What Does It Mean To Be Born Again?
This text is a favorite in Evangelical/Fundamentalist Circles. It is often used to “prove” why Christianity (particularly a narrow interpretation of Christianity) is the only “correct” religion. In many (but not all) Evangelical/Fundamentalist Circles, the idea of being “born again” in practice, often looks like adhering to a specific code of behavior, beliefs, and dress.
For instance, I remember, as a child, going to McDonald’s with my friends from church. While we were there, we saw a former member of our church with her small children. We’ll call this member Janice. Many of my church friends viewed Janice with disgust. Janice was wearing blue jeans, a t-shirt, makeup, and hoop earrings.
Now here is something important to note about my childhood congregation: we had a strict dress code. Women had to have long hair and wear skirts below their knees, and jewelry and makeup were to be at a minimum. Men had to have short hair, wear pants, and no makeup and only a few pieces of jewelry were acceptable for men to wear.
I don’t remember why Janice had left our congregation. But at one point she had been a fairly active member, bringing her small children to our 2-3 multi-hour church services and volunteering to sing, preach, and lead scripture.
I still kept in brief contact with her on social media (I think it was myspace and facebook at that time), and I saw that she after she left our congregation, she attended a local nondenominational congregation. Theologically, there was significant overlap between our small Pentecostal church and her larger, nondenominational one. But because she didn’t look exactly like us and had left our congregation, some of my friends pointed out that she looked “sad” and they said, “that’s what happens when you walk away from God.”
Even then, that comment shocked me. I knew theologically she still believed everything we did, the only difference was she could now wear jeans, wear hoop hearings, and use as much make-up as she wanted. Yet because she didn’t dress exactly like we did and because she looked “too worldly” her salvation was circumspect.
We thought, “oh she left God, of course, she’s miserable.” Of course, none of us offered to watch her young children and help her get food. And none of us, including me, went up to her to greet her. We dismissed her because according to our narrow theology, being “born again” and “being saved” meant looking, behaving, and believing exactly what we did.
Similarly, even in Evangelical/Fundamentalist circles that are a bit more relaxed in terms of dress code: the underlying interpretation of this verse is similar: to be born again means to accept point blank the worldview of Evangelical/Fundamentalist Christianity: from believing the Bible is the inerrant word of God, to condemning everyone who doesn’t agree with us to hell, to rejecting Evolution, and supporting whatever political candidate they endorse.
This passage has been used to further an “us vs them” mentality and ironically, instead of undermining “worldly” values, this interpretation often reinforces it. (Don’t get me wrong, Mainline Churches also foster an “us vs them” mentality but they don’t always justify it with Scripture nor acknowledge what they are doing in the first place. That in many ways, maybe worst. But I’ll save that for a future discussion.)
Dominant society thrives on forcing everyone into certain categories-those who don’t fit-are at best ridiculed and at worst denied rights and killed. The idea that in order to be “born again” one needs to without question accept a theological and political checklist, is simply reinforcing the idea that the only people that matter, are those that fit into our categories and boxes,
But the message of liberation that Jesus preaches in the gospel is one that rejects the categories placed on us by dominant society. Jesus frequently catches his disciples, his followers, and the religious and political leaders of his time off guard, by completely disregarding their categories of who is worthy of attention and care and who is not.
Jesus advocated for the poor and marginalized, the very ones in society who at best were ignored and at worst were harassed and excluded from social and religious life. Jesus hung out with tax collectors, who served as one of the faces of Roman occupation and who actively exploited and harmed others. Yes, Jesus called tax collectors to change and his message challenged them to end their exploitation, but he still had dinner with them. He raised both his friend Lazarus from the dead and the servant of a Roman soldier.
Jesus rejects all of our categories of worthy and unworthy, good and bad, us and them. And while he had no qualms about calling out oppressive behavior, he often invites those acting in those ways to change, to follow God, to do right.
In a similar way, what if being born again or born from above, is less about accepting a list of theological and political creeds, and more about rejecting the categories that dominant society seeks to place us and others in? What if being born from above/being born again means rejecting the idea that only those of a certain economic class, gender identity, sexual orientation, religious identity, or race/ethnicity, are worthy to be treated with kindness and dignity?
What would it look like to be born again? For someone who is wealthy, it may look like getting rid of one’s wealth and rejecting any measure of gaining wealth that relies on economic exploitation. For those in power, it may look like relinquishing power and uplifting voices that are often ignored and silenced. For those part of historically marginalized groups, being born again/from above means rejecting society’s notions that we’re worthless, and embracing our identity as children of God.
Image: Brown background. Newspaper scrap underneath a white sheet. Text: what if being born again or born from above, is less about accepting a list of theological and political creeds, and more about rejecting the categories that dominant society seeks to place us and others in?
Note: Please consider sharing this substack with people you think may enjoy my writing on theology and social justice!