BORN-AGAINISM!

Being a reflection on John 3

Today I want to address the issue of ‘born-againism’.[Give people pieces of a jigsaw puzzle] then ask them - have they got the whole picture? No. Not at all. So it is with this scriptural passage - being born again is one metaphor among many to describe the experience of coming into relationship with God - of having one’s perspective changed. It is one metaphor among many and it is not the ONLY one.

Nowadays the phrase ‘born-again’ carries political overtones of which I’m not all that fond. It is only in this last century that ‘born-againism’ has come into such common usage. Nowadays politicians and sports people and news presenters speak of being ‘born-again’, meaning that they are very good at their job, or are a ‘natural’ or have returned to a previous role with gusto. In some countries no president or leader could get elected to office unless he secured the votes of the moral majority or the religious right wing - the ‘born-again’ voters. In some countries they are the single most powerful lobby group. 

We have sports figures who speak of being born again, sadly ones such as Hansie Cronja, a few years ago, who admitted taking bribes in order to throw cricket games. Business people speak of being born-again as a way of saying they’ve had a fresh start into a new enterprise. Judy Bailey, the old news presenter talked of being a born-again child sponsor for ‘World Vision’. So with all this in mind I’m beginning to think that being ‘born-again’ as a metaphor has reached its ‘use by date’; it’s had better days. What alternatives are there for speaking of a living, vital, ongoing relationship with God? 

There are lots, and lots and lots! Being ‘born-again’ does not have a monopoly. Having a relationship with God cannot be reduced down to one single metaphor, or the four spiritual laws. What an impoverished gospel we would have if that were the case! 

John chapters 3 & 4 describe 3 different kinds of people: Nicodemus, an educated Jewish man; a woman of Samaria - ie a half-caste Jew, who had lived with 5 different men; and a male, probably Gentile bureaucrat. Each of them expressed faith in Christ in different ways. Today’s scripture reading concentrates on Nicodemus.

Let’s look at it in context. In the original text there were no chapters and verses; it all ran together, so John 2: 23-25 says [quote] then it immediately brings on Nicodemus. He speaks to Jesus of the signs and miracles being obvious evidence of God’s presence. It’s not a bad confession of faith. But Jesus astonishes Nicodemus by challenging him to look past miracles and evidence and to listen to the message that Jesus is bringing. What is that message? It is that being born of the Spirit, being born-again, being born from above- it’s the same word - is not about a mystical level of miraculous experience - it’s about our corporate living out the life of God in the world. It’s a change of thinking. Jesus is not trying to compete for adoration in the market place of miracle workers but seeking to establish a relationship of love and community. Being ‘born-again’ in this biblical context is a corporate responsibility - not the highly individualistic, card-carrying, right of entry which it has become in the 20th/21st century western world. 

In our passage, written originally in Greek, there is a play on double meaning, so typical of John’s gospel. The word which follows ‘born’ in 3:3, anothen, can mean either ‘again’ or ‘from above’. Poor Nicodemus is pictured as hearing only the meaning, ‘again’ (3:4). The sense, ‘from above’, misses him completely - and that is the problem. Nicodemus serves as a stereotype of people who remain stuck with one level of thinking and can’t see beyond it. 

Some Christians even think that the ‘born-again’ perspective is unique to Christianity. Not so. 

‘Repentance makes man a new creature; hitherto dead through sin, he is fashioned afresh’. Judaism. Midrash 

‘He from whom the pupil gathers the knowledge of his religious duties is called the teacher. Him he should never offend. For he causes the pupil to be born a second time by imparting to him sacred learning. The second birth is the best; the father and the mother produce the body only.’ Hinduism. Apastamba Dharma Sutra 1.1 

In the two other cases in the next chapter does Jesus challenge them to be ‘born-again’? No! He speaks to the Samaritan woman as if she is already a believer. He doesn’t even tell her to repent! He speaks to her of God seeking worshippers who will worship in spirit and truth. Does he tell the Gentile official to be ‘born-again’? No. Does he even demand that he be converted to Judaism? No. What does Jesus demand of him? Nothing. He instead gives the man a sign and the man believes. 

Three totally different ways of coming to faith in Christ. Which way did you come? By the ‘born-again’ route - by being challenged to live out the life of God in the world? Or by being accepted by God exactly as you are - just as the Samaritan woman? Or by being given the grace to believe as the Gentile official was? - unreservedly and undeservedly. 

And that’s not the end of the good news! Throughout scripture there are at least 10 different metaphors or pictures to explain the coming into relationship with God; being ‘born-again’ is one and only one of them.The grace of God has ensured that whatever the human condition there is a way for you to come into relationship with God - to see things from a different perspective. That indeed is the Good News!