The Faith Trap

Discerning Faith That Does Not Disappoint

I want to ask you a question right at the start: Are you outworking a faith that could lead you to disappointment?

The first thing to note is that there is a difference between belief and faith. Belief is acknowledging that something is true, but it doesn’t necessarily affect your life. It doesn’t necessarily manifest in a way that leads to anything being outworked. It’s just a belief.

Faith, however, is an invested reliance on something, for something. Does that make sense?

Let me give you an example. I believe in carrier bags. I believe the evidence is undeniable for the existence of carrier bags. But I do not put my faith in a carrier bag if I jump off a mountain and try to use it as a parachute to stop me from plummeting to my death. In fact, I barely put my faith in carrier bags to get my shopping from the supermarket to the car.

The point is this: I believe in carrier bags, but I don’t have faith in carrier bags as a parachute.

Many people believe in God. In fact, my view is that once the evidence is analyzed, the apologetics are checked and understood and all of that, the most logical explanation for what we see around us is the existence of God, and therefore belief in God. But James 2:19 says, “You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.” Even the demons believe. Belief in God is not faith in God.

Belief in God is not faith in God. Faith in God requires an invested reliance on Him for something. Namely, I have put my faith in Jesus for my salvation in the end times, because I believe that He is the Son of God who died on the cross for my sins and your sins, to take on the weight that I would otherwise have had to carry. And so I not only believe in God, I put my faith in Him for my salvation. Does that make sense? Are you with me this morning, church?

Many of us have this faith in God. It’s more than a simple belief. But I want to explore the nature of faith itself—our expectation of our faith. What sort of faith are you carrying?

Is it a faith that expects continuous, genuine change in you? Is it a faith that expects a quiet life if you just follow the rules? Or is it maybe a faith that expects God’s provision in exchange for, perhaps, following the rules?

I’ve had so many conversations with people carrying significant disappointment—people who are Christians or perhaps were Christians. Yes, obviously there’s disappointment with the church. We can all understand that, because the church is made up of people, broken people, and we’re all doing our best. There’s always going to be something that’s not right, and so people are always going to be disappointed with the church.

But the harder thing to understand is when people are disappointed with God. So the question is, could your faith be a faith that leads you to disappointment?

Let’s open the Scripture. We’re in John 21:15–19. You can find it on your phone or in your paper Bible. If you don’t have a Bible, you can get one at the back for free. I’ll read it for you:

“When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?’

‘Yes, Lord,’ he said, ‘you know that I love you.’

Jesus said, ‘Feed my lambs.’

Again Jesus said, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’

He answered, ‘Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.’

Jesus said, ‘Take care of my sheep.’

The third time he said to him, ‘Simon son of John, do you love me?’

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, ‘Do you love me?’ He said, ‘Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.’

Jesus said, ‘Feed my sheep.’”

It’s quite interesting to ask: Why is this conversation happening at all? Here’s the context. This is after the resurrection of Christ, but more significantly, it’s after a time you may know well. Just as Jesus was preparing to be crucified and was on trial in front of Pilate, Peter was there. Peter was asked if he knew Jesus, if he was with Jesus, and three times Peter denied that he even knew Him.

This was after the Last Supper, where Peter had said that he would never deny Christ. And yet he does—three times. Peter denies Jesus three times, he curses, he runs away.

And yet here he is, standing in front of Jesus again. We’re going to explore this Scripture—why this conversation is happening, and what it might mean for our faith.

The Illusion of Transactional Faith

I wonder if anyone here has ever used a vending machine. Fairly common, right? There’s one at our gym.

A few weeks ago, it wasn’t a good morning. I’d already started the day with an energy drink – which is not a good way to start a day, is it? But anyway, I went to the gym, I was so tired, and I needed this energy drink from the vending machine. So I put the coins in, pressed the buttons, and you couldn’t make this up: it didn’t come out.

So I’m shaking the vending machine – not in a particularly violent way that’s going to get me in trouble – but I’m like, “Come on, you’ve made a mistake!” I’m really quite cross with the vending machine. I’ve put my money in, I’ve pressed the buttons, I’ve done everything it seems I should do in order to get the energy drink. Amen? Can we agree? And yet it doesn’t come.

So I go to the desk and say, “Look, the vending machine has stolen my money. This is theft.” And she says, “Well, you know, it’s a separate contract. Nothing to do with us.” Great.

A lot of people treat God in this way. We pray, we serve, we tithe, we stay pure, we obey, we do everything that it seems we should do. We put the money in, we press the buttons, we wait. Then we get to this point where our expectation is not met, and we end up asking these questions:

“Why didn’t you heal her?”
“Why didn’t you save my marriage?”
“Why haven’t my children come back to the Lord yet?”
“Why didn’t you answer my prayer?”

