Life.Church with Craig Groeschel - When God Doesn’t Do It | Christian-ish | Part 4

Episode Date: January 26, 2025

Sometimes it’s easy to treat our faith like a transaction—doing our part and expecting God to do His. But trusting God means stepping into something much greater than a simple exchange.GET TO KNOW YOU—NEW!You get to hear our voices—now we want to hear yours! Check out this special survey for podcast listeners. It’ll allow us to get to know you better and hear how we can support you. Find the survey at: https://www.life.church/podcastconnectNEXT STEPSHave you made the decision to follow Jesus? You might be wondering what’s next for you. We want to help! Check out these resources to ​​discover what saying yes to Jesus means: https://www.life.church/yesABOUT THIS MESSAGEWe all have an idea of what it means to be “Christian.” But what does following Jesus really mean? How do we move past the label and truly live like followers of Christ? Let’s talk about it in our new series, Christian-ish.ABOUT LIFE.CHURCHWherever you are in life, you have a purpose. Life.Church wants to help you find your next step. Our hope is that your journey will include joining us at a Life.Church location throughout the United States or globally online at https://www.live.life.churchFind locations, videos, and more info about us at https://www.life.church or download the Life.Church app at https://www.life.church/appFIND US ON SOCIAL MEDIAFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/life.churchInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/life.churchTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lifechurchYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@life.churchCONNECT WITH PASTOR CRAIGYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/craiggroeschelFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/craiggroeschelInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/craiggroeschelTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@craiggroeschel#lifechurch #craiggroeschel #christianish Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

When I was a kid, I absolutely, for some odd reason, loved vending machines. Anybody else weird like me as a kid? I love vending machines or something about walking up to a vending machine when you had 35 cents in your pocket. Because back in the day, 35 cents would get you a long way. And I would stare at the vending machine looking at all of my options, strategizing. Which would be the wisest choice? to get the optimal enjoyment. And once I had my selection, I'd take a quarter and a dime or whatever it is.

I'd put it in the little slot, and then I would press the button. And how many of you know about the metal spiral? Anybody know what I'm talking about the metal spiral? A little metal spiral would start to spin, and it would push whatever it is, the bag of chips, the ding-dong, whatever it is, start pushing it forward, and ultimately it would drop within my grasp. I loved vending machines. just to drop a few brands.

And for the record, this is not a paid announcement. I'm not making any money off these promotions. But back in the day, we didn't drink Coke or Pepsi. It was orange-crush and mellow yellow. Anybody know what I'm talking about? On the candy machines, it was blow pops, jolly ranchers, or hubba-bubble gum for the glory of God. If you feel the spirit of God in this place, you can say amen.

Okay? And then with snacks back in the day, it was Zingers, Little Debbie Honey Buns, or Chili Cheese Fritos. It was good back in the day. I loved the vending machines until did this ever happen. You'd put your money in, you'd push the button. The spinner would start to spin. It would push your prize forward, and then it would get stuck at the end. Who knows what I'm talking about?

That's the worst thing ever. What would you do? It took your money. You're ripped off. You're zipped off. You're cheated. And so, what would you do? You shake it.

You might bang on it. You ask for your money back because you got ripped off. And the problem is, many of us treat God like a vending machine, don't we? We put in, not our 35 cents, but we put in our good behavior and our church attendance and our Bible reading. and our tithes. And then we press the prayer button, and we expect God to give us exactly what we ordered. Because after all, we're serving God so our loved ones should be healed. And we go to church at least three weekends a month, so we should pass the test whether we study or not. And we have a streak in the U-Versian Bible app, 11 days in a row. So we should go.

get the job, even though we may not be the most prepared for the job. But we have to understand that God isn't a vending machine. And our faith isn't a contract. And we may not recognize it or not, but I would suggest that a lot of us, without knowing it, we believe in what I'd call a cause and effect faith. We tend to think that, hey, if I do my part, then God has to do his part. And without knowing it, that turns our faith in God into a transaction with God. And if God doesn't do what we want him to do or give us what we want him to give us or answer our prayer in the way that we want, we often feel frustrated, we might feel hurt, and maybe even betrayed by God.

And so what I want to do today is I want to expose one of the most dangerous lies that keeps so many of us from real faith. Because unfortunately, we fall victim to a false faith that I call transactional faith. What is transactional faith? We tend to believe that God owes us. If I do my part, then God has to do his part. And this is, unfortunately, a very seductive lie

that distorts our understanding of faith. and I would suggest that this one lie may cause as many or more people to walk away from God, walk away from the church as most lies that we see today. And so what I want to do is I want to show you from God's word that true faith is relational, not transactional. True faith is about knowing and loving God for who he is, not just for what he does. true faith in God is not transactional. It is relational. It's about knowing God and trusting him for who he is and not just what he does. Today at all of our churches, would you pray with me?

