Why do the
ramifications of being born again startle us?
When a child is born into a family, it is a complete revelation to the
home, a revolutionary break with the old structure and forms. Each child, even when added to large families
destroys absolutely the old family and restructures it into a new dynamic that
permanently ruptures all of the relationships built before. Abortion is the ultimate fear of the new
beginning. So to think that when one
becomes a Christian we are to be the same old person with a religious overcoat
thrown on top of us is ludicrous. We
mustn’t let the stored memories and genetic layering fool us into believing
that we are the same when Christ comes to us and makes us new. We are new and it is not temporary. We play mental games with ourselves thinking
the old behavior patterns that made up our days before will be able to continue
into our newness. The bitterest and
saddest and most disappointed people in the world are those Christians who try
to keep up the charade of living and doing as they did when there was no Holy
Spirit a part of them. The adultery and
corrupt business practices and snobbish indifference to grudges bottled within
are not just contemptible within the Christian community, they are a sign that
the believer has failed to acknowledge just how new he or she is. Perfect peace and sustained joy are given
over to us when we live freely in Christ and not when we remain bound in the
chains of our old way of being. Dogs
return to their vomit but Christians grow increasingly disgusted with the old
patterns of sin. We are born again that
we might become perfect and holy…it does not go another way than that. The sooner we accept our lovely fate, the
speedier will come our peaceful happiness.
Dogs gnaw on bones, bears hunt for berries, otters dart about in the
water, eagles build nests in the cliffs and each species holds true to itself
as the years pass. A Christian who
thinks like a prostitute, dreams like a miser, whines like a selfish prig and
is petulant like an unrestrained child is good for nothing. All the sweetness and courage and
steadfastness and contentment put in him by God is wasted by the believer who
will not walk in the Spirit and live by the Scriptures. You are made good by Christ that you might
live good; to do otherwise is like dropping diamonds down the drain.
He put a new song in my mouth… Psalm 40:3 NIV
