I agree with your overall point. I do think it nonsensical to invite God somewhere he already is--like the phrase, “Wow. God just showed up!” Really? In all fairness, that’s really just an idiom used to convey the idea that something amazing just happened in a spiritual context--does anyone think this is literally true when they say it? Probably not.

However, it seems you are speaking to a couple of “brands” of Christianity rather than Christianity as a whole. It sounds more like a critique of Calvinist-Reformed Christianity (with a good dose of Evangelicalism--which, admittedly has a lot of Reformed folks in it).

I think you’d agree there are a lot more Christian traditions than just the Reformed-Evangelical branches.

But here’s a statement that I think you oversimplify and misrepresent:

"You can’t say 'Salvation is by grace alone — that means there is nothing we can do to earn it,' AND still maintain that there are certain things we must DO to receive salvation, like pray certain prayers, or perform specific rituals."

If I give you a gift--free with no strings attached-- and you refuse to open it, refuse to accept it, perhaps even send it back, then have you truly received it? Does it mean an undeserved gift has not been given?

Does opening the gift mean you have earned it? (Opening is an action--something one does).

Does accepting something somehow earn anything?

If someone opens a cell door to free me, can I refuse to leave and walk into freedom? In order to have freedom, I actually have to walk out of the cell door--that’s something I do. Does that action earn anything?

If I were guilty of a crime and the magistrate told me he was not going to imprison me, but would grant me my freedom if I would just own up and confess my crime. (Let’s say the crime was egregious--like murder or felony theft). Would confessing somehow earn anything? You might claim it is, but there is nothing inherently meritorious about confession or admission.

We are conflating acceptance with earning.

Nothing wrong with a bit of hyperbole, though.

However, your last six paragraphs are pure gold. As I said in the beginning--I agree with your overall point.

Thank you for the article!