Father, I ask, in the name of your risen son, Jesus, that your Holy Spirit would do a healing work today in the hearts of so many who would need it. And God, that you would draw us into a deeper, more intimate relationship with you, just because we love you, not because we want anything from you. God, draw us into an intimate relationship that we could know you and love you for who you are, God, not just what you do. We pray this in Jesus' name. And all God's people said, amen, online. You can type in the comment section, amen, if you want to. We are in a message series called Christianish. If you weren't here in previous weeks, what does it mean to be Christian-ish. We've been defining it. You know a lot of people like this. You may be like this.

I've been like this. Someone who is Christian-ish is a person that often has a half-hearted faith in Jesus. And they wear the label Christian. Obviously, I'm a Christian, without actually and truly following Jesus. And those of us that slip into a Christian-ish mindset, we often embrace a false faith that I'm going to call transactional faith. What does it mean to have a transactional faith? I'll give you a definition. Transactional faith is a distorted belief that turns our relationship with God into a contract,

believing that if we do our part, God is obligated to do his part. If any of you find yourself thinking, God didn't do what he was supposed to do. I mean, I did my part. and I read the Bible and I fasted and I stood on the scripture and I did everything just right and God didn't hold up to his part of the deal. If you ever feel like that, you're not alone. It actually brings me comfort to know there were several people in the Bible that fell victim to that same sort of thinking.

I'll show you five different examples from God's word. The first one we're going to see in Exodus chapter 16, verse three. When the Israelites followed God, believing that he was, is going to bless them in a massive way. And they said, well, God, we trusted you. Why are we struggling so much? God, you didn't do what we thought you were going to do. We see the same thing with Jonah in Jonah chapter four. Jonah was like, God, I obeyed you, at least kind of sort of mostly, partly, I obeyed you. And so God, why are you blessing them? You should be blessing me, not those evil people. We see the same thing with Martha, whenever her brother, Lazarus died. She said, Lord, Jesus, if you'd been here, my brother wouldn't have died.

We've served you. My brother served you. Why did you let this happen? This isn't what you were supposed to allow. We see the same thing with the older brother in the story of the prodigal son. How many of you remember the younger brother said, hey, dad, give me my share of the estate. And he went out and partied big time. Some of you were at the same party. He was at. And then he came home, and the father's like, I'm so glad you're home. Now, let's throw a big party for you at home, even though you squandered everything. And the older brother was, wait a minute. Wait a minute, father, that's not fair.

I did everything. Where's my party? This isn't what I expected. I've been living faithfully in this house. Why are you blessing him and not blessing me? Then there was the rich young ruler who said to Jesus, I kept all the rules. I've done everything just right.

Jesus, why isn't that enough? We had a deal. I made an agreement with you, God. And you didn't live up to your part of the deal. And I would suggest after 34 years of pastoring, and this is just an observation based on the people that I've worked with, I would suggest that most of us, we think, the more that we seek God,

and the more that we serve God, and the more that we're faithful to God, and the more that we obey him. Most of us, without really knowing it, we tend to expect a little preferential treatment. Like there's all those other people, they're not serving the way I am, so if I'm praying God, you should answer my prayer, not the person who skipped life group the last two times. and it's really subtle because the problem is it actually feels like faith, but it's really a dangerous lie because we start to believe that if we serve God faithfully, then he owes us. And the way it comes out a lot of times is it comes out like this. We think, okay, God, I've been doing a lot for you lately. I mean, I've been in the Word for a long time and I'm studying and I'm serving in

the life kids room. I mean, that's hard to serve in the two-year-old room. There's extra blessings for all of you who served in a two-year-old room. And I fasted early on in the year. And God, not only am I tithing, but I've given offerings. And I've been really faithfully praying. And I've been sharing my faith. And I've been keeping my eyes pure, God. I've been serving you.

And I know I'm not perfect, God, but I know that I really am trying to honor you with all that I have and all that I am. And so, God, why didn't you answer my prayer? and we start making our kind of arguments with God. God, I raised my kids in church, and now why are they walking away from you? God, I've been tithing faithfully for years, and I'm still living paycheck to paycheck.

God, I've been serving you. I've been living with sexual integrity. I've been pure. Why am I not married yet? When my wild friends all are getting married. God, aren't you going to live up to the deal? And we have to understand that true faith is relational, not transactional. It's about knowing and loving God for who he is and not just what he does.

