New Life Daily

Though it’s black and white in the scriptures, it wasn’t until recently that I became aware of a fascinating concept that has been fueling kingdom ministry from the earliest days: gospel patronage. Gospel patrons are individuals who invest in the people and projects that move the needle of God’s work here on earth.

We see great examples of this in the lives of many people named in the New Testament: Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Susanna all supported the ministry of Jesus through their financial contributions (Luke 8:1-3). Barnabas invested in the work of the early church through his sacrificial sale of land (Acts 4:36-37). Paul specifically mentions Phoebe as his patron (in addition to her support of others) (Romans 16:1-2). And reading between the lines, it’s likely that Theophilus (mentioned in Acts 1:1 and Luke 1:1-4) financially supported Luke’s writing of both the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts. Many of the early Christians gave of themselves to simultaneously follow God’s will for their own lives and support the work of God that we’re still talking about today. 

With unprecedented times of wealth and prosperity compared to those experienced in the early Church, opportunities for gospel patronage have been multiplied by an almost unfathomable factor as time has passed. I recently read a book I highly recommend about three gospel patrons who played behind-the-scenes roles in major movements of our faith. Henry Monmouth supported the work of William Tyndale as he illegally translated the Bible into English for the first time. Selina Hastings helped finance numerous preachers and missionaries, including partnering with George Whitefield, one of the primary voices responsible for the first Great Awakening in the American colonies of Great Britain. John Thornton invested in John Newton, most famous for his radical conversion, writing the hymn now known as Amazing Grace, and influencing a young William Wilberforce to stay in Parliament and fight for the abolition of the slave trade.

For every story we’ve heard, there are hundreds of stories we haven’t. And for every place that the gospel is being proclaimed in our county and around the world, there are countless gospel patrons being used by God to invest and witness their gifts grow and produce an eternal return on investment.

For more information about the idea of gospel patronage, I’d encourage you to check out gospelpatrons.org.

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Jake Harp

Jake is a native of Illinois where he first learned about ministry by watching his dad work in the church. He has earned degrees from Missouri Southern State University and Lincoln Christian University. Prior to starting at Venture during the summer of 2022, he served as a Small Groups Minister in Southwestern Missouri. While in Missouri, he and his wife began growing their family and moved to Hamilton County with three kids and one on the way. Jake also has a love for ax throwing which caused him to open up his own mobile ax-throwing business.