The Problem with "Free"

April 15th was crazy. Not because I hadn't filed my taxes yet but because of the masses of free and discounted stuff being given away! Unfortunately my daughter was sick, but as we were leaving the doctor's office I noticed a coupon for a free hamburger at Scotty P's just down the road. This would be capatalized on, as would the free pizza from Mr. Jim's and the free coffee from Starbucks.

All in the name of tax day relief. I'm glad these businesses have my back, I always knew they cared.

It was crazy, we waited almost an hour for a 5 dollar hamburger, just because it was free. Even crazier, we had food going bad at home in our refridgerator that we had worked hard to prepare and was probably healthier. And truth be told, in college and other places, I've seen crazier and more dangerous behavior done for free stuff.

After waiting 30 minutes for my free small (very small) pizza, which was...okay...I got to thinking about the nuttiness that offering something for free will get you 20 times more visitors than any normal day. Did these businesses simply care about me this one day because I was ever so stressed about my taxes? Probably not.

But they have an advantage that the church does not. The church has to offer grace for free, there's no other way to do it. Grace for us comes at a cost that we don't have to pay, because God already declared it done through Jesus Christ. It's hard to claim that you are serving God and make people pay for grace at the church.

Businesses make people pay for their stuff every day, which I suppose in our world adds value to the importance of the product. If I have to pay for it, then I'm more invested in it. When the good is given away, it's amazing, because what once cost $5 is now nothing...what a deal!

And I think...

We're giving away grace, love, peace, justice, hope every day, all day FOR FREE!!! And I wonder why people are chomping at the bit to get in the door. Some people claim the church demands too much money, which we ask for 10% of income as a tithe. That's 90% that is spent on hamburgers and coffee. Some people claim the church is invalid in today's society, which will never be the case, but I hope that will not come in the minds of the world. I say never because the church is the body of Christ and will eternally be linked with the eternal one...and I'm guessing that'll last a lot longer than Mr. Jim's pizza.

So the only two reasons I can think of are:
1) Churches aren't doing a good enough job communicating the free stuff
2) We haven't invested enough as individuals in the churches we love, for the church to truly make a difference in our and other's lives.

They say there's no such thing as a free lunch. Perhaps there is no such thing as free grace either. Perhaps when you receive the free grace of God, with no strings attached, there is nothing you can do but go out and serve God with your whole being.

The problem with free...it messes up comfortable in this case.