“What Does the Bible Have to Say About Being Born Again?”
John 3:1-21
There’s a lot of talk these days in the Christian community about being “born again.” Have you this heard this question: “Are you a born again?” For many if you can answer this question affirmatively, then you’re ok. You’re in.
Just where did this idea come from? For those of you who are older than myself, you may find it interesting to realize that the phrase “born again” was not invented by former president Jimmy Carter. It wasn’t coined by Ronald Reagan in order to get the votes of conservative Christians. And it doesn’t refer to a narrow type of fringe Christianity. It’s not loony, it’s dynamic. It’s not something bizarre for those dogmatic, crazy people in another church.
I don’t know about you but sometimes these people who claim to be “born again” I find to be some of the most hypocritical people around. I grew up in such a culture. I am troubled by the ability of “born-again” Christians to wear facades. I’ve seen it. They pretend that their lives are all together and often sit in judgment of those who don’t live up to their standards. They condemn those who don’t use their language or who don’t attend the right kind of church. And yet if you were to go into their homes you would discover extreme inconsistency. You would find that their personal lives don’t always match what they claim to believe. And so for many the term “born-again” has become something which is looked down upon to the point where I hear some people say things like, “I’m a Christian, but I’m not one of those born-again types.”
As we continue on in our journey of unwrapping Christianity today the question at hand is “What does the Bible have to say about being ‘born again’?” Where does this idea come from and what exactly does it mean?
Today’s scripture reading contains the text for this concept. While the idea of becoming a new creation is taught throughout the entire New Testament the terminology “born-again” is something I could only find in this one passage.
Here’s the story: Jesus has been approached by Nicodemus a member of the Grand Sanhedrin. Nicodemus was a religious man. We know this because the Grand Sanhedrin was the ruling council of the Pharisees, a group of Jews so zealous about their faith that they went the extra mile to make sure the law was obeyed. He approaches Jesus at night probably because he wanted to discuss some very heavy spiritual matters with Jesus and knew that during the day Jesus was constantly surrounded by crowds of ordinary people unable to engage in deep conversation. Nicodemus begins his conversation by recognizing that Jesus is a teacher sent from God because of the signs that he does. But if you’re following along in the conversation you’ll notice that something is missing entirely. Did you catch what it was? Look with me at verses 2 & 3…
It’s almost as if a verse is missing. Because Jesus answers a question that wasn’t even asked. Presumably the question is “How does one enter the Kingdom of heaven?” But it’s a question that had not yet arisen in the conversation. But Jesus, as if to cut straight to the heart of the matter, before Nicodemus has even asked a question, looks deep into Nicodemus and tells him this: No one can enter the kingdom of God without being born from above, or other translations say without being born again.
Billy Graham tells of a time early in his ministry when he arrived in a small town to preach at a meeting. He had arrived a little bit early to finish writing a letter for back home. As he finished the letter, he asked a young boy standing on the sidewalk of the location of the town post office. When the boy had given him the directions, Rev. Graham thanked him and said, “If you will come to the Baptist church this evening, you can hear me tell everyone how to get to heaven.” “I don’t think I will be there.” The little boy replied, “You don’t even know your way to the post office, let alone how to get to heaven.”
Three men died and were standing at the pearly gates. “What have you done to deserve Heaven?” asked Peter. The first man, a police officer, enforced the law and fought crime. Peter said, “OK, go on in.” The second was a very wealthy man who had given lots of money to charitable causes. “OK,” said Peter, “You can go on in too.” The third was a director of an HMO organization. He explained that he had helped save millions of dollars for health care and insurance companies. He had helped cut down on waste, fraud, and abuse in the system. Peter says to him, “OK come on in, but you can only stay for 3 days.”
Jokes abound about how a person gets into heaven. But according to this text there’s only way. The terminology that so many people are afraid of, being “born again”, according to the words of Jesus, is not something that’s an option for us. Rather, this is a necessity.
So what does it mean? I came across a humorous story that illustrates this concept of new birth well. An illiterate couple had just become Christians. They met with a group of other Christians who dressed alike. The men wore red shirts while engaged in a certain project, so the illiterate woman made one for her husband. He came home after the meeting, however, with a look of disappointment on his face because the others had a message printed on their shirts but he didn’t. His wife, undaunted by her inability to read, sewed three words on his shirt, which she copied from a sign in a store window across the street. He wore it to the next meeting and came home bubbling with joy. He said all of the men really liked the inscription because it so aptly described the wonderful change they had seen in his life. It turned out that his wife had written, "UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT."
You see when we become Christians our lives are under new management. That’s what this concept of being “born again” is all about. It’s not about turning over a new leaf in your life. It’s not about deciding to be a better person. If you think about it, you couldn’t have gotten much better than Nicodemus. He was the epitome of morality. No, being “born again” is a radical change that God brings about. It’s about a miraculous intervention from God where we die to our selves and are brought back to life as new people. It’s about having our hearts not just changed, but literally transplanted.
A person who has truly been born again is one who thinks differently, who acts differently and who goes in a different direction in life because they are living for a different purpose.
Frank Sinatra, a singer, from an era well before my time, sang a song in which he said “I did it my way.” I don’t about you, but when I do it “my way” I mess things up. What God is asking is that we start our lives over again by surrendering our lives to Jesus Christ and rather than doing things “our way” live “his way.”
Here’s what I want you to understand today. Some of you may have been in church for many, many years but may never have experienced what Jesus is talking about in this passage. The difference between a Christian and a person who’s truly been “born-again” (not in some fundamentalistic, legalistic way), but in a sincere life changing way is the difference that we see in John Wesley, the founder of Methodism before the day in May of 1738 when he said “My heart was strangely warmed.” John Wesley had grown up in a parsonage. His dad was a pastor. He was well educated in Christianity. He went to the right university. He was headed for the ministry. He even founded the “holy club” an organization dedicated to obeying the scripture and living it out. But something was missing in his life.
It’s the same story as that of Nicodemus. He was as moral as they came. He was on the governing board of his church. He had all the trappings of faith. But something was missing in his life.
In both of these cases the missing element was a life-changing personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus says, your faith has got to make you a new person. Maybe you’ve grown up in the church. You’ve got everything down pat. Maybe you were baptized here and even sit in a position of leadership but you know something is still missing. I hear people say to me so often, “I’m trying to become a better person.”
There’s a big difference between that type of faith and the type of faith Jesus says is necessary in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus says, you can’t fix your life, you’ve got to be born again. You’ve got to start over. You’ve got to give your life completely to God. Have you ever made that kind of decision?
Today if you’re here and you know that you want something more in life. You know that something is missing. You’ve tried to be religious. You’ve tried to be good but you just keep missing the mark than maybe it’s time to surrender your life and say, God give me a fresh start. Maybe it’s time to be born again in the Spirit of God and allow God to do a transforming work in your heart and in your life. Will you pray with me…
