3 Approaches to God

There are 3 basic approaches to God, which all look "religious" from the outside:

1. performative – what must I do (perform) to get God to accept me? (e.g. If I do enough, surely he will let me in...). This type of behavior is duty driven; there's no limit to what God can ask, but all my "religion" is really just a means to an end (blessing).
2. transactional – what's in it for me? (e.g. If God asks X of me, then surely he owes me Y in exchange... and if Y's not worth it, why should I do X? Or if there is no Y, then he can't be asking X). This type of behavior is calculating; my "religion" has all sorts of limits on what God can ask of me (the payoff has to be sufficient).
3. receptive – I just want whatever God gives (e.g. because what I really want is God). And what Jesus is driving at (to Nicodemus in John 3) is "So you ought to want me, because I am what the Father has given..." This type of religion still involves doing – because whatever Jesus wants, I want that too! – but the behavior comes from a completely different orientation of the heart. There is no limit to what God (or Jesus) can ask. He himself is the blessing and the payoff.