No Such Thing As A Free Lunch

Precious few of us will ever receive an invitation to travel for free to the Holy Land or to tour with a group of high-level Christian influencers to witness first-hand the stories behind the headlines in places like Rwanda, Guatemala, or Haiti. But the experience of those who are invited on all-expenses-paid educational junkets sponsored by governments, NGO’s, and ministry organizations carries into the words and work of these influencers. This is precisely why these leaders have been chosen to go on these trips.

Journalists, politicians, and high-octane business people have long been the recipients of all-expenses paid junkets. But more and more organizations are reaching out to Christian platform personalities including pastors, speakers, musicians, and bloggers. This isn’t a nefarious thing. But it comes with an additional measure of responsibility for the Christian teacher, pastor, speaker, or writer who accepts an invite to attend one of these all-expenses-paid trips. And it calls for a bit of discernment on the part of those of us in their audience to recognize what is driving these junkets. [Read more]