![Wink ;)](./images/smilies/icon_wink.gif)
None of those things are necessarily bad in and of themselves. I preached "grace" but then I practiced "but." I couldn't trust to the grace of God in my own life or in the life of others. I had to "hedge things" so that people would do the right things and work to build the kingdom and the message changed from week to week depending upon what the ministry needed. People coming to Christ, then it was grace all the way. Tithes, volunteers, then grace would take on other things and the thing is that grace is grace and as soon as you add a "but" to it, it is no longer grace no matter how hard you try to torture logic to try and make it so.
It's more than semantics. It's really about what's at the core of our lives and walk with God. When we're resting in grace then we're dependent upon God and the irony is that we're then free to live in response to that grace and out of a healthy, vibrant walk then out of that rest and security come a desire and willingness to do the right things and it doesn't require fear, guilt or shame to motivate them (although they can be powerful short term motivators.) The problem with adding things to grace is that over time they begin to wear out in their effectiveness and then I have to up the ante or I have to come up with something else to make people want to do the things that I needed them to do.
It's a dance that's gone on for ages and still does. Human religion at its root, doesn't really understand or comprehend the grace of God as Christ came to procure it for us. We want to believe it really is too good to be true. Deep down, there's a part of us that want to believe we can manipulate and move God and that there's really something about us that God needs and we can bargain with him and exercise some form of control over Him. Grace lets go of all of that and enters into a realm of Love and response from that love that allows us to walk in a manner that is so much better.