Should Christians Charge for Teaching, Courses, and Coaching?

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Should Christians Charge for Teaching, Courses, and Coaching?

Should Christians charge for teaching? Yes. Scripture defends the right of a teacher to be paid for their work, as long as the teaching is sound and the motive is service rather than greed. The confusion comes from two verses people quote without reading the rest of the passage they sit inside.

If you have ever priced a course, set a coaching rate, or thought about charging for something you used to give away free, you have probably felt the tension. Someone in your comments or your own head says, “Shouldn’t this be free? Isn’t charging for the gospel wrong?” This post walks through what the Bible actually says, not what a guilt-driven inbox message says.

What This Post Covers

Is It Biblical to Charge Money for Teaching?

Yes. The clearest passage on this is 1 Corinthians 9, where Paul spends fourteen verses building a single argument: the person who teaches has a right to be paid for it.

He appeals to common sense first. “Who tends a flock without getting some of the milk?” (1 Corinthians 9:7). Then he appeals to the Law: “Do not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain,” and asks directly, “Is it for oxen that God is concerned? Does he not certainly speak for our sake?” (1 Corinthians 9:9-10). Then he appeals to Jesus’ own instruction to the seventy-two he sent out: “The laborer deserves his wages” (Luke 10:7, quoted in 1 Timothy 5:18). Paul’s conclusion is not soft. “The Lord commanded that those who proclaim the gospel should get their living by the gospel” (1 Corinthians 9:14).

Wayne Grudem makes the same point from a wider angle in Business for the Glory of God. He argues that earning money through honest work, including teaching and selling expertise, is not morally neutral. It is fundamentally good, because it reflects the productivity and stewardship God built into us from the beginning. Profit is not the problem. The question is always what produced it and what you do with it.

What Does “Freely You Have Received, Freely Give” Actually Mean?

This is the verse people throw at Christians who charge for anything spiritual. It comes from Matthew 10:8, where Jesus tells the twelve disciples, “Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. You received without paying; give without paying.”

Read the verses around it before applying it to your online course. Jesus is giving specific, temporary instructions to twelve men for one particular mission trip through the towns of Israel. He tells them not to bring money, a bag, extra clothes, or sandals for the trip (Matthew 10:9-10). Nobody argues that verse means every Christian must travel without luggage forever. It was mission-specific instruction, not a universal financial policy.

The passage is about the free gift of miraculous power the disciples had just received. It was never meant as a blanket statement that all teaching, coaching, or ministry work must always be unpaid. If it were, Paul’s entire argument in 1 Corinthians 9 would directly contradict Jesus. Scripture does not contradict itself. It means the verse is doing something narrower than the way it usually gets quoted.

Does the Bible Say a Worker Deserves to Be Paid for Teaching?

Yes, and this is stated as a matter of basic honor, not just permission. First Timothy 5:17-18 says, “Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor in preaching and teaching. For the Scripture says, ‘You shall not muzzle an ox when it is treading out the grain,’ and, ‘The laborer deserves his wages.'”

Galatians 6:6 makes it even more direct and personal: “Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches.” This is not a suggestion aimed at church staff alone. It is a general principle about the relationship between a teacher and the person being taught.

Tim Keller’s argument in Every Good Endeavor fits here too. He rejects the idea that “sacred” work like teaching the Bible is somehow morally superior to and separate from “secular” work like running a business. Both are forms of the same calling to serve others through the gifts God gave you. If a plumber can be paid for skilled labor without guilt, a teacher can be paid for skilled labor without guilt. The category of the work does not determine whether payment is appropriate. The character of the work does.

What Does “Peddling the Word of God” Actually Mean?

This is the second verse people misapply. Second Corinthians 2:17 says Paul is “not, like so many, peddlers of God’s word.” The word translated “peddlers” (Greek: kapeleuontes) does not mean “people who charge money.” It refers to a huckster who dilutes or waters down a product to sell more of it, the way a dishonest wine merchant might cut good wine with water to stretch his profit.

Paul’s concern is corruption of the message for financial gain, not the presence of money in the transaction. A teacher who softens hard truths, drops conviction from their content, or exaggerates results to close more sales is peddling the word. A teacher who charges a fair, transparent price for accurate, faithful teaching is not.

