When Practice Becomes Pressure: Recovering Grace in a “Try Harder” Culture

In churches today, there’s a growing appeal to “put your faith into practice”—to live out the Christian life with intentionality, discipline, and passion. While this sounds biblical on the surface, sermons that emphasize practice, effort, and direction often drift subtly—and dangerously—into performance-driven Christianity. Without anchoring in the full counsel of the gospel, well-meaning messages can inadvertently burden believers with a behavior-based faith, diluting the sufficiency of Christ with a self-help gospel dressed in Christian terms.

A recent sermon based on Philippians 4:9 aimed to inspire believers to live intentionally, to grow in godly character, and to “practice” their faith. It offered categories of spiritual life, diagrams of progress, and admonitions against stagnation. But as sincere as the message may have been, it leaned heavily on human effort, over-simplified spiritual growth, relied on proof-texting, and painted sanctification as something we achieve through practice rather than something God accomplishes through grace. Let’s explore these dangers more closely—and then reorient the conversation back to the gospel.

1. Effort-Based Theology: When ‘Practice’ Overshadows Grace

Christian growth is not a result of our striving alone. The sermon offered multiple exhortations like, “Plan it, and then, practice it,” and “Make every effort,” highlighting verbs of human responsibility. While Scripture does call for active participation in sanctification (Philippians 2:12–13), the sermon largely bypassed how God works in us by His Spirit.

Instead of anchoring the message in the finished work of Christ, the cross was strangely absent. The danger here is moralism: turning the Christian life into a relentless task list where the believer becomes the primary agent of transformation. Sanctification, in this view, is charted like a GPS journey: “Move from B to C, from C to D.” But we are not upgraded versions of ourselves climbing a staircase to spiritual excellence. We are dead in sin apart from Christ (Ephesians 2:1), and any progress in holiness is fruit born of the Spirit, not of human willpower (Galatians 5:22–23).

2. Behaviorism in Disguise: Do More, Be Better

The repeated emphasis on habits—daily Bible reading, small group accountability, “what are you practicing?”—sounded spiritual, but risked reducing faith to behavioral conditioning. The sermon even borrowed neurological language: “Neurons that fire together wire together.” True, human patterns matter. But discipleship is not brain-training or habit-stacking; it’s heart transformation.

The Christian life isn’t about sin management or emotional regulation. It’s about abiding in Christ (John 15), and our behaviors flow out of who we are in Him, not the other way around. If the focus shifts too far onto “practice,” the root of Christian identity—union with Christ—is obscured.

3. Proof-Texting Without Context: A Dangerous Shortcut

The sermon cited dozens of verses from various books—Colossians, Romans, Acts, 1 John, 2 Peter, Hebrews, Ezra, Psalms—all strung together to reinforce one idea: that practice leads to godliness. But context matters deeply.

For example, 1 John 3’s statements about those who “practice sin” being “of the devil” (1 John 3:8) are not a call to self-improvement but a warning about habitual rebellion. Quoting this verse in a motivational context subtly shifts the focus from Christ’s righteousness imputed to us by faith (Romans 5:1) to our ability to behave well enough to prove we are children of God.

Biblical application must be driven by context. When verses are selectively used to back a motivational message, the gospel is not applied—it's manipulated.

4. Over-Simplification of Complex Struggles

“Are you anxious? Just practice peace. Are you bitter? Just stop ruminating. Addicted? Just take the next step.” These were paraphrased sentiments in the sermon. While the intent may be to bring hope and forward momentum, this tone risks dismissing the complexity of mental health, trauma, and sin struggles.

Pastoral care requires nuance, not clichés. “Just practice better habits” may help some, but for many, it oversimplifies long-term bondage, ignores physiological or psychological dimensions, and implies that God’s power hinges on our initiative. We are not sanctified by strategy—we are sanctified by truth (John 17:17), and truth must be applied with compassion and depth.

5. Performance-Driven Messaging: The Burden of “More”

Finally, the overall tone conveyed a low-grade guilt: If you’re not progressing, you’re not trying hard enough. If your habits aren’t changing, your faith must be lacking. This performance-driven spirituality may stir short-term resolve, but over time it leads to exhaustion or despair.

The gospel doesn’t say, “Perform to become accepted.” It says, “You are accepted in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6), and from that assurance, we are free to obey—not to earn God’s love, but because we already have it. That distinction is everything.

A Better Word: Gospel-Driven Practice

We do practice as Christians—but not to become accepted. We practice because we are already secure in Christ. We fight sin not to earn God’s approval, but because we’ve been set free. We grow in grace because we are united to the Vine, not to produce fruit on our own.

Our efforts matter—but only as response, never as foundation.

So yes, pursue holiness. Build habits. But don’t confuse the path with the power. The gospel is not “try harder.” It’s “It is finished.”

Let’s preach that.

Rooted in Jesus Grace,

Mara Wellspring