What's the Catch?

“Good afternoon, sir!  Would you like a free can of soda or bottle of water?”

The young man looked at me incredulously as I waved at him, standing beside a large cooler with a can of soda in my hand.

“What?  You’re giving it out for free?  What’s the catch?”

“Oh, no catch at all.  It’s a hot summer afternoon, and some of us at our church just want to show God’s love by giving out cold drinks.  Would you like one?”

The man wasn’t too easily convinced, but he eventually walked off with a can of soda, a little confused, and surprised that I didn’t try to talk to him about Jesus or ask for money.

This happened many years ago during the summer, when I attended a church retreat near San Diego, California.  The speaker exhorted us to show love and compassion for our community through service, and as an exercise, he led us to a busy shopping center, with cold drinks in tow, ready to be given out to thirsty shoppers.  The beverage containers were attached with small tags written with Bible verses and words of blessing, but we were informed to simply give the drinks away, without any condition.  Some of the shoppers happily took the drinks, but many others were much more skeptical, and a few even insisted in giving us tips or donations, which we politely declined.  We couldn’t possibly be just giving the drinks away, right?

We have long been taught to believe the expression, “there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch”.  In other words, what seems free often has a cost attached to it.  This is often true in science (as in the laws of thermodynamics), in business, and in relationships.  I recently visited the local Dunkin’ Donuts store on National Donut Day (yes, there is a story behind this, celebrated on the first Friday of June in the United States), to see whether the store was giving away free donuts.  I came out with my free donut, but the donut was only free if I purchased a beverage, a cup of coffee that cost me $2.50.  Dunkin’ Donuts was going to get my money, one way or another.

This notion of “no free lunch” is often seen in our views of religion as well.  Many of us believe that in order to go to Heaven, we need to be good, and do good things.  We need to go to church, put money in the offering plate, not say bad words, and be nice to others, otherwise God will be unhappy with us and will send us to Hell.  However, while it is true that Christians indeed do all these things, eternal life in Heaven is actually free:

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.  (Romans 6:23)

Going to church cannot save us, and doing good works won’t get us into Heaven.  Eternal life is a free gift – only God can give it, and we are asked to receive it.  Changes that happen to those of us who believe in Jesus is the consequence of our belief, not the condition for our faith.  We give in joy and in obedience because we have received first.  This gift of God is free, but it is not cheap.  Jesus already paid the price for it with His blood.