What this describes is a transactional faith. A transactional faith says, “If I do my part, then God must do his.” It’s subtle, and it sounds kind of spiritual, but underneath it is an entitlement that the Scripture does not support.

In fact, Scripture gives us multiple examples of this kind of entitled response to faith. In John 11, after Lazarus has died, Martha meets Jesus and says, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Why does she say that? There is an expectation, an entitlement that Martha is holding. She’s done all the right things. She’s called upon Jesus.

In the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15, the older brother responds, “Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat.” In other words, “I’ve done this. Where’s my prize?”

The rich young ruler in Matthew 19 comes to Jesus asking how to be saved: “What good thing must I do?” Jesus lists the commandments, and the man replies, “All these I have kept.” “I’ve done everything. I’ve done the thing. Where is my prize?”

Some of us don’t actually want God. What we want is peace. We want provision. We want healing. We want comfort. We want blessing. We want success. We want a good family. We want a better life. And God is simply the means by which we think we can get those things.

That’s not worship. That’s using God.

The Faith Jesus Actually Offers

Can I challenge you this morning, church? I love a challenge. And as I’ve said, I’m not preaching for a bit, so I’m doing six weeks of bombshells.

If your love for God disappears when you don’t get what you want, perhaps you never loved God. Perhaps you loved what God could give you.

A transactional faith leads us to disappointment, because our expectations are guaranteed to not always be met. In fact, we know, don’t we, that Scripture reminds us time and time again that we will face many challenges in this world. You will face trials. James tells us, “Consider it pure joy when you face trials of many kinds.” Why? Because there’s a perseverance that’s built. There’s a longevity that comes from sustaining through trial. That’s where we can get joy from. But the trials are guaranteed. Things will not always go how we want, and God never says they will. Jesus doesn’t offer a vending-machine, transactional faith.

What He offers instead, in John 15, is this: “I am the vine, and you are the branches.” Notice what He doesn’t say. He doesn’t say, “I am the vending machine. I am the employer. I am the business partner. I am the contractor.” He says, “I am the vine; you are the branches.” This isn’t transactional; this is relational. This is the faith that Jesus offers.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me, and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me, you can do nothing.” This is a continued, relational connectedness that Jesus is offering—not a “put our money in and receive the miracle” kind of faith.

The Call to Mature, Enduring Faith

We’re on a faith journey, aren’t we? You’re on your faith journey, I’m on my faith journey. We’re on individual faith journeys, and yet we’re also on this together as a church.

Again this morning, I sense the Lord is challenging our faith as a church. Why? Because where He is leading us, what we are being called into—the ministry we are called to in our town, and perhaps beyond, and even this building that we are preparing and will move into at some point—requires a different kind of faith.

The kind of faith that is required for what God is calling us to is much stronger than a transactional faith. It is much stronger than a faith that disappears, or perhaps crumbles, when things don’t go the way we would like them to go. Amen?

It’s a bit of a challenge for us. Standing here speaking and leading, a big part of what I’m doing is encouraging our faith—encouraging us all. Encouraging us to be full of faith, to speak life and the light of Christ, to say, “Everything’s going to be awesome because of our faith and because of the journey we’re on.” And that would be great. But the reality is not that simple.

As we are on our journey and as we go about our mission, things are not always going to go as we expect. Where we are going in our ministry, it’s not going to be smooth sailing. It’s not going to be “lollipops and roses,” wherever that came from—prophetic maybe! It’s not going to be plain sailing.

So we need a faith that will sustain us through what is uncomfortable. Amen? A rock-solid faith that can carry us through those seasons.

Our faith starts—and many of us will know this—by acknowledging that Jesus Christ is Lord and putting our faith in Him for our salvation. That’s where faith begins, but it’s not the end of our faith journey. It’s the start. From there we work on and develop our faith over time, do we not? And Scripture encourages us to do this.

In Philippians 2:12, Paul writes: “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling.”

There is a responsibility that rests on us, as individuals, to continue to work at our faith, to continue to develop it. This is called discipleship. This is the journey we are on. It’s a lifelong pursuit, and we have to be intentional in it if we are to move beyond this transactional faith that we can so easily fall into.

From Transactional Prayers to Relational Faith

Can I challenge you this morning? Can I ask you a question?

