2 Corinthians 11:7
Did I commit a sin in humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached God’s gospel to you free of charge?
We are inherently skeptical of free things. The best way for a mall kiosk hair stylist to free up their day is to offer free haircuts and colorings. Free? Why? What's wrong with them? What colors are we talking about here? Are they weird haircuts?
When someone is going to great lengths to give something away for free our first reflex is often to wonder what the catch is. We wonder if it is either valueless, which is why they can afford to give it away or if it has a hidden value which the advertiser is wanting to conceal. The give away is either so worthless that the advertiser is convinced he will be better off without it or there is so much value in what they get in giving it away that the advertiser wants to convince you that you will be worse off without it. Either way, someone has to pay. And few people fail to count the costs when they are the one who is clearly absorbing one of the costs involved.
When someone hands you a free brochure or pamphlet, it is often akin to them saying, "Here, you throw this away." We don't pay special attention to it and don't lose sleep wondering where it is later that night.
Paul gave the Gospel to the Corinthians for free. He didn't charge them for it on the front end or expect reimbursement on the back end. In this section of his letter to them, he is wondering out loud if he did them a disservice in doing so. Were they mistreating the Gospel because it was free? Should he have made it more expensive? Should he have manufactured a catch in order to keep them? Of course, these questions are rhetorical in nature and there was no sin in his approach, but the snare of the Gospel for some is the fact that it is free (Romans 6:1)
Paul would rather deal with the problem of people taking it for granted than the problem of people taking it on payment installments due to its hefty price tag. The Gospel is free. Making it more expensive doesn't make it more glorious, but less. Its value is absorbed by the One who paid it all in order to give it all away. It is free to us because it cost Him everything. He paid the very last penny so that those caught by their accuser could go scot-free.
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