Gratis Pro Deo: Free for the Sake of God

Commodification, branding and monetising are the forces that drive the modern world, especially entrepreneurship. Commodification transforms goods, services, ideas, or even human experiences into commodities that can be bought, sold, or traded in a market. Commodification often involves assigning economic value to things that were previously not considered commercial products. For example, entertainment is commodified as music and video channels that must be subscribed. Education is commodified and sold at competitive prices (fees) depending on the institution’s quality and reputation. Health care is another commodity whose cost shoots past ordinary people’s purchasing ability.

Once commodified, services and goods that were once free must be branded to stand out among competitors. Branding is the process of creating a distinct identity for a business, product, or individual in the minds of consumers. It involves shaping how a brand is perceived through its name, logo, design, messaging, and overall customer experience.

The purpose of commodifying and branding is to monetise what was otherwise available for free. Monetising means generating revenue from an asset, product, service, or idea. It involves turning something into a source of income, often through sales, advertising, or other financial strategies.

Commonplace in secular life, these concepts have also invaded Christian service. Preachers brand themselves and their ministries to stand out and be undeniably noticeable. Books and music are copyrighted to be sold or subscribed for a fee. In contrast to the age-old hymns that were always in the public domain, modern Christian songs are copyrighted and demand royalty even for use in worship. Composers and performers insist on displaying their logo, copyright information, and website URL on the screen when these songs are projected in a worship session. Christian service is monetised and has become a means of making money.

We should not ignore the expenses that Christian preachers, authors, songwriters, composers, gospel bands, and video makers incur to provide their services. They get nothing free!

  But this flies in the face of the core Christian value we had been cherishing, encapsulated in the ancient Latin phrase “gratis pro deo.” This phrase means “free for God” or “for God’s sake freely given.” It conveys the idea of doing something out of devotion without expecting payment or material reward. This has been the foundational principle of the Christian service of individuals and institutions like Christian hospitals, schools, and other charitable organisations.

This Christian principle is rooted in Jesus’ charge to his disciples. When he sent the apostles to “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons,” he added, “Freely you have received; freely give.” This principle advocates service without the expectation of material reward.

In the past, the apostles worked with their hands to earn a living and preach the gospel. Apostle Paul could defend himself before the elders of the churches in Ephesus, pointing out that he earned his living by doing manual work to serve them. “I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive’” (Acts 20:33—35).

There are many questions. How do the Christian workers support themselves? How can they offer free service when they must pay for whatever they produce? Is it wrong to pass on the expenses to those who enjoy the benefit of their service?

The Bible also exhorts believers to support those who serve them. Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, “In the same way, the Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:14). But he was not demanding anything for himself. He instructed the churches in Galatia, “Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches” (Galatians 6:6).

The Bible teaches that Christian service in all forms must be free for the sake of God. At the same time, it also demands that those who benefit from such services stand with those who serve them. This mutual trust is essential, as is trusting God, as “God will supply every need according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). God will meet the needs of all those who serve him if their goal is to do everything as if to the Lord.

It is clear that the goal of Christian service is not material gain but the selfless act of serving others. This is the true nobility of Christian service, a beacon of hope in a needy world.

What Happened to My Unanswered Prayers?

Some time back, I sent an email to my friend’s Gmail account. However, for many weeks there was no response from my friend. Then I wrote another email to him to the other email ID of his that I had. He promptly replied. Later we discovered that the mail I sent was sitting in the Spam folder of his Gmail account. My mail was automatically filtered to the spam folder!
This made me contemplate on the prayers. I have been praying ever since my childhood. From short bed-time prayers to long intercessory prayers, pastoral prayers, prayers for the sick, in desperate need, etc. God answered some prayers but many are yet to be answered. What is happening to those prayers of mine that are not answered? God did not get it, or are they sitting in his spam folder?
I wish I could just visit heaven and see what is happening to those prayers of mine that are not ever attended to. For that, I will have to wait. However, God has specially favored John the Apostle with some special privileges. One such privilege is that he had an opportunity to peep into heaven and the throne room of God.
In Revelation chapter 8, John reports from heaven what is happening to our prayers. I draw a lot of encouragement from those words. In verse 4, we see that the angel who stands in the throne room of God offers the prayers of the saints to God along with incense. Verse 3 clarifies that the prayers are held in a golden censer. A similar picture is found in the fifth chapter also. Here the twenty-four elders are offering the prayers in golden censers before the Lamb who is our risen Savior. In this picture the incense are the prayers of the saints held in golden censers. They have harps in one hand (symbolizing praise) and censers in the other (symbolizing our prayers).
With this assurance, I still pray though all my prayers are not answered. I pray because I am assured that my prayers are not going to the trash bin, nor are they deleted my mistake. They are offered to God. They are valuable to God: the cries of anguish and questions that I presented in my prayers are so valuable to God so that they are offered in a golden bowl before him.

