Our convictions on resources & giving
Why pastors can be supported here — and what we will never do.
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
A gift in support of a pastor's teaching is just that — support for their labor. It is not 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 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 are encouraged to offer teaching freely or set a low suggested gift; supporters can always give more if they're able, never less than they can.
- Gifts support people, not products. Of every gift, the pastor receives 70% in support of their ministry. 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 a gift works
Free is honored
"Freely given" content opens with no payment at all — and it's celebrated, not buried.
A suggested gift
Paid teaching shows a suggested amount in support of the pastor's labor — a starting point, not a turnstile.
Give what you're led
You can give more than suggested. Generosity is welcomed; pressure is not.
Separate from the church
Supporting 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
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Living document — last reviewed June 2026.