It’s gotten a bad rap lately.
Quid pro quo might be an a form of blackmail. I’ll withhold this thing you want – or need – unless you do as I wish. Often it’s not-so-subtle manipulation, Godfather-style. I did you a favor, now you owe me. Do that enough, strategically, and one can accumulate a great deal of power.
If we’re honest, though, we’re kind of wired for quid pro quo. If you do something nice for me, I want to return the gesture. It’s part of the glue that makes communities work.
It also makes Jesus impossible to understand. We have a hard time getting our heads around His freely offered, everything-for-nothing service. He gave all He had for us, but we can’t begin to balance the ledger. We have nothing He needs.
All we can do is the one thing He asked: love unconditionally. Service with no strings attached.
We can talk about that, but like I said – we’re kind of wired for quid pro quo. It’s honestly pretty hard to serve without wondering, just a bit, what’s in it for me.
Can I really give or serve without expecting something in return? What if I don’t get a t-shirt, or lunch, or a thank you card? What if I don’t have fun, or I get stuck with people I don’t like? What if they do it differently than I would?
If that happens, if there’s not some sort of satisfactory quid pro quo, will I decide it wasn’t worth it?
Jesus gave everything. And got nothing.
And offered us a life free of the burdens of keeping score and expecting quid pro quo.