Some time ago, a reader suggested that I employ a Patreon model of tiered access to the content I produce based on increasing levels of money.
My response was patterned after the following:
51 And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,
52 And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him.
53 And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem.
54 And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did?
55 But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.
56 For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village. (Luke 9)
It is contrary to everything I understand to employ a Pateron model to govern access to this content.
Here are just a few points to consider, in case you care.
The problem with any fixed fee is not just that it requires you to charge for the gospel. That is its own problem, one that I hope is well-understood enough to not need to address it here. Instead I will address the problems with setting a price for such content.
How do you assess the value of something? What is the worth of information you did not previously have? Obviously, it would be connected to what you do with it. The value to you would be the difference in the value of the outcomes you receive because of it versus those you would otherwise have. But is this all?
What about what it would have cost you to make it yourself? If an expert craftsman creates a product in five days, using a workshop full of expensive specialized equipment, does that mean the value of that product is only what you would earn in five days of labor at whatever price you are worth? Or must you consider how long it would take you to build without the expertise or equipment of the craftsman, and whether you could do it at all?
We make such value calculations on a daily basis, and yet hardly ever when it comes to what we deem to be spiritual things. Well did the Lord say:
54 And he said also to the people, When ye see a cloud rise out of the west, straightway ye say, There cometh a shower; and so it is.
55 And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass.
56 Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?
57 Yea, and why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right? (Luke 12)
What something is worth to an individual will vary widely depending on the individual. What they obtain from it will be the lesser of what it is actually worth in God's eyes and what it is worth in their eyes.
40 He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me.
41 He that receiveth a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward.
42 And whosoever shall give to drink unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall in no wise lose his reward. (Matthew 10)
13 When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am?
14 And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.
15 He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
16 And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. (Matthew 16)
If I were to set a fixed price on these things, what would I charge?
If I charged what everyone could afford, I would condemn all people to so much less value than it actually has.
If I charged what it is actually worth in God's eyes, no one could afford it. Only the Lord was able to pay what it was worth.
If I charged what it cost me, no one would be willing to pay it. And what has it cost me? In suffering, you are incapable at present of understanding. In non-tangibles, I have no way of describing. In time, every moment of my life for (in two days) forty years, but in terms more visible to you, about 40 hours a week for about 7 years, and more than 20 hours a week for years before that. In money, at least $4 million. While almost all of the price is invisible to you, the parts that are not should be sufficient to prove to you that it is not worth as much to you.[1]
For these and other reasons, all payments will be voluntary. Among other things, what you voluntarily contribute will be an opportunity to demonstrate to God what these things are worth to you, up to the limits of the means he has blessed you with.
[1] - This is not speculation. God is impartial. If you were willing to pay what I have, you would be the one producing these things. Because you are not, you must receive them through another who is.