Is it really a free gift?
I was struck today by individuals who asked if the New Testaments I was giving away were really “free.” The sign under the table says, “Free Bible Literature.” The signs either side of the table say, “Free Bible.”
“So, what’s the catch?” asked one guy.
“You have to be able to read” was my reply, “apart from that, no catch.”
But is it really free? These three honest enquirers may be on to something. Someone has had to purchase these paperback New Testaments in order for me to give them away free of charge.
My being able to stand with permission on a university campus, unhindered is evidence of freedom of thought in allowing it. Indeed, even being able to express my faith in such a care-free way is testimony to a freedom we take for granted here in Ireland, but which does not exist in other countries. I remember being ‘invited’ to sit in a police station for three or four hours in Kazakhstan in 2006 for the crime of inviting people to a Bible study.
And how many countless hours are spent in trying to help others understand the contents of this little book? Who, with no thanks, decide it’s not what they ‘signed up for.’
And throughout history, how many people have been imprisoned, or segregated, or beaten, or even killed so that our generation can have a cheap paperback available for no cost on a college campus?
Or how many of those early, first century Christians gave up all to travel on foot over vast distances in order to spread the message contained in that book, for no financial advantage or no charge to the hearer.
Or what did it cost the Son of Man to bring good news into a world that did not deserve it?
Is it really free? No it is not free, but you do not have to pay. Someone else made that choice for you.