Freely You have Received, Freely Give
(The following is an edited email correspondence.)
Mr. Cheung,
Why do you think that it is "Christian" (if this is not how you would put it, please say so) to make your works available to the public free of charge?
I indeed consider it a Christianity duty to offer my teaching materials free of charge. Let me explain.
One reason that I have been successful at my studies is because God has granted me intellectual capabilities that can handle the subjects that I must deal with. No, I do not claim that I am a genius, but I will affirm that my mind "delivers" — it performs well, at least well enough to competently learn, process, and teach the relevant materials.
(What do we have that we have not received? A sound mind can be one of the gifts that God endows upon his ministers, given for the purpose of serving him and his people. It is sustained and developed through the means of grace, such as prayer, reading, and biblical meditation, by which the Spirit of God enhances a person’s mental capabilities. See Daniel 1:17–20, Psalm 119:97–100, Ephesians 1:17–18, and James 1:5.)
But another reason that I have been successful at my studies is because, in his providence, God has provided me with the means and the opportunities to acquire an abundance of intellectual resources. This is more relevant to our focus.
My home library includes over 300 systematic theologies (excluding works that treat specific theological topics but are not complete systems), the complete or almost complete works of Calvin, Owen, Edwards, Clark, Van Til, Schaeffer, Warfield, Spurgeon, and a number of other theologians and preachers, almost all the prominent classic and contemporary biblical commentaries, the complete works of Plato, Aristotle, and other major classic and contemporary philosophical works, the works of the early church fathers, several sets of encyclopedias, many obscure books, and many other classic and contemporary works.
All of this adds up to almost 15,000 volumes. This does not include all the materials that I have in electronic format, or theological journals, or audio lectures and sermons. Some people probably have even more than I do, but I doubt that most people’s private libraries even approach one tenth of the above.
Of course, one still has to read the books and use them well, and most people’s reading comprehension is dismal, so giving them more books will not proportionately increase their theological aptitude. Possessing a mind that can perform means that I am able to get more out of the same books than many other people, and at times to go beyond the works of other scholars to form my own improved conclusions. In other words, it is not enough to have access to information, but you must also have a capable mind to work with the information.
In any case, right now the point that I wish to emphasize is that it does make a difference to have more books, or to have greater access to scholarly writings. But this also means that, at least from this perspective, the poorer you are, the more limited you are in your theological growth. To the extent that this is due to the failure of Christian ministers and scholars to freely distribute their teaching materials, I find this very disturbing.
Moreover, pastors who have been to seminaries are taught to hide academic and technical information from their congregations in their sermons. The members are almost never exposed to all that the pastor received in seminary. As I have stated in my Preach the Word, this is the wrong approach. Even if they do not make their sermons as rich in content as seminary lectures, pastors should hold classes in their churches that offer at least the essential materials taught in seminaries. (These classes should be opened to every church member — men, women, and even children — and they should be given free of charge.) In fact, I believe that churches should provide adequate instructions to their own members so that they don’t even need to attend seminaries before taking on an office in the church. In a sense, seminaries are needed only because churches have failed in their teaching ministries.
With the above in mind, I have determined long ago that I will do my part to help by always making all of my works available for free in at least one readily accessible format. God willing, as the resources of this ministry increase, I will be publishing materials produced by other people also, so that together we can cover more topics, including those that I lack interest or ability to write about. Most of these people will probably be trained by myself, or at least heavily influenced by this ministry’s materials, so that all the materials published by this ministry will be consistent in content. In any case, no matter how gifted a person may be, if he refuses to let me distribute his materials for free, then I have no use for him. He is a disgrace to the kingdom of God, and I will tell him to GET OUT!
Jesus says, "Freely you have received, freely give" (Matthew 10:8). Now, I do not believe that a minister should never ask for money, since Paul says, "If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you?" (1 Corinthians 9:11; see also 1 Corinthians 9:13–14 and 1 Timothy 5:17–18). In fact, I believe that all faithful Christian ministers should be paid well, and that most Christians are free loaders who are practically robbing their ministers. They should be harshly rebuked. But this is different from saying that we should always charge money for our books and sermons without providing a free option; rather, we must arrange it so that those who are poor but are eager to learn may still advance in knowledge.
