John, a Manchester United fan finally succumbs to the persistent pleas of his friends who are all Manchester City fans and decides to join them. He gets rid of all his MU paraphernalia and symbols that showed he was part of the MU in-group and now adopts those of MC. His friends are elated and John himself is also elated receiving so much attention and affirmation now that he has become part of the MC fraternity. He enjoys a sense of ‘homecoming’ and a happy feeling of belonging. He quickly learns all the club songs and adopts the club culture and its mannerisms. Any thoughts of his former MU allegiance are quickly suppressed and all evidence is removed from his house. He is now a committed MC member and makes it a point to make it clear to everyone, in particular his friends.
Unfortunately many people tend to think that being-born again is a similar process. You leave the non-church in-group and join the church-in group and break with all that is part of your former life and try hard to fit in. The church in-group surrounds you with attention and affirmation and now considers you as one of them. All you need to do is mouth the right confession of faith and learn the church songs, adopt the church’s culture and all the mannerisms that come with it. In some churches adult baptism is a determining factor to show that you truly belong, in others it is speaking in tongues, in others it is displaying an excessive love for Israel and again in others it is something else. Now you are considered truly born-again, a new person in Christ…..but are you really?
Biblically speaking being born again refers to a deep inner transformation whereby our hearts are cleansed from selfish desires, sinful indulgence, bitterness, envy, mistrust, unforgiveness, suspicion, hatred and other evil things that come from within and undermine and defile our lives and our relationship with God and people. Being born again refers to a total inner transformation whereby our hearts are totally cleansed and Gods love is poured out within them so that we deeply learn to love God, ourselves and our fellow human beings. It is an inner spiritual renewal that results in our lives being characterized by love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. No longer do we adopt all kinds of laws, rules and regulations to keep us moral, because now the love of God in us becomes our moral compass. He has truly written His law into our hearts so that we do not even want to sin. Are we then also free from the sinful impulses in our body and mind? No, these will still seek to tempt us, but deep within our hearts is a love-powered impulse to do what is right in Gods eyes towards ourselves and towards other people. The love and joy, peace and strength this transformation brings far surpasses the initial but quickly fading elation of being initiated into a new in-group or the joy of belonging to a fraternity that does not bring true freedom but puts us under the law of constantly trying to perform to people’s expectations so that we may not be rejected. Being born of above gives us the power to even stand alone against the tide because we know ourselves deeply loved by God and in communion with Him. At the same time we greatly appreciate and value fellowship with those who with a similar transformed heart follow in the footsteps of Christ regardless of their church or other affiliations.
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten