One afternoon when I was a freshman in college, a young man toting a Bible and a handful of pamphlets approached me in front of my dorm. He adamantly wanted to know if I had been “born again” and accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior. I was 17 or 18, been a devout Roman Catholic all my life, been baptized, confirmed, and attended Catholic schools for 12 years and was now on a Catholic university campus. I thought his question was redundant.
“No one can see the Kingdom of God without being born from above…or enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit” Jesus said when the Pharisee Nicodemus came to see him one night. Nicodemus replied in confusion, “What are you talking about???” (John 3:1-17).
Nicodemus’ understanding was based on being a child of Abraham – i.e., being Jewish – and thus an automatic heir of God’s promised blessings. Jesus, though, said people must be born from above (or again), of water and spirit, to enter the Kingdom of God. Our full “self” includes our physical body and our spiritual being. Our spiritual being lets us be receptive to God’s Spirit abiding in us. Being “born again, from above” is about that spiritual self coming to life in God.
I used to think being “born again” was for people who had lost their faith or been caught up in “dissolute living;” they suddenly had an emotional “come to Jesus” experience that brought them back to faith, right living and the church. I had never experienced that, so I didn’t know how to answer my college visitor’s question. I tried to explain that I didn’t need to be “born again” because I’d been “born right” the first time baptized as an infant, confirmed, always been an avid churchgoer, etc. He finally quit arguing with me and left, and I felt like I’d won an argument.
Looking back, I realize I was in the dark like Nicodemus was. All I saw was my narrow conception of what being “born again” meant, and my self-righteous image as an inherently good Christian who didn’t need any “renewal” with the Holy Spirit. Ouch! I, too, should have gone to see Jesus and asked about being “born again;” I would have been stunned to learn it wasn’t just for those “other people.”
Experiencing God’s transformation of our hearts and knowing the power of God living in us – that is being “born again from above.” It doesn’t necessarily happen when we are baptized or automatically as a result of being in the Church all your life. It’s not a “once-and-done,” instant transformation. It’s more of a process – a lifelong adventure – which may or may not include those emotional, life changing, mountaintop experiences.
We need mature, healthy spiritual selves to understand that anyone who believes in Jesus will have eternal life, and that God so loves us that he sent his only Son into the world not to condemn us but to save us. We also need God’s Spirit in us to be loving, compassionate, forgiving, peaceful, honest, humble, kind, prayerful people, like Jesus. Living in the Spirit enables us to be joyful bearers of God’s love and peace in our broken world.
We all need to be born again from above every day and ask God to open the door to the Spirit in our hearts accordingly.
