Born Again: The Dramatic Conversion

Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”

John 3:3

There is no equivocation by Jesus on this matter of new birth. But some Christians suffer a deep misunderstanding of what it actually means to be born again.

A Christian friend argued vehemently that he was not born again, though he was equally vociferous that he had received Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior. How could that be? Actually, it cannot be. Christ left no margin for dispute: “‘I tell you the truth, no man can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit’” (John 3:5-6).

The main point of confusion boils down to the issue of the dramatic conversion. The greatest stories of men receiving Christ are often the most dramatic ones. The appearance of Jesus in blinding light terrified Saul during his dramatic conversion on the Damascus road. Martin Luther, a brilliant young sixteenth-century legal mind, dodged a lightning bolt, committed his life to the ministry, and fathered the Protestant Reformation.

The misunderstanding arises from putting an equal sign between dramatic conversion and born again. They are different issues. Whether we are born again and how we are born again stand as entirely different matters. It is possible for a person to think he is not born again because he has not had the dramatic experience, yet actually be born again. It is equally true a person may have some sort of dramatic experience but not be born again. The reality and the perception may differ.

Cultural Expectations

Our Christian culture places a premium on the dramatic conversion. We tend to equate new birth with the dramatic conversion, even though they are different. The plain fact is that the dramatic conversion is a cultural expectation while being born again is a spiritual surrender to the kingdom of God.

When someone lacks the dramatic conversion, and he has mistakenly thought that dramatic conversion was the condition precedent to being born again, he naturally objects. But this objection is more a cultural protest than a spiritual one. It is a reaction to the emphasis on dramatic conversion.

Osmosis in the Christian Home

Many Christians were raised in the kind of Christian home in which they can never remember not being a Christian. Theirs has been an almost imperceptible conversion that comes by being immersed in a Christian environment. It’s the kind of conversion that slowly absorbs into the heart, soul, and mind, rather than by one giant, dramatic leap out of a pagan lifestyle.

Those who grow up Christian certainly must make their own independent profession of faith in Christ—but when they do, they will see no blinding light. They have already been walking in the light.

The pagan sees blinding light because he walks from total darkness into light. A pagan’s conversion is like a flash bulb unexpectedly going off in his eyes. But the one who grew up Christian merely walks from the well-lit anteroom into an even brighter dining room, where he sups with the Savior personally.

Both the dramatic conversion and the conversion by osmosis have their unmistakable moment of surrender. But the believer converted by osmosis over a long period probably cannot identify that unmistakable moment. It doesn’t matter. Both are born again.

Some think that unless there is drama there is no new birth. The issue is not drama, but personal faith. “‘The Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life’” (John 3:14-15). Everyone who truly and earnestly repents of his sins and receives Christ the Savior by faith is born again.

Because my friend doesn’t think he is born again doesn’t mean he is not. Rather, it means two things. First, he has had no dramatic conversion to which he can point (the cultural expectation). And second, he is uneducated to the fact that a dramatic conversion is unnecessary.

Have you struggled with the term born again? If you have received Christ, dramatically or not, you are born again. It is the condition precedent to “see the kingdom of God” (v. 3).

Have you denied the authenticity of someone’s faith because he cannot point to his unmistakable moment—to a dramatic conversion? Have you denied your own new birth because you have been taunted? The issue is not drama, but personal faith. Do not place a cultural expectation upon people which Jesus does not require.

I SURRENDER

Lord Jesus, I have been mistaken in my understanding of what it means to be born again. Thank You that I am born again. Help me to be more sensitive to the faith of others. Amen.

If you are not born again, and would like to be, express your desire to Christ something like this: Lord Jesus, I have reached my own unmistakable moment. I thank You for dying for my sins. I confess my sins to You, and ask You to forgive me. Take control of my life, sup with me, and make me into the kind of person You want me to be. Amen.