Dear Family,
I am supposed to post this by Friday, and normally i do, but this week has been an exception to the rule. If you need to know why, i invite you to call me, email me, or even better have coffee with me, and i will explain the beauty that has been my week. Needless to say, at times like this, even the blog, which i enjoy so much, gets put back on the to do when i have time list. Now is the time.
If you read the Johannine text, you would glean that Jesus is trying to help Nicodemus understand the need for one to be born again, and we would come to the conclusion that the message and the blog would and should be about salvation. But not this time.
But what does it mean to be a born again Christian?
This phrase, "I am a born again Christian" has tremendous popularity, and it should. It is, afterall, biblical. But what it means and the weight it carries perhaps doesn't always translate as well. Many times, and i add my name to this list, born again Christians feel like the judgement line for all those who fail to 'meet' our 'standards.' And i wonder if being critical judges honors Jesus?
IF we claim to be born again, do we live like it? Or do we live like some other theology?
Last night Kendra and i saw the movie "New Years Eve," and i highly recommend it. We laughed. We teared up. And yes, i even wept a little bit. Why? Because at the end of the movie, the plot, the thesis, the purpose of the movie is revealed: to teach the audience the power of love. Love has the power to forgive and heal. Love has the power to restore and reunite. And love has the power to hope in the midst of deep sadness and despair. As i experienced this truth, through the movie, it struck me that the church, which should be the greatest example of love, hope, joy, and peace, often feels contrarian to this message.
And i had to weep that Hollywood gets it, and the Church of Jesus Christ seems to miss it.
So how can we be born again, if our message, our lives, and our language fail to honor the author of unlimited love? Perhaps it is time for the church to reclaim its mission to be the great ambassador of love, of hope, of joy, and of peace, because it seems the world wants all of these things, and the church has had them now for two thousand years.
Its time to let them go and let them guide our way, then we can claim to be born again. Amen.
Shalom,
jerry
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