is “justly due” (NASB). The question that must be answered here is “What is right?” or “What is justly due?”
Matthew 10:8 gives us a direct application when Jesus commands the disciples to “freely give” what has been “freely received.” What exactly has been freely received? The proclamation of the kingdom of heaven (Matt 10:7), the teaching of the Spirit (1 Cor 2:12). It would not be right to withhold these unless a fee is paid. This is not merely a command for the first disciples, but a principle that applies to us today.
If we have a duty (i.e., something is justly due), the oughtness of a matter is settled. The rightness of the matter cannot be overturned by another consideration such as “whether it seems practical.”
Blessing
But the main point of this passage is not merely that a consideration of duty must come before practical concerns: It’s that when duty is involved, a pragmatic consideration of the result is inherently misguided. One would expect the one who gives freely to lose. One would expect the one who withholds to gain. Yet this passage says that the inverse takes place. The one who gives freely grows rich and the one who withholds grows poor.
The next two verses in Proverbs spell out this contrast further.
A generous soul will prosper,
and he who refreshes others will himself be refreshed.
The people will curse the hoarder of grain,
but blessing will crown the one who sells it. (Prov 11:25-26)
This counterintuitive truth is echoed throughout Scripture (Prov 19:17; Prov 22:9; Prov 28:27; Ecc 11:1; 2 Cor 9:6). How can it be true? Because the results do not ultimately come from some marketplace of goods; they come from God who “will not forget your work and the love you have shown for His name” (Heb 6:10).
Additionally, if Solomon says this matter applies to hoarding grain, how much more does it apply to hoarding the bread of life? Grain should be sometimes sold (Gen 47:14) and sometimes given freely (Gen 42:25), but manna from heaven should be given freely to all (2 Cor 2:17).
Principle trumps pragmatism. Why? Because the Lord is good.
Just as one example, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” (Proverbs 12:14) ↩︎