There are numerous Christian forums, websites and blogs, not to mention books and commentaries that give "chapter and verse" for their definition of the term "born again." My purpose here has been more of a conversation that I might have with a fellow worker or someone that I might meet in everyday life. As I have mentioned before, the media's knowledge of the Christian faith is limited. Consequently, it first went to Billy Graham for interviews, in the 80s it turned to Pat Roberston and Jerry Fallwell, in the 90s it included liberal (sometimes feminist) theologians from Ivy League schools and in this decade is relying on the popular author Rick Warren.
Charles Colsen's 1975 book Born Again and Jimmy Carter's candidacy for President brought the term to the forefront. Certainly, many professing Christians claim to be "born again" and they are not; others have been "born again" and have not, as of yet, considered the terminology although they have felt the impact. I was a "liberal" (old school) and became a conservative Republican in 1982. Correctly or not, I saw things differently. My name is written on a Republican roll somewhere, but not a thing happened to my person. There was just a change in my thinking. Bolsheviks were shot in the streets in their revolution, John Brown was hung for his acting upon his beliefs, Buddhists in Vietnam dowsed themselves with gasoline and set themselves on fire. Neither Communism, Abolitionism or Buddhism altered anything in these people but their thinking and their actions. Now when they died, they indeed were changed. The fundamental status of their being changed. To the Christian, their soul departed from their body. To the atheist, their existence ended, a change either way. So where does "born again" fit into this? Is it a change like my becoming a Republican, or another becoming a Communist and dying in a guerrilla war somewhere? Or is it altogether different?
I came into the Christian faith from outside evangelicalism. The term "born again" was easy to ascribe to. In my new and immature faith, I grabbed the baton of salvation from a deserved punishment and ran as fast as I could. I immediately saw concepts that I was previously oblivious to. Still, there is a resemblance here to merely changing political persuasions, to thinking differently. The question is, is my name "really" written in a book that is kept by Almighty God? Was I "really" at one moment condemned and at the next, forgiven? Did I, at one moment, have no brothers and sisters and in the next moment have many? Had I "really" been "ripped" out of something and "grafted" into another? Compared to these concepts, my turning from liberal to conservative is no greater than taking one hat off and putting another one on. It is only logic that I am addressing here.
If you are a Christian, do you easily and gladly acknowledge that there is nothing, not even death, as great a concept as having been "born again?" My doctrinal belief leads me to return every day to "make sure" of my salvation, to see it again in its greatness, to acknowledge my trust and thankfulness again, and to draw upon the strength of its promise again. The non-believing world sees "born again" as a religious commitment, a new way of thinking (which it is!), a different hat. We know it as living death, to being "born again" to life. If a professing Christian cannot see the immensity in the concept of salvation then it should be investigated right away for a determination.
Charles Colsen's 1975 book Born Again and Jimmy Carter's candidacy for President brought the term to the forefront. Certainly, many professing Christians claim to be "born again" and they are not; others have been "born again" and have not, as of yet, considered the terminology although they have felt the impact. I was a "liberal" (old school) and became a conservative Republican in 1982. Correctly or not, I saw things differently. My name is written on a Republican roll somewhere, but not a thing happened to my person. There was just a change in my thinking. Bolsheviks were shot in the streets in their revolution, John Brown was hung for his acting upon his beliefs, Buddhists in Vietnam dowsed themselves with gasoline and set themselves on fire. Neither Communism, Abolitionism or Buddhism altered anything in these people but their thinking and their actions. Now when they died, they indeed were changed. The fundamental status of their being changed. To the Christian, their soul departed from their body. To the atheist, their existence ended, a change either way. So where does "born again" fit into this? Is it a change like my becoming a Republican, or another becoming a Communist and dying in a guerrilla war somewhere? Or is it altogether different?
I came into the Christian faith from outside evangelicalism. The term "born again" was easy to ascribe to. In my new and immature faith, I grabbed the baton of salvation from a deserved punishment and ran as fast as I could. I immediately saw concepts that I was previously oblivious to. Still, there is a resemblance here to merely changing political persuasions, to thinking differently. The question is, is my name "really" written in a book that is kept by Almighty God? Was I "really" at one moment condemned and at the next, forgiven? Did I, at one moment, have no brothers and sisters and in the next moment have many? Had I "really" been "ripped" out of something and "grafted" into another? Compared to these concepts, my turning from liberal to conservative is no greater than taking one hat off and putting another one on. It is only logic that I am addressing here.
If you are a Christian, do you easily and gladly acknowledge that there is nothing, not even death, as great a concept as having been "born again?" My doctrinal belief leads me to return every day to "make sure" of my salvation, to see it again in its greatness, to acknowledge my trust and thankfulness again, and to draw upon the strength of its promise again. The non-believing world sees "born again" as a religious commitment, a new way of thinking (which it is!), a different hat. We know it as living death, to being "born again" to life. If a professing Christian cannot see the immensity in the concept of salvation then it should be investigated right away for a determination.
