Christ for real

This is an excerpt from Christ For Real by Charles W. Price.
          If you would stretch your imagination, suppose I wanted to travel from London to New York by air, but after consulting a travel agent I become unhappy with the information given me. The cost is too great, and the weight allowance too small. However, I really do want what the airline is offering so I decide I will have it on my own terms. Imagine that I then go to London airport, write out a ticket myself on a piece of paper the same size as a genuine ticket, being careful to include all the detail you would find on the real thing. I then take my place in the line and with a warm smile on my face hand the ticket to the man at the check-in desk. He would probably look at it, look at me, look at it again, and then hand it back saying, "I am sorry, but you cannot travel with that." "Why not?" I protest. "It says 'London to New York,' it has the name of your airline on the top, it has the correct flight number and departure time written on it, and the correct price written on the bottom right hand side." "I am very sorry," he might say. "The information may be correct, but the ticket is not valid and you cannot travel." Imagine I then write across the back of the ticket in bright red felt pen that this particular airline is the greatest. The agent would probably smile, say, "Thank you—not many people say that. But you still cannot travel." Suppose I take the ticket back and this time I put it to music and sing it to him. Then I teach him some new songs: "Amazing plane, how sweet the sound, that carries a wretch like me. I once was walking, but now I'm flying, was at home but now I am free!" I then invite him to join in and we sing it as a round, I start off and he joins in halfway through and we really have a good sing-along. At the end of the song he will probably turn to me and say, "Thank you so much for coming and cheering me up. I haven't had such a good sing for quite a while. But I am sorry, you cannot travel. Here is your ticket, would you please now go away!" Why would I not be eligible for travel? Is it because my ticket says the wrong things? No, it may say the right things. Is it because I express the wrong sentiments? No, they might be very impressed with my praise of the airline. Is it because I sing the wrong songs? No, they might like my songs and even ask to use them in their television commercials. There is only one reason why I cannot travel, and it is a very simple one. My ticket is issued by the wrong authority. The only ticket that is valid is the one issued by the airline in response to the right conditions being met, and anything short of that is invalid. 
People can express all the right sentiments about Jesus Christ, sing the right songs, go to the right church, and use the right vocabulary, but unless they are living on God's terms, where He has issued the "ticket" and the right conditions have been met, they will have a Christianity that just won't work. They will discover that when they want to "fly," the ticket will bounce at the check-in desk. There will be no power in their lives, no consciousness of God, the Bible will remain dry, prayer will be a chore, and no one will ever see a living God being active in their lives. The terms of Christian living are not up for debate or for negotiation. I live the Christian life on God's terms, or I do not live it at all. Therefore our business is to find out God's conditions and be very careful to meet them.
There you have it.