The New Orleans Saints are Super Bowl Champs - and the toast of New Orleans. I remember when they were "toast" in New Orleans.
The Saints' fans suffered through some terrible losing seasons. It got so bad that fans came to games wearing paper bags over their heads and signs that said "Ain'ts." That's pretty bad. As a Giants fan who's been with them through some super bombs and Super Bowls, I'm happy for the New Orleans fans who stuck with them through thick and thin.
God sure knows about this "Saints" and "Ain'ts" thing. He's got countless people wearing the label "Christian" who are Sunday saints and Monday ain'ts. They go to His meetings, sing His songs, give in His offerings and officially believe His beliefs. But somehow there are whole chunks of their life that don't look much like Jesus.
Sometimes when I speak to young people, I bring a berry pie with me and cut it into six slices. I hold it up and spray a blob of whipped cream on one slice. Then I ask the audience how many slices of the pie will taste like whipped cream. Even the freshmen know - one slice.
That's how a lot of people approach being a Christian. They've got all these slices in their life: how they treat their family, how they run their business, what they do for entertainment, what they look at on TV or the Internet, their love life, and how they get their way.
Someone says, "How about having Jesus in your life?" They respond, "Sure. I've got an available slice here." So they set up a Jesus slice in their life. In that slice, they pray, read their Bible, do church, and some religious things. But the rest of their slices - their real life - don't have much of the flavor of Jesus at all. Sunday saints...Monday ain'ts.
Jesus has no interest in that kind of lame excuse for being His follower. He hits us between the eyes with this soul-piercing question: "Why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say?" (Luke 6:46). Belonging to Jesus isn't about adding a few spiritual activities to your schedule or words to your vocabulary. It's about a new Boss.
Back to the pie. I spray whipped cream in the middle, so it covers part of every slice. Now, how many slices will taste like whipped cream? Obviously, all of them. That's what "Lord" is all about. Not a compartment, but a love relationship with Jesus Christ that changes every relationship, every decision, every modus operandi of your life.
Nothing is more damaging to people without Jesus than a part-time Christian. The inconsistencies, the hypocrisy say to a person without Jesus, "There's no difference. Why should I believe in Him?" As one who claims His Name, you are, for the people who know you, either a reason to consider Jesus or a reason to walk away from Him - a reason for them to go to heaven or a reason for them to go to hell.
Some of God's "Sunday saints, Monday ain'ts" may have missed Jesus by 18 inches. That's the distance from your head to your heart. You can have lots of Christianity, but tragically miss Christ. That's why this challenge from the Bible is one every one of us take to heart: "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you - unless, of course, you fail the test?" (2 Corinthians 13:5).
There's all the difference in the world between a religion about Christ and a relationship with Christ - the difference between heaven and hell.