What Does God Expect From UsWhat Does God Expect From Us
BUMC Pathway
Wendell reflects on his journey from religious pressure and addiction toward a relational faith centred on grace. He talks about what God expects, seeing God as a loving parent, and learning to receive peace, joy, love and truth as free gifts.
25:19•12 Nov 2026
What Does God Expect From Us? Grace, Parties and a Relational Faith
Episode Overview
- Shift from working for God to living in response to God’s grace.
- Accept that if you’re not comfortable with grace, you’ll stay at odds with God.
- Begin to see God as a loving parent, especially if your earthly parent stories are painful.
- Take God’s gifts of peace, joy, love and truth seriously and receive them rather than trying to earn them.
- Stop turning faith into heavy labour; let God do the work while you show up as his child and enjoy being with him.
“If we're not good with grace, we'll always be crossways with God.”
How do people find strength in their journey to sobriety? This Pathway talk with Wendell zooms in on spiritual recovery and what God actually expects, especially for those bruised by religious pressure and addiction. You’ll hear Wendell openly share his own story of spiritual and emotional abuse, along with struggles around work, food, control, pornography, alcohol, rage, depression and panic, and how grace has shifted everything.
Instead of the old mindset of “get up and slave for God” and never be good enough, Wendell explains his shift from working for God to living in response to God. He keeps circling back to one simple but uncomfortable idea: "If we're not good with grace, we'll always be crossways with God." For anyone who grew up with harsh religion or difficult parents, that line hits hard.
He contrasts religious Christianity with relational Christianity and sketches out a kind of “recovered Christianity”: learning to be good with grace, celebrating God as a loving parent, taking God’s gifts seriously, and refusing to turn faith into a heavy, joyless project.
Through the story of the prodigal son, he highlights how grace can feel risky when you’ve learned to earn love or expect punishment, yet the father’s response is basically, "We’re having a party," not "Work harder." Wendell talks about receiving God’s peace, joy, love and truth as actual gifts rather than churchy slogans.
For him, the breakthrough was finally realising, deep down, "my heavenly father loves me," which then changed how he experiences joy and peace even when life still looks messy. He jokes that life with God is more like a family cookout than a grim performance review: God brings the meat, the games, the chairs; you might just bring the buns.
Anyone wrestling with toxic religion, shame or perfectionism will find this message a gentle invitation to relax into grace and ask: what if God mainly expects you to show up as his kid and enjoy the party?
Do you want to link to this podcast?
Get the buttons here!
More From This Show
The latest episodes from the same podcast.