Do you pray more when stuff is going wrong? I know I pray more when stuff is going wrong. My relationship with God can sometimes be like this—and maybe I’m speaking for you as well as for me. When there is an issue, when there is a challenge in my life that needs prayer, I get closer to God. I’m like, “Well, Lord, I really need you now, because I need this. I need this to happen. This is the desire of my heart.” And so I’m going to pray more than I was last week when this wasn’t even on my radar. Not only pray more, but I’m going to be with God more in my mind, in my thoughts, in my thought life.

I don’t want to bring a heavy conviction this morning, but it is something we need to be aware of, because this is a form of transactional faith, is it not? “I’m going to pray more now because I need something now.”

But we are on a lifelong pursuit to move from a transactional faith to a relational faith that is constant—where we are a branch that abides and remains in the vine, so that it produces fruit and growth and change in us.

We need to recognize that the goal of Christianity is not getting things from God, but God Himself. He is the goal. He is the treasure.

Psalm 63 says, “My soul thirsts for you.” I wonder how many of us can honestly say that. “My soul thirsts for you”—not your miracles, not your provision, not your healing power in my life, not your restoration, not anything that comes with you—but, “My soul thirsts for you, for God, for you.”

That’s a challenge, isn’t it? That’s a challenge, church.

Covenantal Grace Beyond Transactional Faith

Now I’m going to bring it back to John 21, where we started, with this conversation between Peter and Jesus. Because you might be thinking, “Dom, you read that Scripture and you didn’t really go anywhere with it.”

I am so thankful that our faith is not transactional. Our faith is relational.

In this conversation, remember that Peter has failed. He has failed completely. He made a promise to Jesus at the Last Supper: “I will never, ever, ever deny you.” And yet he does. He denies Jesus three times. He has completely failed.

Now, if faith is transactional—if it relies on our action and what we do—then in this moment Peter is out. He’s completely out of it. If it’s based on him, then Peter, who promised, “I will never deny you,” and then denied Jesus three times, has broken the contract. Peter owes a debt he cannot pay, and a transactional faith would disqualify Peter completely.

And again, this challenges me. Maybe it’s just me, church, but I’m challenged by this, because do I not do this every day in one way or another? If our relationship with God is transactional, who in this room has obeyed enough? Who in this room has prayed enough? Who in this room has loved enough? Who in this room has served enough, has been holy enough? Who wants to stand before God based on their performance?

This is why the gospel is good news: because it’s not transactional. It is covenantal. It is relational. It is relational.

If it were transactional, Peter wouldn’t be standing on the beach before Jesus, and neither would we. But by the grace of God. By the grace of God.

The Relational Nature of Christian Faith

Another thing I was challenged about this week—I’ll just share what I feel like the Lord shared with me—was this: I love and appreciate, and you and I benefit greatly from, the fact that our faith is relational. The fact that He extends grace and mercy to us when we don’t deserve it, and it’s not based on anything we do. Who’s glad about that?

But here’s the tension: who’s glad that faith is covenantal and relational when we want it to be, but then gets a bit crossed, or wishes it was transactional, when we need something?

“Lord, I’m glad it’s relational now, because I haven’t had much time to pray this week. I haven’t read my Bible in a few days and I’m struggling. But I’m glad I’m still saved, because it’s got nothing to do with me. Thank You, Lord.”

Then, “Lord, I’m going through a significant challenge right now, and I’m going to turn it up to full blast. I’m praying every day. We’re doing a whole prayer situation. We’re studying the Scriptures. I’ve got Logos open, it’s running 24/7 here. I’m engaged with You now, and I want more in this time because I’m giving more.”

I was challenged by that this week. Because the nature of our faith is consistent. It is always resilient, it is always relational, and it’s always based on this:

Jesus asked, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?”
Not, “Can you perform for Me? Can you impress Me? Can you make up for your failure? Can you pay Me back?”
No. “Do you love Me?”

Because relationship is the issue, and always has been.

And then our response to that question—“Do you love Me?”—is, “Yes, Lord.” And Jesus says, “Then feed My sheep.” There is fruit that comes from this. There is mission that comes from this. There is obedience that is required from this—but only after relationship.

Love first, fruit second.
Love first, fruit second.
Connection first, production second.

Relational Grace in the Life of the Church

Is it fair to say—perhaps not in this room—but that some people have been using God? Some people are angry with God because, in their perspective, He didn’t hold up His end of the deal. Some people are exhausted because they’re trying to earn something that cannot be earned.

And some of us need to realise something terrifying: if God related to us transactionally, we would all be out. Every single one of us. Peter would be out. I would be out. You would be out. We’d all be out. But praise God, the relationship is not contractual; it is relational.

