The Margin of Free
“Freely you have received, freely give.” Matthew 10:8
Freely – If Jesus said it, it must be Aramaic, not Greek. That drives us back to the Hebrew equivalent of the Greek word dorean. We find hinnam, “undeservedly, without cause”. You can see the word in use in 2 Samuel 24:24 and Jeremiah 22:13. Goods and services provided without payment. Is that what Jesus meant? Did he really intend that we should work for nothing?
In a recent discussion about funding charities, a good friend of mine cited this verse. His point was one that I have heard often. The work of the Lord should be without payment. This rationale has been used by thousands to receive truth and help without any expectation of recompense. I believe that such an interpretation misses the fundamental point of Jesus’ remark. You see, Jesus was not speaking to the ones who were to receive the benefit. He was speaking to the disciples who were about to be granted special powers to assist others. What he was saying to them was this: “What you are receiving from God comes to you undeservedly. Since you received with without cost, distribute it without cost.” This is God’s view of the world economy. Distribution rather than accumulation.
We are inclined to use this as justification for support the false doctrine that what God gives is free and so we should not have to pay for it. But Jesus was not speaking to the recipients of the disciples’ blessing. He was talking to the middle men, the transfer agents. He told them not to “mark up” what they had. Then he said, “When you come to a city, go to the household of the righteous and expect them to take care of your needs.” In fact, Jesus proclaimed a curse on the cities that did not provide for the disciples. The “free” nature of what was being passed on to these people still had a price: care for the messenger because he is not going to mark up what he offers.
What does this mean to us? Are you a middle man or woman, passing on God’s gift to others? Don’t mark it up. You got it freely. Give it freely. But if you are the recipient of God’s gift, practice free recompense. Take care of the middle man. What you got from God through him or her cost you nothing, so respond freely. What you give back wasn’t yours anyway. It is still God’s gift.
When we use this verse as justification for not paying, we miss the point entirely. This verse is not about the price due, it is about the margin. To use it as an excuse not to care for those who bring the gift is to twist the logic of God’s plan to fit the accumulate and control paradigm. And that is just plain wrong.
