‘Free Lunches’ and Other Misconceptions

Growing up I often heard the statement, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” But not long after I embarked on my newspaper career, that seemed to be untrue. Occasionally I would be treated to lunch, by the PR person with the local school district or at a luncheon provided for the media in conjunction with a press conference or news event. Lunch was free – at least it was for me.

 

But it wasn’t long before I realized that although there were occasions when I didn’t have to pay for my lunch, someone was footing the bill. Even if an organization’s press liaison took me to lunch, he or she was either paying for it using an expense account or they paid for it out of their own pocket. Free to me, I realized, didn’t mean free indeed.

 

These days folks seem to be clamoring for a lot of free stuff, not just “free” lunches. They want free healthcare, free education (some people call it “student loan forgiveness”), free housing, free transportation, and a host of other things. 

 

Then we have the advertisements and commercials promising “free” things when you purchase a product or service. Sounds too good to be true, right? That’s because it is. Someone has to pay, even if it’s not the immediate recipient. 

 

It might be taxpayers. It might be a business swallowing a cost, resulting in a decrease in its profits. When people talk about forgiveness of college loans, we know the universities aren’t going to say, “Okay, we overcharged you. We’ll just take the money out of our huge endowment funds and call it even.” Nope, someone’s got to pay the price and it’s not going to be Dr. Flammerstam in the chemistry department.

 

But my point isn’t to engage in the debate over what “free” stuff should be awarded and who should get it. My intent to underscore the reality that nothing in this life is truly free, not a single thing.

 

Early in my journey of faith I encountered a wonderful verse that nestled in my mind and took root years later. It was Romans 6:23 which in the New American Standard translation I read declared, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ our Lord.” Receiving eternal life as a gift was a novel idea for me back then, but the idea that it was a “free gift” was astounding. What it meant, I was told, we can do nothing to earn salvation, being welcomed into God’s eternal family.

 

To an extent I understood that because as a member of my human family, I would receive gifts from my mom and dad at Christmas and for birthdays. But I knew they weren’t really free. They were paid for with their money. The department stores didn’t just give them the stuff because they thought I was a cute little boy.

 

Nevertheless, over and over the Bible calls justification – being made right once and for all with God – a gift. Ephesians 2:8-9 asserts, “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.” The “gift of God,” given to us by God’s grace (His unmerited favor) unconditionally and without cost.

 

Even though right standing with God, not just for the present but for all eternity, is free to us that doesn’t mean there wasn’t a cost. In reality, the cost was greater than anything we could ever imagine on earth – greater than the biggest mansion, the most expensive car, the most state-of-the-art jet, or even the most elaborate cathedral.

 

We read it clearly in Romans 5:8, which says, “But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” This wasn’t some simple gesture, an act of pity, kind of like, “That’s okay. No problem. All is forgiven.” No, it was the Son of God – God incarnate – willingly going to the cross for our sins. When Jesus declared, “Tetelestai” (John 19:30), He was uttering a word that not only meant “It is finished” but also, “Paid in full.” The greatest debt in the history of humankind had been fully satisfied.

 

It's tempting to view artwork or statues of the Crucifixion with admiration but also with the shrug of our shoulders, failing to grasp the gravity of the price Jesus paid. Philippians 2:6-8 helps us to understand, saying about Jesus, “Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made Himself nothing…. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross!”

So, the next time someone offers you something free – or you hear someone demanding that they receive something free – we need to remember that in truth, nothing is free. Someone must pay the cost. And if we’re enjoying the “free gift” of salvation, let’s never forget, “You were bought with a price [you were actually purchased with the precious blood of Jesus and made His own]” (1 Corinthians 6:20, Amplified).