A Born Again Christian

Now there was a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. He came to Jesus at night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God, for no one can do these signs that you are doing unless God is with him." Jesus answered and said to him, "Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above." Nicodemus said to him, "How can a person once grown old be born again? Surely he cannot reenter his mother's womb and be born again, can he? Jesus answered, "Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit. Do not be amazed that I told you, 'You must be born from above.' The wind blows where it wills, and you can hear the sound it makes, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes; so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." Nicodemus answered and said to him, "How can this happen?" Jesus answered and said to him, "You are the teacher of Israel and you do not understand this? Amen, amen, I say to you, we speak of what we know and we testify to what we have seen, but you people do not accept our testimony.*

Nicodemus; a judge, teacher, master of the Mosaic Law and man of great stature went to Jesus one night for that dialogue. He chose night time because he did not want to be seen and embarrassed asking questions to the son of a carpenter.

Jesus knew that Nicodemus was not an ordinary man and so He gave a not so ordinary answer. Jesus understood that the unassuming teacher did not mean physical rebirth and thus He answers:

"Amen, amen, I say to you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit. What is born of flesh is flesh and what is born of spirit is spirit.”

Sometimes when I meet some so-called Born Again Christians, they asked me if I am born again. “Sure, I am!” I said. Then they are interested to know if I do Catholic practices like confessing my sins to a priest, praying the rosary, etc. A little bit irritated sometimes, I say that I am a Catholic and of course, I do.

Well, I don’t want to engage in useless debates but is to be “born again” means demonizing my Catholic faith by saying that its teachings are false? That I have to tear apart my rosary and vandalize my religious icons? That my baptism was invalid and that their baptism if I join them is valid?

Jesus is clear that no one can enter into the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.

I was baptized and I received the sacrament of confirmation. Do my born again Christian friends say that my baptism and confirmation were invalid?

What we Catholics must be born again of should be along the lines of revisiting and accepting Church doctrines, dogmas, practices, and theology. Just like an infant possessing no knowledge, we must be born again to learn and accept what the Church says in totality. We must not choose what we want to follow and leave what we don’t want to appease our fancies. They call that “cafeteria Catholicism”.

Baptism finally is not enough for one’s salvation. A baptized is also tasked to proclaim and live the Good News, i.e. to evangelize as reflected in their daily lives to start with.

A truly born again Christian does not sow confusion if not falsity on the true meaning of to be born again as explained by Christ.

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*Text taken from:

http://www.usccb.org/nab/bible/john/john3.htm#v16