Let's say that today at all of our churches together. Let's just say it out loud online. If you want to type it in the comment section, you're welcome to you. Let's just say it together. You're ready. What is it? True faith is what you say it. True faith is relational.

not transactional. It's about knowing and loving God for who he is, not just for what he does. And this is the prayer that I'd like for you to pray with me. You can leave your eyes open if you want to. That is biblical. Jesus said, watch and pray, especially if you're driving.

You should not close your eyes if you're driving, watch and pray, right? So this is the prayer I'd like you to pray. God help me to know you and love you. for who you are, not just for what you do. One more time, God help me to know you and love you. For who you are, not just for what you do. I want to pause and acknowledge that if you've been paying really careful attention in this message series, you may say, okay, Craig,

are you not contradicting yourself a little bit? because in week two, you talked about the covenantal nature of God. Do you remember that? We talked about a covenant. Who remembers that in every covenant, there is an unconditional promise from God, and there are conditional blessings. Remember that? There's the unconditional promise that God loves you no matter what,

that he sent his son, Jesus. That's an unconditional promise, and there are conditional blessings. So you may say, well, wait a minute, if God loves us no matter what, and then we do the right thing, and He blesses us, isn't that contractual? If we obey and God blesses our obedience, isn't that contractual and transactional? And I want to show you that is not contractual.

It's not transactional. It's actually covenantal and it's relational. And let me explain, because this is really important. Who remembers what a covenant is? A covenant is a divine agreement between God and us. And here's the deal. He initiates it. It's not our agreement. We don't make the deal. If I do this, God, then you have to help me pass this test. God initiates, and he is the one who initiates the covenant. And what is the difference between a covenant and a contract? Very, very important. I'll show you the difference. A contract is transactional, temporary, and enforceable by law. A covenant, on the other hand, is different, not transactional, temporary. and enforceable, but a covenant is relational, eternal, and sustained by love. And there's a big

difference. When you think about it, a contract is based on, kind of like we want to protect ourselves. It's almost based on mutual distrust. Like, I don't know you, you don't know me, so it's like a contract, so you have to do your part and I have to do my part. And this is what I've done for years on rental homes. I bought my first rental home back when I was 19. So if you can imagine for 38 years, we've had rental homes. I have a guy that manages them, and whenever he meets a potential tenant, he doesn't know them, they don't know him, so what do we do? We check things out, if they like it, if he likes them, we draw up a contract. Why? Because it's temporary, and it's transactional, and it's enforceable by law. We have to provide a nice clean home,

things have to work, you can't have pets, you have to put down the deposit, you have to pay on time. We don't know each other. It's based to protect you. It's to protect us. It's to protect us. and that is a contract. We have to do our part. The contract is transactional, not relational. Then one day, there was someone in our life group that fell on a world of trouble. Her life was falling apart. She didn't have any place to live. And I was talking to Amy. He said, hey, we actually have a vacant rental home. And so we said, hey, let's just put her in there. And so we said to her, you can stay there as long as you want. No charge is free. We're going to cover the bills. That was very, very different.

What was that? That was not transactional, that was relational. And this is how God is with us. God loves us with a relational, covenantal love that is not temporary. It's unconditional. And it is indescribably more beautiful and generous than me paying for someone's house. Is him sending his son to pay the price for the whores of our sin. mindfulness. And what's crazy about God is his covenantal relationship with us. It is not temporary. It is unconditional. Even if we don't live up to our end, God will live up to his end. Because scripture says this, if we are faithless, if we don't do our part, even if we're faithless, God remains faithful. Because he cannot disown himself. That's how good our God is. It's not contractual. It's

relational and covenantal. That's how good our God is. So we should love God, not just for what he does, but for who he is. It's never transactional. It's a love that is covenantal and relational. And I want to show you a very intimate glimpse into a relationship that David had with God. If you know David was described as a man after God's own heart, I want you to look at the relational language of this powerful text in Psalm 63. We look at it. Here's what he's going to say. He's going to say, God, you are my God.

Everybody said that with me. He's going to say, God, you are my God. And then what he's not going to say is earnestly, I seek your blessings. And earnestly, I seek your miracles. And earnestly, I seek your provision. He's not looking and seeking what God does. He's seeking God for who he is. And watch this, Psalm 63.

He says, you God are my God. Earnestly, I seek you. I thirst for you, God. My whole being longs for you. Because your love is better than life. God, my lips will glorify you. On my bed, I remember you. I sing in the shadow of your wings.

