For nearly a decade, I’ve been working for free. I don’t mean just a few hours a week on volunteer projects or nonprofit boards. Rather, I have held real jobs—for example, as senior editor for the World Evangelical Alliance, member of Christianity Today’s global team, and director of editorial services for the Society of Christian Scholars—without getting paid.
I know this lifestyle is not for everyone. The Bible endorses the assumption that most people should work to earn their living. Many of the colleagues I work with are exemplary Christian servants who work faithfully for modest pay and could not meet their basic needs with less income. However, my wife and I are healthy and wealthy, with all parents deceased and all children grown and self-sufficient. For us, generously supporting the kingdom of God with our time and money should be our top priority.
And for me, giving time is easier than giving money, because Nancy expects to outlive me and thinks she might need all our savings for nursing care in her waning years.
Offering my professional skills for free has had some surprising results. First. I’ll explain why we have chosen this path, and then I’ll share some applications for all of us.
Why I don’t take money from Christians
As Christians, we are all on the same team—the kingdom-of-God team. We should rejoice when our fellow believers prosper and mourn when they suffer (1 Cor 12:12; Rom 12:15). Private property is a practical necessity, but our possessions should be deployed primarily for God’s benefit, not personal benefit (Luke 12:13–21).
Nancy and I have ample financial resources. The Christian organizations I work for do not. Moreover, if they transfer money to me as earned income, that money becomes taxable. In fact, over one-third of it would go to federal and state governments, Social Security, and Medicare.
Therefore, unless I think that I can use $2 better than my employing Christian organization can use $3, I believe I should turn down payments from that organization if I am financially able to do so.
My Christian “employers” have greatly appreciated my offer. I provide writing, editing, and consulting services that they could not afford to pay for. Their appreciation means more to me than any paycheck could.
I have extended this offer to individual Christians as well—mainly in the form of critical feedback and/or copyediting to help high-quality authors improve their work prior to publication. Occasionally I have relented and accepted payment, when I have greatly reduced someone’s publishing costs or when my friend is paying me out of royalties (which are taxable whether they go to the author or me). But usually, when people insist on paying me, I refer them to long-suffering Nancy, who negotiates a gift card to her favorite restaurant.
Unexpected discoveries
I knew that refusing pay would make me more popular. Yes, you can buy love! But I’ve learned some other surprising things that have broad application, even for people who can’t adopt my quirky lifestyle.
1. The kingdom-of-God team needs an improved work ethic. Many people, including my nonpaying employers, have expressed surprise at how I can work so diligently without financial compensation. They assume instinctively that money is a necessary reward for employment and that people who aren’t getting money will become lazy. Moreover, they note that it’s harder to hold employees accountable if you’re not paying them.
As a Christian, I am fully conscious that my real employer is the Lord (Col 3:24). My work ethic is no different whether I’m serving a Christian or civic organization for free or one of the secular entities from which I still do accept payment. (The only distinction is that the paying clients sometimes get quicker turnaround.) The feedback I receive suggests that this attitude of doing everything with excellence regardless of payback, which should be second nature for Christians, is actually disappointingly rare.
2. I no longer make bad decisions because of money. In my younger years, when I was not as wealthy, I chose where to attend graduate school based on cost. I accepted jobs I shouldn’t have taken, or failed to resign when I should have left a job, because I thought I needed the money. When writing my first book, I saved money by not purchasing some other books that I should have read before publishing, and the quality of my research was negatively affected.
Now that I have plenty of money, I don’t make these poor decisions. But I shouldn’t have made them 30 years ago either. They occurred because financial concerns overrode my better judgment. Regardless of how much money we have, we should trust God more fully and not let mammon drive our life decisions.
3. I can be constructively candid. As a knowledgeable but unpaid employee, I frequently share my honest perspective on how my organization can improve. I never seek to tear my colleagues down, but if I believe they are mishandling a situation or making a foolish decision, I tell them directly. Being a volunteer means that if they threaten to fire me, I can smile and say, “Go ahead!”
Of course, any criticism must be constructive and purposeful. But when our income is at stake, we can be tempted to prioritize self-preservation over speaking the truth in love. This tendency can lead to poor results or even ethical compromise. Especially in Christian organizations, we should never treat our salary as more important than pursuing God-pleasing performance.
4. Some people take unfair advantage of free services. It’s been very instructive to see how Christians have responded to my offer of free editing.
Wonderful example: I have edited several papers for a young African university instructor who studies the Nigerian film industry. Her insights on evangelical filmmaking and on gender issues as portrayed in Nigerian films are superb. Her first drafts contain great insights but sometimes can benefit from organizational improvement and more precise documentation. I am happy to shore up her weak points. With my support, she has achieved significant recognition in Europe, including publication and speaking opportunities plus a postdoctoral fellowship in England. It has been a privilege to give, without charge, exactly the assistance she needed so that she can shine in her research endeavors.
Not-so-wonderful examples: Others have sent me editing requests that they never would have submitted if they were paying $50 an hour for my services. Their work is careless and of low academic quality, but it costs them nothing to ask me to clean up their mess. If they had to pay me, they would do everything they could on their own first before sending me their essay. Some send me documents at the last minute and expect me to drop everything to meet their deadline. As you might guess, I don’t set aside higher-quality authors to respond to these lower-quality requests.
Lesson for everyone: Don’t take advantage of people’s generosity or you are not likely to have access to it for very long.
I’m still learning
Working for free has brought great joys. I have contributed to the development of some excellent books and articles, and I believe I have strengthened the work of important Christian organizations. However, declining payment hasn’t solved one problem: my perfectionism. Even as a volunteer, I still impose very high performance and productivity standards on myself. As Nancy has told me, “I can see that your stress doesn’t go away when no money is involved.”
Whether we are paid or unpaid workers, as Christians we are both imperfect and forgiven. We should work conscientiously and strive for excellence, but without demanding more of ourselves than God does. Let us replace our bondage to money not with some other idol (such as, in my case, a desire to be recognized for superior competence) but with joyful, humble servanthood.