I would not consider it necessarily wrong to charge something for a sermon tape to defray the cost (although my policy has always been to give them out without charge), or even to make a profit for the ministry, so that the ministry can grow; however, I would always make a way for people to get it for free, so that the relatively poor will still have some way to access it. And if there must be a charge for the product (such as my paperback books, since their sales are handled by a book printing company), I would forgo all royalties, or find some way to minimize the cost.
In other words, I understand that Christian publishing is a business, and to survive and grow, the company must make a profit. However, if it is really Christian publishing that they are doing, then they should make some way for the poor to obtain the same materials for free, even if it has to be in a less convenient format. This is very easy to do in today’s world. For example, they could charge money for their paperback books, but offer the same materials in electronic format.
On a related note, ministers should never enforce their copyrights on their books and sermons (Philippians 1:18), unless these materials are somehow being abused by unbelievers to oppose the Christian cause. From a biblical perspective, a minister must allow people to make unlimited copies of their materials and distribute them.
This is why I will never consider signing an exclusive agreement with a publisher for my materials — that is, one in which I give up control over my own materials, that prevents me from freely offering them to people in the formats that I choose, and that prevents people from freely making unlimited copies.
This issue is also related to why I am so ambitious about eventually getting certain things published, such as materials comprehensive enough to cover the entire Christian worldview, and perhaps even homeschooling texts up to the 12th grade level — all for free in at least one format. God willing, we will get at least some of this done.
As I have mentioned to you in a previous message, one of my regrets is not having the time and the talent to write songs that I can let other people use for free in their private and public worship. Perhaps God will send someone who can do this for us in the future.
By the way, I am aware of at least two instances in which my orthodoxy has been questioned precisely because I offer my materials for free. In both instances, the reasoning was that since heretics and cults would do anything to spread their teachings, the fact that I offer my books and recordings for free should immediately cause suspicion.
What does this say about the usual practice of Christian ministries? (It also betrays the stupidity of these Christians, since this process of reasoning is fallacious, and there are more than a few other legitimate ministries and churches that also offer their materials for free.)
According to them, real Christians would not so eagerly spread their teachings, and real Christians — if they are really orthodox in their theology — would charge money for their books. If you are a real Christian, or if your teachings are sound and biblical, then you would certainly try to make a profit instead of trying to maximize distribution and to help the poor. If you don’t charge anything, then you are probably a heretic. Charging money makes your work legitimate! This is how twisted things have become.
(The following an edited response taken from a separate email correspondence. The topic has to do with a pastor who stubbornly refuses to freely distribute his sermons.)
…This is a very strange situation. I have never even heard of such coveting. Am I stepping out of line by asking for a reason why he will not allow this? How should I approach this man? He is a very gifted teacher…
As you know, I insist that sermons should be available for free — we should emphasize distribution, not profit.
Keeping in mind that I still have very little information about this man and your relationship with him, I will give the following broad advice.
If you are in a position to pursue the Matthew 18 church discipline procedure with him, then you may choose to do so.
If I were the head of his ministry, and he is under my authority, or if I were one of the elders, I would certainly side against him, and if he does not repent, vote to remove him, and treat him as one would regard Balaam. I think the situation is this severe. If upon examination, I discover that he is really doing this because of covetousness, and not because of some misguided but comparatively innocent motive (he cannot be completely innocent), then I would deal very harshly with him.
Nevertheless, legally speaking, he has a right to restrict the distribution of his materials, so unless you can pursue church discipline with him, there is not much else that you can do, especially since it seems that you have already registered your disagreement with his policy by writing him a letter.
A minister must be sound in both doctrine and character, and if he is as you say he is, then it is no great loss to the church that he limits the distribution of his materials. We don’t need him — even if he is as gifted as you say, just as God could raise up children of Abraham from stones, he can raise up another like him or better. In this sense, any one of us is easily replaceable, no matter how gifted we are; therefore, let us flee pride and covetousness, but serve with gratitude and generosity, with fear and trembling.
Recommended:
Vincent Cheung, Preach the Word
Vincent Cheung, Commentary on Philippians (ch. 2)
Vincent Cheung, Godliness with Contentment (ch. 2)