There seems to be a lot of talk in the blogosphere about the notion of open source church resources. My friend Chris has talked about it, Matt Payne a church planter in Bethany, OR mentioned it today. Bob Hyatt puts Evergreen’s PowerPoint back grounds on his blog. Are there reasons not to share what we have created to further the kingdom of God? Should churches sell these resources to recoup the costs to create them; personnel, computers, audio equipment, web server space, software? To me the answer always comes back to motive. What is your motive behind selling your resources? What are your motives for giving them away? Personally I am going to work to give more of mine away. I paid for my computer to use it to further the kingdom where ever God want to use me. I spent the time to create them and I have used them for my purpose so why not share them once I am done?
Is your church or are you doing anything that you could share to help further the kingdom as a whole and not just your little piece of it? Could it be a postcard you designed, an experience you have going to two projection screens, or what tools you use to record, edit and publish your weekly messages? Whatever resources you have can you not afford to share them with others trying to save those lost from God’s love and forgiveness?
