Grace vs. Transactional Faith

The one who said, “I will give you the kingdoms of the world if you bow down and worship me,” wasn’t Jesus.

It was Satan.

And yet, how many of us today walk into a place of worship with that very expectation?

We step into churches hoping that our prayers, our offerings, our ritualistic actions might buy us something.

A job.

A healing.

A relationship.

A financial breakthrough.

But Jesus never made those deals.

He never said, “Bring me an offering and I’ll give you whatever you want.”

He said, “Take up your cross and follow me.” (Luke 9:23)

The Disease of a Bargaining Faith

We are the ones who are sick.

Sick with a consumer faith.

Sick with a heart that loves things more than the One who created all things.

We’ve invented a religion that suits our desires, not one that bows before a holy God.

A religion that says:

• “If I give, God gives back”

• “If I serve, I will be rewarded”

• “If I follow the rules, He’ll bless me”

And when that promotion comes or that new car appears in the driveway, we stand up and give testimony:

"I followed the formula. God rewarded me."

But what about the widow who gave all she had? What about the believer who dies in prison?

What about the child in poverty who prays daily and yet still sleeps hungry?

Is their faith invalid?

If our theology only works in wealthy nations, it is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

It is a business deal disguised in spirituality.

A Religion of Competition

We’ve created a competition of fools.

Fools fighting over the garbage of this world — the temporary, the fading, the rusting.

As James reminds us: “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God?” (James 4:4)

We call it a “blessing” when it fills our wallet.

We call it “faith” when we’re just panicking for comfort.

We call it “worship” when it’s just a trade.

And we call it “God” when it’s a version of ourselves we’ve made in our own image.

But the real God is still out there.

With the Broken, the Poor, the Forgotten

He is with the broken-hearted (Psalm 34:18).

He walks with the tired, the overworked, the abandoned.

He dwells not in gold-plated cathedrals but in the heart that knows it has nothing to offer.

This is why religion hates grace.

Because grace doesn’t charge.

It doesn’t negotiate.

It doesn’t manipulate.

Grace is freely given.

It silences the proud and lifts the humble.

It offends those who think they earned God’s favorand it welcomes those who know they never could.

The Kingdom That Blooms Through Asphalt

The Kingdom of God is not transactional.

It is transformational.

It grows not in the halls of prosperity but in the soil of surrender.

It looks like a flower breaking through asphalt — soft, beautiful, and wildly unexpected.

We are not called to buy blessings.

We are called to be crucified with Christ, that we might live by faith in the Son of God, who loved us and gave Himself for us (Galatians 2:20).

If we want Jesus only for what He can give us, we don’t really want Jesus.

Because Jesus is not a vending machine of miracles.

He is the Lamb of God.

The Bread of Life.

The Risen Savior.

And the King who offers grace to those who have nothing to give but everything to receive.