Free but not Cheap

by Dr Leong Tien Fock

The ministry of the Word consists basically of evangelism (to bring non-believers to the Christian faith) and disciple-building (to bring believers to Christian maturity). A specialized form of the ministry of the Word involves reaching out to believers as well as non-believers with special needs, such as those addicted to drugs or with psychiatric symptoms.

Whatever forms the ministry of the Word takes, there is one thing in common: it is, as a rule, a service that is rendered free of charge or without profit. Even when an honorarium is received, it is usually a "love offering" not negotiated beforehand.

Thus those who are "full-time" in the ministry of the Word depend in one way or another on the financial support of Christians who receive income in the "secular world". Since this arrangement is clearly taught in Scriptures it is God's will that the ministry of the Word remains free of charge or non-profit.

Unfortunately, we now live and work in an economic system that views the worth of anything in financial terms. What is costly must be valuable and what is cheap must not be of much worth. Given this mindset, the ministry of the Word would not be thought or felt to be of much importance.

Christians must be very clear in their hearts and minds that the ministry of the Word has supreme value. It is through the costless preaching of the Word (evangelism) that we heard about the priceless gift of salvation in Christ. And this salvation is not just a free ticket to heaven when we die. It also is basic to quality living here and now in the "real world". In fact the quality living is indicative of whether we do have that free ticket after all (2 Pet 1:10-11). Furthermore the believer's quality living helps make the Gospel attractive to non-believers. This is why Christians continuously need the ministry of the Word so that their salvation in Christ is being worked out in everyday life (Phil 2:12-13).

There is another reason why even Christians do not value the ministry of the Word as much as they should. The market economic system has also conditioned us to think and feel that valuable knowledge is knowledge that is marketable, that is, knowledge that enables us to make money. Knowledge of the Word is thus a "luxury" worth acquiring only if and when we have the time.

However, at least two groups of people are able to see that marketable knowledge is not that important after all. The first group consists of those who have suffered what is called a "mid-life crisis". They have had a great career and made a lot of money. But they are not happy. In fact they feel painfully empty. They know how to make money but do not know how to live. The second group comprises the children of the first who have closely observed and suffered along with their parents and are thus reconditioned to see beyond what is valuable in monetary terms.

No wonder the book The Consolations of Philosophy by Alain de Botton became a bestseller and inspired the TV series, Philosophy: A Guide to Happiness. It is quite unusual that philosophy would capture that much public attention today. In one chapter of the book, de Botton resuscitated the idea of the 16th century philosopher Michel de Montaigne that the knowledge that is more valuable is "everything that could help a person to live well, [meaning,] live happily and morally".

The increasing popularity of motivational talks and seminars also testifies to the trend that people are becoming concerned about how to live and not just how to make money. People would pay through their nose to attend such sessions. Unfortunately most of these talks and seminars are based on pop(ular) psychology or New Age philosophy or a combination of both. The goal is to help people become what they want to be, not what God wants them to be. If these costly sessions challenged people to become what God wants them to be, as in the ministry of the Word, they would not likely be that marketable in the first place. Thus they fall short of helping people attain Montaigne's ideal of living morally and thus happily.

If the more valuable knowledge, even from a secular perspective, is that which helps us live morally and thus happily, what is the best source of this knowledge?

The third reason why even Christians do not see the true value of the ministry of the Word is that the Bible does not seem relevant to the contemporary world. Part of the fault lies ultimately with theologians and Bible scholars who do not consider it at least part of their calling to teach Scriptures in such a way that Biblical truth is sensible to contemporary thinking and essential to contemporary living.

But thank God the situation is changing, though rather slowly. It is beyond the scope of this article to discuss the relevance of the Bible to the contemporary world. But this is the testimony of Dr Paul Meier, who co-founded the largest chain of psychiatric clinics in America:

To prepare myself as a Christian psychiatrist, I undertook college studies, an M.S. degree in human physiology, an M.D. from medical school, psychiatric residency training in two different programs, and theological coursework from two evangelical seminaries. During those years of preparation, I was equipped with many techniques and shortcuts for bringing human beings relief from anxieties, depression, phobias, fears, insecurities, and other kinds of emotional and physical pain. Among the many tools I learned to use, by far the one that has been most valuable in helping people attain spiritual well-being is Scripture meditation.

The ministry of the Word may be free or non-profit but it is certainly not cheap. Its life-giving and healing power, and thus its surpassing worth, is dependent on the death (and subsequent resurrection and ascension) of Christ. It costs the life of the Son of God.

Dr Leong Tien Fock is Research coordinator of Malaysia Campus Crusade for Christ.