We want to highlight and exalt the radical generosity of God’s heart, confront the commercialization of Christianity, promote the biblical teaching that ministry should be supported but never sold, explore the history of how we've gotten to this point where it's a respectable sin to monetize ministry, and take a deep dive in the Scripture’s teaching on the subject. Our evangelical cultural moment has a serious blind spot in this area, and we hope to be a voice of reform. And our priority is to take seriously what Jesus commanded in Matthew 10:8: “Freely you have received; freely give.”
A chapter from God's Word Is Not Bound.
Read the text. (https://sellingjesus.org/word-not-bound/read/#ch019-the-myth-of-institutional-innocence)
Get the free book. (https://sellingjesus.org/word-not-bound)
In this episode, we examine the idea that Christian organizations are immune to temptations common to man.Drawing on decades of firsthand testimony and documented scandals, we examine the darker side of Christian publishing, from ruthless business practices and corporate profiteering to ghostwriting, manufactured celebrity, fake bestseller campaigns, and the commodification of the Church. We consider how the desire for money, influence, and a seat at the table keeps many silent, while the presence of genuinely godly people lends credibility to institutions whose practices contradict the teachings of Christ. Can good intentions or charitable donations justify dishonest and exploitative methods? And why have we entrusted the exclusive control of God's Word to an industry plagued by these very problems? Ultimately, we confront the ancient sin of simony in its modern forms and call the Church to reject institutional idolatry, expose corruption, and recover the biblical command to freely give what God has freely given.
The same institutional corruption has profound implications for Bible translation, where publishers and translation organizations claim exclusive control over Scripture through copyright, licensing restrictions, and commercial distribution. When God's Word becomes an institutional asset to be protected, monetized, and controlled, the Church must ask whether these organizations are worthy of this sacred trust.
22 Sept 2026
Copyright as a Perversion of Justice
Read or download this chapter or the whole work: God's Word Is Not Bound. (https://sellingjesus.org/word-not-bound)
Is copyright really a form of property, and is copying actually theft? In this chapter of God’s Word Is Not Bound, I examine copyright through Scripture and natural law and argue that intellectual property turns justice on its head. Biblical property rights exist to prevent conflict over tangible things: if someone takes your sheep, land, or money, you no longer possess what was taken. But ideas and words work differently. They can be copied and shared without depriving anyone of them. The chapter argues that Scripture nowhere treats copying words or ideas as theft and even presents the copying of God’s Word as something to be encouraged. When copyright is applied to Scripture, the problem becomes especially serious: human beings use state power to restrict the copying, translation, recording, and distribution of revelation that ultimately belongs to God. Rather than accepting copyright simply because it is legal or customary, Christians are challenged to ask whether the state has any God-given authority to manufacture ownership rights over information in the first place, and whether placing “all rights reserved” over God’s Word is really stewardship or a perversion of justice.
17 Sept 2026
Introduction to "God's Word Is Not Bound: Copyright & the Stewardship of Scripture"
Read the text. (https://sellingjesus.org/word-not-bound/read/#ch003-introduction)
Get the free book. (https://sellingjesus.org/word-not-bound)
As Paul sits in a Roman prison cell, he writes, “Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, for which I am suffering, bound in chains as a criminal. But God’s Word is not bound” (2 Tim 2:8-9). Even though he may be imprisoned, God’s Word cannot be. Put all the preachers in chains, but the message of Christ remains free. Unshackled.
Little did Paul know that the schemes of the Enemy would one day shift from binding the hands and feet of Christians to binding the Word—with legal fetters. Evil emperors who cast saints into dungeons would be replaced centuries later by Christians who imprison the Word behind bars of jurisprudence. And no matter the stated reason for this imprisonment of Scripture, the outcome remains the same: the Word does not run freely.
The Church can no longer declare with Paul, “God’s Word is not bound!” Instead, followers of Christ cower before copyright claims, subservient to man’s restrictions on what God himself authored. It may be God-breathed, but men have arrogated it, threatening anyone who might want to unbind it and let it fill the earth as the waters cover the sea. Preachers call it “God’s Word,” but mere humans insinuate that it is theirs with the phrase “all rights reserved.”
In our modern Church, Paul might have said the opposite of what he wrote so long ago. Looking around at the Bible publishing landscape, he may have written, “Remember Jesus Christ, as I preached in my gospel, which I am free to proclaim. But God’s Word is bound in chains as a criminal.”
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
10 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
11 ratings
Host of Selling Jesus?
Claim your podcast to manage its listing and keep your show details accurate.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
