Transactional faith

There are many people even in our time who follow the transactional model of faith. When I was a child, it was common for my grandparents' generation to make vows for various things. There was a practice of making vows for various things at that time, such as to ward off diseases, to get protection from snake bites, to pass exams - and so on. I think more than in western countries, generally in India the practices of other Religions have had greater influence on Christian faith life.

In all churches, there are several donation boxes or treasuries with the signage 'vowed offerings'. In some churches the signage may read "Offerings" and some churches where it will read "donations". They say that the income in the places where the signage is "Donations" is certainly lower than in the places where it is "Vowed offerings".

I have read that there were two temple treasuries in the Jerusalem temple. The practice of Judaism was also generally based on the transaction model. It was a required custom to give tithes to the temple. The offering of firstfruits was also a rule. In addition to that, the people made sacrifices of thanksgiving, sin offerings, peace offerings, etc. All these were the means how the Levi's priestly tribe, which had no right over the land, had to support itself. But all of that generally led to a kind of transactional relationship growing between them and their God. "I will make a sacrifice to you: you must give me this blessing"; "I will do this thing for you: you must perform this thing for me"; "I will go to such and such a Retreat center and do this and this: you must grant me this favor" is the kind of transactional relationship that many people still have with God.

Nowhere in the Gospels do we find anyone promising Jesus anything in exchange for any blessing. Zacchaeus' offering was a different case.

As I wrote yesterday in the context of "retribution theology", it is true that there are many passages in the Old Testament that seem to encourage such a "transactional faith" and relationship with God. However, from the perspective of the New Testament, God's Grace is free gift to all. Prayer certainly will bring us closer to God. Those who pray will receive the blessings they pray for in accordance with God's will. However, to think that if I pray fifty Rosaries, God will grant me what I ask for is a business relationship - and in itself foolishness. Humans cannot make a business deal with God. God is love. God who is Love is relational. It is also true that the deeper a person's relationship with God, the more effective his prayers will be. That's why intercessions by Saints are more powerful (James 5:16). However, we must not forget that even the prayer of Jesus, the Son of God, in the garden of Gethsemane, was not granted the way he prayed for.

There are those who take the exact opposite position to the above. For example, there are these who ask, "Why does God need money at all?" and refuse to make financial contributions to the Church. It's true that God only wants to have a mutual relationship with us. However, since the church is a social institution on this earth, the church needs financial contributions to maintain, grow and expand. It is the duty of the believers to make it happen. But that should never be considered a business deal with God!