Saved by a Prayer

The Myth
When people become Christians, it usually starts with a prayer, known as "The Sinner's Prayer". The prayer essentially summarizes our need for forgiveness, our thankfulness to Jesus for paying for our sins when He died on the cross, and our new commitment to follow Him. Here's an example:

"God, I know that I have sinned against you and that my sins separate me from you. I am truly sorry. I now want to turn away from my sinful past and turn to you for forgiveness. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. Thank you for dying on the cross to pay for my sins. Please reign in my heart and make me your disciple from this day forward. My greatest purpose in life is to follow your example and do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen."

Many Christians treat this as an incantation, and believe that anyone who has said this prayer at any time is immediately "saved."

The Reality
I think (or hope) most Christians will claim to recognize that this prayer has no magical ability to send people to Heaven or make their life perfect, and in itself has no actual bearing on the rest of someone's life. We all know it's just a verbal expression of an inward transformation, right?
Unfortunately, a common problem we have is acknowledging things verbally, but not necessarily thinking it through. People do this when they act like the "The Sinner's Prayer" has so much meaning when spoken, but then don't concern themselves with making sure that the verbal commitment is fulfilled with a change in their lifestyle.
Following Christ is not just some one-time commitment that saves you: You don't just say the prayer, and then that's your ticket to Heaven. The word Christian means like Christ. In other words, being a Christian means a daily commitment to trying to be like Jesus; and that's a point I don't feel is made clear in many altar calls.
We're quick to emphasize the Romans 10:9 part of becoming a Christian, which talks about believing and confessing, but then act like no further action should be taken on our part. We've got the insurance plan and are good to go, and ignore the words of John and James that say our faith must result in righteousness.

Why It Matters
When we treat our covenant with God like it's a mystical password that gets us into heaven, then we are essentially rendering it meaningless. As anyone who has ever heard of a politician or made a New Year's resolution can tell you, the words you say hold only as much meaning as the commitment behind them.
If you promise your son that you'll take him to a movie this weekend, and Monday comes around and you failed to fulfill your promise, then it doesn't matter how sincere that promise felt: if you didn't keep the promise, it holds no value. Why should our commitment to God be viewed any differently?

As a side note...
The whole "repeat after me" thing has bothered me for a long time. I'm concerned that it puts too much emphasis on the words themselves, and not the heart behind them. Rather than repeating a prayer verbatim, I'd prefer to see the evangelist provide an outline of what God requires of us, and then exhort the new believers to pray to God in their own words, from their own hearts. But this is simply a matter of opinion, and in no way is meant to say that repeating after someone is an invalid form of prayer.

"It's Not a Religion; It's a Relationship!"

The Myth

Evangelical Christians are often quick to counter anyone who calls Christianity a "religion," sometimes even to the point of being offended! We will often respond with, "It's not a religion; it's a relationship!"

The Reality

This is something I used to say, but I've had to re-evaluate it. Obviously, there is a relationship, but I think a lot of people are being too cheesy when they talk about their relationship with God and try to make it sound exactly like a friendship with a human. In reality, the whole "it's a relationship not a religion" thing seems to just be a recent trendy Christian thing to say.
By definition, of COURSE Christianity is a religion: "the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, esp. a personal God or gods"
I think problems arise when we try to pretend that there's more to it than there actually is. Christians often treat things like there's some emotional experience we're supposed to get out of it. Take worship, for example: People say stuff like "worship was really good today" if they were particularly swayed with emotion or some experience, when ACTUAL worship is a lifestyle, not just a time set aside for music. ACTUAL worship is a sacrifice to God, and it's giving sincere praise and thanks to Him; it's not about how warm and toasty I feel.
That's not to say God doesn't give us special experiences or speak to us through emotions, but I think there's way too much focus on that going on. It's also not to say we shouldn't have time set aside to sing praise music to him; just that we should have an accurate understanding of what it is.
My idea of a relationship with God is pretty simple:
1. Try to obey Him and represent Him with my life
2. Talk to Him
3. Listen to what He says to me through His Word and through fellow disciples
4. If He leads me to do something special through His Spirit, try to listen and obey

Why It Matters
Ultimately, you could say that it's a matter of semantics... but I think it's a good idea to make sure we're applying accurate definitions for the words we use. We can have a relationship with the Almighty God! Let's make sure we're not trying to dumb Him down to our level, like he's just some buddy we pal around with.
I think it's also important to make sure we're being down-to-earth and honest when we talk about our relationship with God. No matter how fantastic a concept it might seem to you to have God be your best buddy, nobody is going to be impressed if they feel like you're being cheesy. I'm not saying don't call Jesus your friend, but we must recognize that it's an incomplete description.

Sure, Christianity is a relationship with God, but it is also, by definition, a religion. And that's okay, too.