Naomi, can you come? I’m going to spend some time in reflection.

I think we belong to Him, we remain in Him, and because we remain in Him, we bear fruit. John 21 demonstrates the responsive, relational nature of Jesus. And there’s a detail in that passage that I love. Maybe it’s not little—maybe it’s big—but it’s this: Jesus asks Peter three times, “Do you love Me? Do you love Me? Do you love Me?” One question for each time Peter denied Jesus.

I love that Jesus gives Peter the opportunity to be restored in this moment. He offers this undeserved path back into relationship with Him. Isn’t that incredible, Church? This is the basis of our faith.

We’re talking about a kind of faith that could lead to disappointment—a faith that expects things to be transactional: “If I do this, then God will do that.” We have to work a balance and walk a line here. What I’m not saying is that we should never pray, never ask, never petition the Lord because, if it doesn’t happen, we might be disappointed. That’s not what I’m saying.

We’ve got to walk this balance, haven’t we, Church? Scripture calls on us to call on the Lord, to bring our requests before Him, does it not? So we’re walking this balance as Christians, and this is where it’s tough. Can we name that it’s tough, Church?

We walk a line where we do pray, we do petition, we do bring things to the Lord and say, “Lord, would You have Your way in this situation? Lord, would You heal? Lord, would You restore? Lord, would You breathe life?” And we recognise that we’re in this position where sometimes He does, and sometimes He doesn’t.

That’s the hardest bit about our faith, don’t you think? Believing in God is easy—it’s the only real logical answer. But having a faith in God that is consistent and persistent through the challenges, through the struggles, through the situations and the circumstances—that is much harder, isn’t it? That is much harder.

A Pastoral Prayer for Genuine Faith

We’re going to pray, and I want to pray for those of us in this room who need to move this morning from a transactional faith to a real, relational faith.

A transactional faith says, “If I put in X, then God will output Y—and I’ll be disappointed if He doesn’t.” I want to pray for those of us who want to move from that kind of faith to a faith that abides in God, that abides in the vine in order to produce fruit. And what is that fruit? It’s change in us, growth in us, going from one degree of glory to the next, becoming more and more like Christ.

So I want to invite you to stand, if you’re able. Let’s stand.

I’m going to pray for those of us—and I believe that’s all of us—because at some point we’re all living out a transactional faith. We can slip into it, can’t we?

Lord, we thank you. We thank you that the Scriptures tell us that our faith and our relationship with you are not based on anything that we have done. It’s not based on our performance. It’s not based on our effort. It’s not based on how hard we pray. It’s not based on how much we serve. It’s not based on anything that we can bring, because if it is, we fail.

And so we thank you, Lord, that instead it is entirely based on what you have done. It is entirely based on your obedience to the cross. It is entirely based on your willingness to sacrifice yourself, to die at the hands of your creation, so that we, as those who acknowledge you as Lord and Savior, would be covered by your blood and would enjoy eternal life with you. That we would be spared from an eternity apart from you in hell, and instead enjoy eternal life in your presence. We thank you that that is the way you designed it to be.

But, Lord, we acknowledge that we are a people who sometimes drift into a transactional mindset when it comes to our faith. We are a people who sometimes drift into a way of thinking that says, “If I do this more, or if I pray harder in this area, then there will be an outcome that is based entirely on me.” And when that doesn’t happen, we become disappointed—at a minimum—and often angry.

Lord, would you help us to be a people who work out our salvation with fear and trembling, who continuously work on our faith and our relationship with you, through communion with you, to strengthen what we have with you, and to produce and bear much fruit?

Thank you, Lord.
Amen.

The Call to Saving Faith

I want to pray as well for a second group of people—those who want to put their faith in Jesus for the first time.

I think it’s fairly easy to believe in God. It’s just obvious. But faith in God for salvation is a different thing. It’s a deeper thing. And ultimately, it’s the one thing that is required to enjoy heaven. Amen?

The truth is that simply believing in God does not get you into heaven. Even the demons believe in God, and they’re not in heaven. So if there’s anyone in this place this morning who wants to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour, to put their faith in him for eternal salvation, acknowledging that he is the King of kings and the Lord of lords, that he is who he claims to be, I want to pray for you.

Lord, we thank you for salvation. We thank you for the cross and for what it means for us. Thank you that you died to take on the weight of our sin and shame. We commit our lives to you. We acknowledge afresh this morning that you are who you say you are, that you are King of kings and Lord of lords. And Lord, we put our trust, our faith in you for our salvation. We put our faith in your blood to wash us clean.

Thank you, Lord.

Amen. Amen.