Devotion: Sacrificial Extravagance

I looked up Wikipedia for a definition of the word "Devotion" and was surprised to find that in Christianity "devotion" is identified with Bible Study. And that is very much true. When someone says that s/he had devotion in the morning what they mean usually is that they read their Bible. However, the meaning of the word is quite different from studying the scriptures.

Devotion is being devoted to someone or something. It is ardent love or surrender in love. Many Hindu Bhaktas understand and practice devotion in that sense. However, in Christian spirituality we often tend to forget this aspect though it has a very prominent place in the Bible. For example, Jesus asking Peter if we love him more that all that he has is certainly a demand for ardent love and total surrender in love (John 21:15). Loving God is a dominant theme in both the Old and New Testaments. See for example the command in Deuteronomy 6:5: "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."

John 12:1-8 is a passage that deals with this theme of devotion where we find Mary engaged in a practical act of devotion to the Lord. There is another story, which is similar to this in Luke's gospel (Luke 7:37-50) where a woman identified only as a "sinful woman" washes and anoints Jesus' feet. The woman mentioned there could be different from the one in John 12:1-8 or the same. However, that is definitely another act of devotion. Then again we see Mary's devotion expressed in contrast with that of Martha's service in Luke 10:38-42. Here Martha was involved in caring for Jesus, probably preparing food for Jesus and his group. However, Jesus commends Mary as he endorsed that he chose the better; that is to sit at his feet and listen to what he has to say.

There are a number of other cases that we cite in order to argue that devotion to God in the sense of ardent love and surrender is very much part of Christian and biblical practice. However, what I would like to focus here is on the act of devotion.

First of all devotion emerges out of a deep sense of obligation to God. This is very graphically expressed in Luke 7:37-50. What makes people resort to such acts of worship which humbles them and calls for self-sacrifice for the sake of expressing their love for their God? Jesus explains it as a sense of having received (in this case forgiveness) more from God. It is a matter of perception. A proper perception of what we have received from the Lord leads us to an obligation to reciprocate that in acts of love.

Secondly, devotion also involves listening to the Lord and enjoying his presence in our lives. This is what Jesus brought out through the contrast between Mary and Martha in Luke 10:38-42. There is no question that Martha believed in Jesus as much as Mary did. However, the Lord expects us to express our faith in acts that please him. Just as two people who are love, enjoys being together and talking to each other, Jesus expects us to be with him and listens to him. Peter had learnt this early in his life with Jesus. John 6 talks about a crisis that arose in the Jesus movement. Many those who were following Jesus left him because they found his words hard. Then Jesus asked the twelve disciples who were in the inner circle if they also would like to leave him. However, Peter's reply to that is remarkable. He asked, "Lord! To whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" That is Peter's reason for following Jesus; he has found the presence and words of Jesus indispensable to him.

There were two sisters and the eldest one has to read bed-time stories to the youngest every day. Tired of her chore, one day she decided to record the stories on tape and play to her little sister every night. When she introduced the tape to her sister, the little girl refused to use it saying, "it hasn't got a lap." That is important: it is not just the story that matters, the presence and voice of the sister matters too. So is the disciples' attachment to the Lord.

A final observation that I would like to make is that devotion also takes us to sacrificial extravagance. In John's gospel (John 12:1-8) Mary anointed Jesus with a very costly perfume. The cost of it is estimated by Jesus' treasurer (Judas Iscariot) as equal to one year's wage. To save that much money a person has to work more than a year! Critics of Mary's act called it "extravagance" and "waste". Ardent love for Jesus takes us to the extreme of sacrifices and giving. Giving to the cause of the Kingdom of God should not be considered as a funding the church or mission finances but expression of our love for God. Giving must be considered as an act of devotion. There is a joy that comes from giving out of love for Jesus. Augustine's words may someway illustrate it: "Where your pleasure is there is your treasure; where your treasure is, there is your heart; where your heart is, there is your happiness." Giving thus is an act of devotion: it is delighting in the Lord!

In order to inculcate devotion in us we need to have a sense of obligation or indebtedness to Jesus. This is thus expressed in acts of devotion as experiencing his presence and an eagerness to hear voice daily in our lives. Then it may take us to acts of devotion which involves sacrifice from our side.