The Religious "Bait and Switch"!
If you’ve spent any time in church, you’ve probably heard it said that we are saved by grace. In fact, you’d be hard-pressed to find a Christian who says there’s any other way to receive salvation except through grace.
But there’s a problem.
Too often, the moment someone believes in Jesus as their personal Savior, the church pulls a classic bait and switch.
Picture this scene: The pastor has just delivered a powerful sermon. The organist begins playing Just as I Am, and you can sense God’s presence in the room, inviting the lost and broken to receive His free gift of forgiveness and grace.
Susie, overwhelmed by the love of Jesus, walks down the aisle, sincerely asking Him into her heart. The entire church rejoices, celebrating her newfound faith. She’s told that God loves her just as she is. Her face glows with relief and joy—she is finally free.
Fast forward one week…
Susie returns to church, eager to learn more about the Jesus who loves her so deeply. As she walks in, one of the “church mothers” gently pulls her aside. With a kind but firm tone, she tells Susie that her skirt is too tight and too short. “Now that you’re part of God’s family, He expects more from you,” she explains.
Embarrassed, Susie makes her way to the sanctuary, hoping to relive the joy she felt last week. But as the pastor preaches, she finds herself discouraged. The sermon outlines everything Christians must stop doing immediately, followed by a list of things they should start doing. She scribbles notes frantically, trying to keep up. Overwhelmed, she wonders if she can live up to these expectations.
After service, a few well-meaning churchgoers greet her warmly, thrilled that she has returned. They chat as they leave the building, but when Susie lights up a cigarette in the parking lot, their smiles fade.
“Susie! Your body is the temple of God! How could you defile it like that?”
Susie quickly drops the cigarette, snuffing it out with her new church shoes. She forces a smile, nods politely, and gets into her car.
The next Sunday, people notice that Susie isn’t in service. Someone tries calling her, but the call goes straight to voicemail. She never returns to church again.
Sadly, this scenario plays out far too often.
Grace is the unearned, undeserved favor of God, given freely through Jesus—the One who justifies those who have faith in Him (Romans 3:26). But many churches preach grace to bring people to Jesus, only to shift gears once they’ve arrived, placing them under the weight of rules, expectations, and performance-based Christianity.
There was nothing we could have done to earn salvation, so why do we think we must work to keep it? Ephesians 2:8-9 reminds us that our salvation comes from God alone: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast.”
It’s time for the church to stop the bait and switch. We must decide: Will we live under the burden of trying to earn God’s approval, or will we stand firmly in His grace?
What if we kept our eyes on Jesus instead of on behavior? What if we trusted the Holy Spirit to do the work of transformation? If we did, not only would Susie return to church, but she’d bring her entire neighborhood with her to hear the good news of the gospel.
