“No one will make a good end to the life into which he is born unless he is born again before he ends it.” 

                                                                                             St. Augustine of Hippo 

One of the most misunderstood phrases in society today is “born again Christian.”  The term has been abused and misused far more than properly used.  Skeptics – from atheists to academics, movie stars to musicians – employ the term like scarlet letters to disparage anyone serious about following Jesus.

Even people within Christendom try to distance themselves from “those born again Christians,” as though such people are inferior believers who either lack intellectual capacity or possess an overabundance of spiritual zeal.  Some go as far as calling them emotionally unbalanced.

I would suggest that those within the Church and those outside its membership need to take a closer look at the real meaning of what I believe are three of the most misunderstood words in the English language.

In the name of full disclosure, I am a Christian, and I am born again.  But I don’t consider myself – or anyone – a born again Christian.

I realize that a bold statement like this invites mixed reactions.  Fundamentalists may want to roast me for heresy; cynics may want to toast me for incredulity.  I hope most will reserve judgment until I have to chance to explain my rather unconventional perspective.  So here goes.

When you open the Bible to the New Testament, you will find an interesting story in the third chapter of John’s gospel.  It’s an encounter Jesus Christ has with a man named Nicodemus, a member of the Jewish ruling council who strictly observed the written and traditional Jewish laws of his day.  Nicodemus was intrigued by the miracles Jesus performed and went to see Jesus one night (he obviously didn’t want to get in trouble with other Pharisees by being seen with Jesus in broad daylight).  He said to Jesus, “No one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.” To which Jesus replied, “No one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”

Now Jesus wasn’t saying that Nicodemus or anyone else had to go back into his mother’s womb for yet another natural, physical birth; he was referring to a supernatural, spiritual birth.  Jesus was making the point that all humans are spiritually dead and need an outside agent to make them spiritually alive (see Ephesians 2:1-10).  In simple terms, this process is a kind of exchange program.  By dying on the cross in our place, Jesus swapped his perfection for our imperfection.  He took the penalty for our sin and gave us his righteousness.  He died so we might come to life.

Becoming a true follower of Jesus, then, really is a new birth, so that the miracle of being born again is a radical, yet aptly true description of one’s passage from spiritual death to eternal life.

Others may be quick to challenge me to a debate on this, but I would argue that there is no such thing as a “born again Christian.”  If you are born again, then you are a Christian.  If you are a Christian, then you are born again.  As Jesus described it, you can’t possibly be one without the other.

Besides, from a purely grammatical point of view, it’s simply redundant and unnecessary to use the term “born again Christian.”  It’s much like calling someone a Hebrew Jew, a black Negro or a female woman.  Similarly, there really is no point in using the term “born again” as some type of descriptive adjective to precede the word “Christian.”  The truth of the matter is that there is only one, not several, type of Christian, and that person is born again.  Consequently, there is no such thing as a “non-born again Christian,” either.

If anything, using the term “born again” before “Christian” does more to confuse than clarify a person’s association or relationship to Jesus Christ.  Just ask anyone on the street their definition of a “born again Christian” and you are bound to get a wide range of stereotypic answers, most of which are profoundly wrong.

Sadly, a born again man or woman is not as easily detectible as one might think.  Even the most unsuspecting individuals can be born again.  Strange as it sounds, there are probably millions of people who are born again and don’t even know it because they have never defined themselves this way, either because of ignorance or false teaching.

Is this bad theology? No, it’s just good theory.  Throughout the world there are multitudes of true Christians who don’t consider themselves born again because of the false impression they may have developed or been taught about the term.  I’ve lost count of the numerous individuals – including close family members – I have spoken with who are real Christians but think that to be born again, one must totally lose their present identity in Christ, have some weird religious experience, leave their current church or join some strange cult.

After observing this phenomenon for years, I have concluded that it is highly possible for a person to have been born again in the spiritual sense which Jesus described to Nicodemus 2,000 years ago, without understanding or recognizing that they have, indeed, been born again.  These believers have been redeemed by virtue of their desire to take Jesus up on his offer to save them.  They have placed their faith in Christ alone.  Unfortunately, many churches around the world spend little time explaining to these faithful what has happened to them in their conversion.  The term “born again” rarely if ever comes up, even though this is exactly what has happened to them.  Ignorance of what the process is called doesn’t mean the process has never occurred.

I think it’s tragic that there has been a division within the Church because of this very misconception.  How silly it is for Christians, who the Apostle Paul calls “the body of Christ,” to presume that there are those in its midst who are “born again Christians” and those who are “non-born again Christians.”  People who claim to be born again are not to be set apart as a distinct sect within the Church universal.  Those who are born again are the Church; those who are not born again are not the Church.  The Bible implores all Christians to work for unity and oneness.  Maybe a better understanding of the term “born again” will help bring this to pass.

It’s really frustrating to see how this whole “born again Christian” terminology has been used of Satan to divide believers and scare unbelievers.  There is nothing to be ashamed of in being called a Christian.  The Apostle Peter tells us in 1 Peter 4:16 that “it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian.  Praise God for the privilege of being called by his name!”  Likewise, there is no shame in being called born again.  Anyone who has a problem with it needs to read John 3 again, where Jesus made it clear the first time.

So, the time has come for the Church and the world to correctly come to terms with “born again Christians.”  The sooner the better.