This distinction matters because it separates the real sin (distorting truth for profit) from the thing people wrongly conflate with it (charging at all). John Piper has spent decades warning against exactly this kind of distortion, watering down the weight of God’s holiness and glory to make a message more palatable or more marketable. That warning is about content, not about pricing.

If You’re Still Not Sure Whether This Is God or Just You

Maybe your hesitation is not really about whether charging is biblical. Maybe it is about whether the specific thing you want to charge for is something God actually gave you to build.

That is a fair, deeper question, and it deserves more than a gut check.

We built a free resource for exactly that decision. It is called Called to Build: A Biblical Self-Assessment for Christians Who Want to Start an Online Education Business. It walks you through ten biblical tests to hold your specific idea against before you price a single thing.

This is not a sales pitch. It is a way to tell the difference between a God-given calling and a good idea you happen to be excited about.

Get the free guide here: scriptures.blog/called-to-build

How Do You Know If Your Pricing Is Greedy Instead of Fair?

Scripture gives permission to charge. It does not give permission to exploit. Three questions separate the two.

Would you be comfortable if your students knew exactly how the price was set? Fair pricing can survive full transparency. Exploitative pricing usually depends on people not asking too many questions.

Does the price reflect the actual value delivered, or does it depend on manufactured urgency? Grudem’s argument in Business for the Glory of God is that profit made through honest exchange, where both sides genuinely benefit, is good. Profit made by pressuring someone past their own judgment is a different thing entirely, even if the product itself is solid.

Are you willing to make some of your best teaching available free? Paul modeled this in Corinth specifically, voluntarily preaching “free of charge” there even though he had defended his right to payment moments earlier (1 Corinthians 9:18, 2 Corinthians 11:7). He was not contradicting himself. He was showing that the right to charge and the freedom to sometimes not charge can coexist in the same ministry, depending on what will serve people best in a given season.

A Final Word on This

None of this makes charging for teaching a spiritual requirement. Some of you are called to give this specific thing away for free, the way Paul chose to in Corinth. Some of you are called to charge a fair price so you can sustain the work and go deeper for the people who are ready to pay for depth. Both can honor God.

What matters more than the price on your page is what your identity rests on while you set it. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Your standing with God was never something you earned by teaching well, charging fairly, or building something impressive. It was settled before you built anything at all.

That means you are free to price your work with clear eyes instead of a guilty conscience, because your worth was never riding on the number anyway.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is it biblical for Christians to charge money for teaching the Bible or spiritual content?

Yes. First Corinthians 9:7-14 builds a direct argument that those who teach have a right to be paid for it, and 1 Timothy 5:17-18 calls this a matter of honor, not just permission.

Doesn’t Matthew 10:8, “freely you have received, freely give,” mean Christians should never charge for ministry?

No. That instruction was given to twelve disciples for one specific, temporary mission trip (Matthew 10:5-15), not as a universal financial policy for all teaching and ministry forever.

What does it mean to be a “peddler of God’s word” in 2 Corinthians 2:17?

It means distorting or watering down the truth of Scripture to make it more sellable, not simply charging money for accurate teaching. The sin is corrupting the message, not pricing it.

How do I know if my course or coaching price is greedy rather than fair?

Ask whether the price would survive full transparency, whether it reflects real value instead of manufactured urgency, and whether you are willing to give some of your best teaching away for free, the way Paul did in Corinth (1 Corinthians 9:18).

Can a Christian both charge for some teaching and give other teaching away free?

Yes. Paul defended his right to be paid and voluntarily chose not to be paid in Corinth for strategic reasons (2 Corinthians 11:7). The right to charge and the freedom not to charge can coexist in the same calling.

Scriptures Referenced

  • Matthew 10:5-15
  • Luke 10:7
  • 1 Corinthians 9:1-18
  • 2 Corinthians 2:17
  • 2 Corinthians 11:7
  • Galatians 6:6
  • 1 Timothy 5:17-18
  • Ephesians 2:8-9

Theologians Cited

  • Wayne Grudem, Business for the Glory of God (Crossway, 2003)
  • Tim Keller, Every Good Endeavor (Dutton, 2012)
  • John Piper, on guarding the weight and holiness of God’s word against dilution

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