I cling to you. Your right hand upholds me. Man, that's intimate. That's way beyond friendship. I've got friends. Jerome is my friend. I promise you, I've never talked to Jerome like that. I never will.

I never said, dude, like earnestly, I seek you, Jerome. My soul thirst for you. Last night, bro, I was thinking about you. I was singing about your wings. I've never said that. And God is my witness I never, ever will. But this relationship with God is not transaction. It's not contractual.

It is relational. It's deeply intimate. So, how do we know if we actually have a transactional faith in God? How do we know if we're putting our expectations on him and maybe getting disappointed because he doesn't do what we want him to do? How do we know if we have a transactional faith with God? I'm going to show you three questions to ask. We'll leave them up there in case you want to get a picture of.

to pray about it with your life group or discuss. The first question is this. We're going to ask, do I follow God because of what he does for me or because of who he is? Do I follow him because what he does? Because I've seen a lot of people when he doesn't do what they want him to do, they say, God, I'm not following you anymore. Do I follow him for who he is or for what he does? Second question we're going to ask is, do I still trust God when he doesn't answer my prayer the way I want,

or do I feel betrayed? Do I still worship him and believe in his goodness when I've prayed and fasted and begged him and thought he would and he didn't? Or do I feel hurt and betrayed by God? Third question is this, do I serve God because I love him or because I'm hoping for something in return?

I'm going to leave those up there and let me just read through him again and you may just kind of think about what your answers would be to these questions. since you may want to talk about them in your life group. If you don't have a life group, I would suggest you get a group of people to pray together and strengthen one another spiritually. Do I follow God because of what he does for me

or because of who he is? Do I still trust God when he doesn't answer my prayer the way I want? Or do I feel betrayed? Do I serve God because I love him or because I'm hoping for something in return? Now, why am I preaching this series Christian-ish? And the reason is because I need it. The reason is sometimes I am Christian-ish, even now.

It's really easy for us as preachers to say, yeah, back in the day, you know, but I was growing up, I was Christian-ish. No, no, listen to me. I am that way now. On a good day, I love God very sincerely, genuinely. I want his glory, I want his will, and I've got no strings attached. In a good moment, I'm that way. But I've got a lot of moments that aren't good.

In a weak moment, I just want God to do what I want him to do. I want God to bless my kids. I want them to heal my daughters. I want them to make my life honestly. I want it to be comfortable and I want it to be easy. And here's what goes on in my mind. And I'm just going to be, I hope you can handle the uncertainty. filtered version.

Kind of sick today, so my guard's down a little bit. So I'm just going to say it like it is. Here's what I think. God, I do my best to serve you. I work really, really, really hard. God, I am faithful. I keep my life pure. I do your work.

I do your will. I preach as hard as I can. I study your word. I'm faithful in your word. And sometimes I feel like you let me down. 2020. My pastor. Nick Harris.

Great man of God. My hero, the one who took a risk on me, the one who taught me to preach, one of the greatest men I've ever known. Not perfect. Oh my gosh, she was not perfect. One of the greatest men I've ever known. Got COVID. And of course, if God's going to heal somebody, he's going to heal him, right? And so we prayed and we prayed and we prayed like crazy and God didn't heal him. And I thought to myself, after all, he did for you, God. And I prayed pretty hard. And then my daughters, still sick. And I'm like, going, I know you can.

And you haven't. I don't understand. I don't understand. God, don't you think you could do this for us? If you find yourself in a similar place, let's be honest about it. God, why haven't you answered my prayer? God, why don't I have a better job?

God, why haven't you fix my marriage? Why is my life still so hard? I want to say it very, very clearly and very, very lovingly. If you're doing God's will just to get God's stuff, you're missing God's heart. I want to say it again. I want to let it sink in. If you're doing God's will, just to get his blessings, just to get his stuff, you're missing his heart. Our God is not a tool we use.

He's a king that we worship. And this is what Jesus said. He said it in Matthew 633. He said, but seek first God's kingdom and his righteousness, and then everything else will be given to you as well. You seek first the kingdom of God. You seek first God. You seek first God.

You don't seek what he can do for you. You seek him. You don't seek his blessings. You seek his face. You don't seek an answer to. prayer, you seek his heart. You seek him first. Before anything else. Before you seek the approval of other people, you seek God. Before you seek the things of this world, you seek God. You seek God before you seek money. You seek God before you seek your own comfort. You seek God before you seek your own

will. You seek God. Earnestly, I long for you. My soul longs for you. I cry out to you, God. you are the objects of my affection. My lips will glorify you. God, I'm seeking you. Why? Because true faith is relational, not transactional. It's about loving God for who he is,

not just for what he does. So I'm going to pray, and then I'm going to let you pray, and we're going to pray together. But I'm just going to pray. I'm going to let you pray. And God, I am so sorry. God, I am so sorry for all the times when I've got strings attached to my relationship with you.

