We will never put a price on the Word of God or on the work of His Spirit.
Scripture, prayer, and the daily essentials of SoapBox are free, and they will stay free. What the Catalog does is narrower: it lets a pastor be supported in the labor of teaching — the way a congregation supports a shepherd, or a bookstore carries an author's book.
Supporting the laborer is not selling the Word
Scripture both honors material support for those who teach and warns sharply against turning the gospel into merchandise. We hold these together.
"Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching… 'The laborer deserves his wages.'"1 Timothy 5:17–18 · see also 1 Corinthians 9:14, Luke 10:7
"For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity… we speak in Christ in the sight of God."2 Corinthians 2:17
The price of a pastor's teaching pays for their labor — the laborer deserves his wages. It is never the purchase of grace, revelation, or any spiritual gift, which cannot be bought or sold (Acts 8:18–23).
What we will never do
We guard deliberately against the spirit of Balaam — ministry turned to profit — and against any hint of selling what God gives freely (2 Peter 2:15–16; Micah 3:11; Matthew 10:8). No listing in this Catalog may:
- Sell prophecy, a personal word, prayer, anointing, or any spiritual gift
- Promise a blessing, breakthrough, healing, or miracle in exchange for payment or a gift
- Ask people to "sow" or "seed" money to receive a spiritual or material return
- Guarantee any outcome — financial, physical, or spiritual — for payment
- Use fear, pressure, or manipulation to extract money
What we hold to
- The essentials stay free. Scripture, prayer, and core discipleship are never placed behind a payment.
- No one is turned away for lack of money. Pastors choose, for each item, free, a fixed price, or pay what you want, and are encouraged to offer teaching freely or as pay what you want, where readers can pay any amount, including nothing. A fixed price is adjusted for purchasing power in each country.
- An honest sale, with the pastor paid. SoapBox sells Catalog content as the merchant of record, and the church receives 70% of the net on every sale. Giving to a church is entirely separate and is always 100% passthrough to the church.
- Nothing publishes without review. Every listing is reviewed against these convictions before it appears, and pastors opt in per item and can opt out anytime.
- Honesty over salesmanship. We present teaching by its substance — not bestseller ranks, urgency, or pressure to buy.
How pricing works
Free is honored
"Freely given" content opens with no payment at all — and it's celebrated, not buried.
Fixed price
Where a pastor sets a fixed price for their labor, you pay exactly that price — adjusted for purchasing power in your country and charged in US dollars. No upsells, no surprises.
Pay what you want
The pastor suggests a price, also adjusted for your country, and you choose the amount — down to nothing, or more than suggested. Generosity is welcomed; pressure is not.
Separate from the church
Buying a pastor's teaching never touches your giving to the church, which stays 100% passthrough.
Hold us to this
These convictions are written with pastors, and we want to keep refining them with the global church. If anything here feels off — or like it's drifting toward merchandising — tell us.
Share a concern
Back to the Catalog
Living document — last reviewed June 2026.