Confidence that transcends security and drives out all fear . . .
One of my first experiences of profound loss occurred when, as an eighth grader, a close friend of mine was killed in a car accident. Needing no further evidence that life is fragile and that time on earth can end immediately and without notice, two well-meaning men from a local church acted on what they likely deemed to be a tragically fateful opportunity to instruct me about “God’s plan of salvation” and the formula by which I could be saved. In order to be saved, I was told, I would need to be born again. In order to be born again, I needed to believe in Jesus. Completing the formula, my born-again status evidenced by my belief in Jesus offered the security of knowing that my sins are forgiven and that I would receive the gift of eternal life.
Far from discouraging the men from the church, my intransigence only seemed to strengthen their resolve. Each time I confessed that I honestly didn’t know if I believed in Jesus, they would leave me with additional literature about the plan of salvation and the promise of their return at a later date. It became evident as days turned into weeks that they had no plans of relenting until I confessed my belief in Jesus. I finally told them what I believed they wanted me to say – in part because I could see how much it meant to them, but also because I wanted it all to stop. Confident that their assignment had been completed, I never heard from them about the matter again.
One of the most familiar passage in the New Testament (John 3:16) is preceded by an exchange between Jesus and Nicodemus, a leader who was pious, disciplined, and devoted to his religious tradition. In an apparent effort to discern whether or not Jesus was who he seemed to be, Nicodemus cautiously approached the new charismatic itinerant teacher with a line of inquiry about what appeared to be his extra-ordinary capacity to perform “signs.” As Jesus often did, he framed the conversation and the questions being asked in terms of the kingdom of God. If Nicodemus was to see and enter the kingdom of God, he would have to be born again [from above].
Unfortunately, over time John 3:1-16 has often been reduced to a formula for “salvation.” In order to received eternal life, according to the formula, one must be born again, and one is born again when one believes in Jesus. The evangelistic impulse, then, is to get as many people as possible to confess that they believe in Jesus and thereby “win souls for the kingdom.” But is that how we are to understand what Jesus was communicating as we listen in on the conversation with Nicodemus? It is important to ask some additional questions of the text before we rush to reduce it to a formula for the salvation of souls.
First, what is the kingdom of God? In order to answer that question, we must ask how Jesus understood the kingdom of God. Jesus spoke of the kingdom of God as already present on earth but not yet fulfilled. He spoke of the kingdom of God as arriving when debts are cancelled, when the oppressed are set free, when broken hearts are healed, and when neighbors, strangers, and even enemies are loved. The eternal kingdom of God is present in history when God’s will is operative on earth as it is in heaven. “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” is what Jesus taught his disciples to pray.
Next, what does it mean to be born again? Or, as the NRSV translates the same account, what does it mean to be born from above? The clearest and most direct response to that question can be found in 1 John 4:7b-8, “. . . everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
To believe in Jesus is much more than a formula. To believe in Jesus is to act on what he taught and to live in the way that he lived. In so doing we become like the Son of God – we become the sons and daughters we were created to be. As we align our mission with God’s mission revealed in Jesus (your will be done on earth as it is in heaven) we receive eternal life here and now, and we are thereby being saved from lesser pursuits that are not life-giving. In this way, our faith transcends mere belief. Being transformed into our true identity and perfecting the life-fulfilling way of love, we grow in the “confidence” (con – with, fide – faith) born of experience that “drives out all fear” and transcends our need for security.
Is it possible that if we have reduced salvation to formulaic statements about Jesus rather than becoming like him, we may need to be born again, again?
“We have this confidence . . . because in this world we are like him . . . and perfect love drives out all fear” – John 4:17-18