And God, would you forgive me when I have a transactional heart toward you? God, when I think that you owe me something, when you give me everything through Jesus, God, have mercy on me, a sinner. God, I want my heart to pursue you and you alone. God, would you forgive me for all the ways I try to use you to do for me what I think you should do for me. God, just forgive me, please. Purify my heart, God, cleanse my heart. That in every way I'd put you first and honor you always. If you want to even repent before God where you are, you can.

And if you're willing to pray this, you may just repeat after me. God help me to know you and love you for who you are, not just what you do. Again, from the heart, God help me to know you and love you for who you are, not just for what you do. As you continue in an attitude of prayer today, for those of you that are followers of Jesus, you may be a little Christian-ish, but you have been born into the kingdom of God. your sins have been forgiven. You've been baptized. You know that your name is written in the Lamb's Book of Life.

You're a Christian, but you've slipped into maybe some transactional faith with God, and you genuinely want to be closer. I'm going to ask you this week, just pray that prayer every day. God help me to know you to love you for who you are, not just what you do. Just pray that every single day, and I believe that God's going to open up his heart to you. You're going to know him more intimately. and you'll be to serve him more faithfully. No strings attached.

Today at all of our churches, those you say, yes, I genuinely am a follower of Jesus. And I want to be more relational, not transactional. I want to be closer and closer and closer to him. Would you lift up your hands right now? You can type in a comment section.

I want to be closer to him. And you can just pray that again. Just pray again. Just pray, Heavenly Father. Help me to know you and love you. for who you are, not just what you do. Holy Spirit, draw us, draw us so close to you. We pray that your word would reveal your heart.

God, that we would be intimately close to you, that you would guide our steps, direct our words, God. May every part of our life reflect your love, your goodness. God, forgive us. Forgive us for putting strings on our relationship. with you. And get mad, God, if you don't do what we think you should do. God, forgive us. Help us to know you relationally, intimately, so we can serve you faithfully. As you keep praying today at all of our churches, there are those of you that would say, just honestly, first group,

I said, hey, you really do know that you're a Christian. There are others of you that you don't, like you really don't. If we sit down and talked and I ask you, hey, are you certain like at the end of this life when it's over, because one day it will be over, are you certain? that you would go to heaven. And if you'd say, like, I really am not certain, but I'm talking directly to you. You don't know where you stand with God. Let me tell you about how good God is.

He is not transactional. This isn't a temporary relationship. He created a covenant with us. He sent his only son, Jesus. You talk about relational. The Lamb of God, Jesus, perfect in every way. Jesus died for the forgiveness. of our sins. It's relational. That's how much he loves you for God so loved the world,

that he sent his one and only son, Jesus. Jesus loves you that much. He died in your place on a cross and God raised him from the dead so that anyone who calls on his name would be saved and forgiven. This is what Jesus said. This is eternal life that you may know God, that you may know him. It's a relationship today. At all of our churches, if you say, I don't have. I don't have that. God wants you to have it. You're here and watching for a reason. His Holy Spirit is drawing you today at all of our churches, if you're not sure where you stand. We're going to step away from our sin. We're going to step toward him. When you call on the name of Jesus, he'll hear your prayer. He'll forgive all of your sins, and you'll be brand new today at all of our churches. You say,

that's me. I don't know where I stand, but by faith, I call on him. When you call on him, he makes you new. All of our churches, you say, that's my prayer. I need him. I need him. I don't know. I Him. By faith, I give my life to Him. That's your prayer today. Lift your hands high. Right now, all over the place, lift them up and say, yes, that's my prayer. Right back over there, praise God for you and over here as well. Others today saying, yes, Jesus, I surrender. Would you be the Lord of my life? God bless you here and up there. Come on church. Somebody give God some praise today. Praise God for you. Online. You can type in the comment section. I am surrendering my life to Jesus, just type that in the comment section at all of our churches. Would you just pray?

Nobody prays alone. Pray Heavenly Father. I give my life to you. Thank you for your love, for a relationship, for sending Jesus to die for me so I could know you. Jesus save me, forgive all of my sins. Fill me with your spirit so I could serve you faithfully. My life is not my own. I give it to you. Help me to know you and to love you for who you are, not just for what you do. Thank you for a new life.

You have all of mine. In Jesus' name I pray. Come on, church, because somebody give God some praise today. Welcome those morning to its family.