There’s No Such Thing as a Free Blog

All of us who take advantage of the incredible blessing of free resources on the internet should consider reading this excellent post by Nathan Bingham. He talks about the persistent illusion and the inescapable reality related to these things:

An Illusion

There is an illusion—an act far more enchanting than having an elephant disappear before your eyes—that has spread far and wide across the world wide web. It’s an illusion that is captivating millions. The line of thinking goes something like this: if it’s online then it’s easy. If it’s digital then it’s inexpensive. If it’s composed of bits and bytes then it’s quick.

This belief is not unique to Christians, but over the years I’ve witnessed a Christian voice (perhaps a vocal minority) grow louder in their complaints and demands via comments and emails. In their mind, every Christian ministry is expected to have every possible resource (study tools, videos, books, audio, articles, apps, etc.) available on every possible platform. And they want it now! Not only do they want it now, that want quality, and they want it for free. A thank you is seldom heard when this is actually achieved, after all, it was online and therefore easy, inexpensive, and quick, right?

This is not evidence of Christians growing in grace, but growing under a delusion. As a Christian geek, an ‘insider’ if you will, I’d like to sound a corrective.

The Reality

I speak in black and white terms like this because for one to believe that getting quality resources online is easy, inexpensive, and quick is to be deluded.

The reality:

Quality online resources often take a team of people with great skill, at great cost, with a great investment of time.

Read the whole thing here, including three things we can do to serve those ministries that serve us so well.