transactions

I used to make the same mistake that Simon the Sorcerer made: I thought of my faith as transactional. Look at this from Acts 8:18-20: “When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money and said, ‘Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.’

“Peter answered: ‘May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!’”

Transactional faith is when I think I can get things from God by giving things to God, or doing things for him. Here are some ways I used to do that:

·       I thought my participation in worship, Bible Study and other church activities could offset some of my sins.

·       I thought, after sinning, that I had to do something good to prove to God that I was sorry before I dared to talk to him again.

·       I thought the amount of money I put in the plate could make me better than other church members.

·       I thought I could bind God by his own promises – you know, “Lord, you promised if I did X you bless that. Well, I did it. Where’s my blessing?”

·       I bargained with God in prayer. “Lord, if you just do this thing, I promise to do this other thing.”

It’s easy to make faith transactional because all of our other relationships are. All human relationships, even our closest ones, involve us doing certain things to win favor. But there isn’t a thing I can give God that he needs, or a thing I can do for him that will help him out. God is completely sufficient in and of himself.

But here’s the blessing: just like I can’t earn God’s love, or grace, or salvation, I can’t un-earn it either. None of that depends on my resume or record. It depends on God being true to his own character, and there isn’t a surer thing than that.

Transactional faith is attractive because I understand the rules of a transaction. But real faith is infinitely reassuring because its faith not in God’s greed, but in his love. And God is Love.