Selling Jesus

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In this episode (which is the audio of the video version) we will see that while Christians should glorify God in all aspects of life, not all work can be classified as ministry. We’ll look at how misinterpretations of biblical passages often lead to the misconception that “everything is ministry.” From a careful examination of Scripture we’ll show that Christian ministry should be understood as Spirit-empowered service specifically and directly for the edification of the Body of Christ.

Chapters:

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For those interested in disseminating ministry materials at no cost, Creative Commons licenses have provided a standard alternative to full copyright. Any license in this suite of licenses ensures that material may be distributed to anyone without royalties. In particular, the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License (CC BY-SA) has been a favorite among many. Unlike many other Creative Commons licenses, which require explicit permission from the copyright holder to make derivatives or use them in potentially commercial settings, works under CC BY-SA may be used without friction between the copyright holder and the user of the copyrighted work.

The two features of CC BY-SA are the Attribution feature and the ShareAlike feature. The Attribution feature requires that any redistribution of the work or any derivative must include credit to the copyright holder. The ShareAlike feature requires that any derivative work must be licensed under the same license. This license propagation is often known as “copyleft” and prevents a creative work from being repackaged or distributed under more restrictive terms.

In the context of ministry, the ShareAlike feature has a natural appeal. For one who cares about the no-cost distribution of ministry materials, CC BY-SA ensures that derivative ministry materials are also distributed at no cost. One who writes a book and offers it gratis would certainly be disappointed to see another translate the book only to sell it.

Yet, there are several reasons why applying this feature is problematic. This episode discusses these reasons at length.

While the ShareAlike feature of Creative Commons licenses seems to promote free access and sharing of ministry materials, it prohibits truly free access. Ministries should abandon this feature of the Creative Commons license as well as any other restriction. Instead, they should use alternatives like Creative Commons Zero, which dedicates the work into the public domain. It is only through waiving every claim to works of ministry that the gospel may be freely given as it was freely received.

This episode discusses how the sin of Judas has a modern-day parallel in the practice of selling Christian teaching for profit. Those who trade the things of God for material gain are committing a sin akin to Judas's betrayal. Despite the good intentions behind selling Christian teaching, Conley warns that it is a serious sin with grave spiritual consequences, urging repentance and a return to freely sharing truth as the Giver intended.

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Eric is the leader of a prominent publisher of valuable resources in the field of biblical studies. He loves God with all his heart, and wants to see the Church edified and grow in the knowledge of Christ through the amazing things he publishes. In spite of knowing the Bible better than just about anyone, he still has not considered whether commercializing the truth of Scripture is something God condones or condemns. If he were to be honest, the question has never crossed his mind.

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The second part of this podcast comes from A Key to Uncle Tom's Cabin (Harriet Beecher Stowe, 1853) at the end of the second section.

Here at Selling Jesus, we advocate that ministries release their content into the public domain. Among other reasons, we believe this to be the most consistent approach to Jesus’s command to “freely give” in Matthew 10:8. However, a question occasionally arises at this point: Couldn’t another party republish that content and claim it as their own? Further, couldn’t they then take legal action against the original creator who hadn’t claimed copyright?

For lack of a more official term, I’ll refer to this as “copyright hijacking.”

In this episode Conley Owens answers this common doubt and concludes that ministries should never hesitate to give freely by dedicating their content to the public domain.

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This episode offers practical guidance and wisdom on how to share the principle of freely giving, along with its implications and applications. It can be a sensitive topic, and people often avoid sharing it with others out of fear of offending someone. Our goal is to encourage you to spread the biblical truth that ministry should be supported but not sold, so that individuals and churches can see change. We cover things like the responsibility of understanding the topic thoroughly, distinguishing between encouragement, correction, and rebuke, choosing an appropriate starting point for conversations, as well as the importance of patience and prayer in fostering heart change. And don't miss the new video we just launched for helping people share the dorean principle.

We'd love to hear from you.

⁠⁠⁠⁠sellingjesus.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠thedoreanprinciple.org⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠copy.church

This series on "⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Christians Who Sell Jesus⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠" takes profiles that represent real-world scenarios wherein well-meaning individuals are actively engaged in the Jesus trade, often unwittingly.

Julia is a well-known Christian YouTuber and blogger. Her mission is to leverage the reach of the internet to edify believers with God-centered, Christ-exalting content. She’s particularly called to minister to women who have been victims of abuse, helping them seek healing in Christ. When her subscriber count hit 100,000 she was advised by her cousin to monetize the channel and start earning ad revenue and seek out sponsors. When she asked her followers about this idea, most people said, “Of course! We would gladly sit through ads to support the great things you share! God has obviously blessed you! A worker is worthy of her wages! You go girl!”

Now Julia has nearly half a million followers and several revenue streams besides ads and sponsors. First, she has a special subscription option that enables people to access some of her content early, as well as suggest ideas for future videos and blogs. People who pay for an even more premium subscription also get some kind of free merch once a year, along with an opportunity to ask her questions in a livestream she does every couple months.

When her sister admonished her to think more carefully about whether it’s biblical to force people to watch ads before receiving spiritual guidance from her, she got offended. “It’s not like I’m driving a Tesla and live in Beverly Hills! I always tithe, and I support six different charities. These income streams allow me to give more than I ever have in my life! How dare you judge me, when the Bible clearly says that you shouldn’t muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain! Besides, people don’t have to sign up for the premium stuff, and they can get an ad blocker if they don’t wanna watch the ads. Or if they don’t like it, they can go listen to someone else! It’s a free country.”

Many feel intimidated when it comes to making their book available free of cost or hindrance. And if you’ve listened to our conversation about Joe the Author, you may have lots of practical questions about where to start. This guide is for you.

A common misconception is that you need a legacy publisher to typeset, format, and publish your book in order for it to be successful, beautiful, and professional. That is simply not true. God, in his providence, has given us incredible tools that allow us to circumvent the unbiblical system of most legacy Christian publishers and reach far more people with our work. So this is a comprehensive guide meant to demystify the steps involved in self-publishing a book in a way that truly accords with Christ’s command to freely give (Matt 10:8).

From choosing typesetting software and formatting your manuscript, to navigating the publishing platforms, this guide covers most of the essential details to get you started. It explains how to leverage free tools and services, as well as freelance assistance when needed. While there is definitely a learning curve to this process, it is not out of reach for anyone who has a desire to grow and try new things. You’ll be surprised by how much trouble, time, and money you’ll save by not going with a legacy Christian publisher, while enjoying full control over the presentation, distribution, and updating of your work. Follow these steps, and you'll be able to self-publish a high-quality book that’s genuinely free for readers around the world.

Read the whole guide at copy.church.

In this episode (which you can read on sellingJesus.org) Jon explores how the Christian music industry exploits church worship for commercial gain, despite religious exemptions for churches. Churches are required to pay annual licensing fees to use modern worship songs in their services, and most of the money goes to a select few artists who charge exorbitant fees and have questionable practices or beliefs. This episode also discusses the role of CCLI (Christian Copyright Licensing International), in facilitating this business model. Scripture requires all churches to abandon this unbiblical system.

When contemporary Christian music first started to emerge—and be commercialized—one artist refused to profit from the gospel. Keith Green, one of the most popular Christian artists of his time, was adamant that “if it's ministry, you cannot charge.” Keith didn’t want anyone to be impeded from hearing the gospel through his music, and was convicted to not charge for tickets to his concerts (which thousands attended) and gave away records for free. He died in a tragic accident at the age of 28, but his music continues to impact hundreds of thousands of people today. Artists have their role model, a man who refused to compromise and took seriously Jesus’ words: “freely you received, freely give” (Matt 10:8).