A Notable Time When Politics and Faith Intersected

This being another Presidential election year, it seems appropriate to consider something that happened nearly 50 years ago. A new term burst upon the American psyche: “born again.” This came about during the 1976 Presidential campaign when surprise candidate Jimmy Carter declared during numerous interviews that he was a “born-again Christian.”

 

That comment, among others, ignited a media frenzy as political reporters and commentators scrambled for a better handle on the then-Georgia governor seeking the nation’s highest office. Other Presidents and candidates had been known for their religious affiliations, but perhaps never as publicly and boldly as Carter. Meanwhile, the term “born again” soon took on a life of its own.

 

Many people lacked understanding of the phrase or where it had originated, but that didn’t stop marketers from latching onto it for promoting their products, using it as a label for anything innovative. Suddenly we were hearing and reading about ‘born-again cars,’ ‘born-again businesses,’ ‘born-again strategies,’ even ‘born-again churches.’ A vital biblical term turned into an overused cliché devoid of its essential meaning. 

 

Thankfully, hucksterism hasn’t diminished even slightly the spiritual significance of being born again. We first encounter it in the Scriptures when Jesus Christ was approached by a Pharisee named Nicodemus, a prominent member of the Jewish ruling council. Nicodemus desired to get acquainted with this individual he’d heard so much about but wasn’t inclined to do so openly. So, he had requested a private meeting at night.

 

In the biblical account, Nicodemus quickly got to his purpose for meeting Jesus. “Rabbi, we know you as a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the miraculous signs you are doing if God were not with him” (John 3:2). Seems like a reasonable question, right?

 

As was so often the case, Jesus did a sort of “end-around” in responding. “In reply Jesus declared, ‘I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again’” (John 3:3). There’s the term – “born again” – and perhaps like the reporters interviewing Jimmy Carter, a confused look must have appeared on Nicodemus's face.

 

He asked, “‘How can a man be born again when he is old?... Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!’” Jesus gave a straight-forward answer: ‘I tell you the truth, no one 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. You should not be surprised at My saying, “You must be born again’…” (John 3:4-7).

 

Being a true follower of Christ means to be twice-born – born physically, and born again spiritually. This is why the apostle Paul declared in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” Committing one’s life to Jesus doesn’t mean adopting a new philosophy or ideology; it means receiving a new life. The life of Christ living in us by His Spirit.

 

References to being born again don’t end with the gospel of John. In 1 Peter 1:3 the apostle once known as Simon writes, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” If anyone understood what it meant to be born again, it was the one-time fisherman Simon/Peter.

 

He addresses this once more in the same chapter: “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God” (1 Peter 1:23).

 

This does seem to raise a different question, however. Is there a difference between being a Christian and a born-again Christian as President Carter phrased it? Can one be a Christian without being born again? I would contend – as would many others – that the Bible teaches they are one and the same. To use both terms together is redundant. It’s like talking about a canine dog, a feline cat, or a time-keeping clock. 

 

The late Rev. Billy Graham wrote about this, asserting, “Just as surely as God implants the life cell in the tiny seed that produces the mighty oak, and as surely as He instills the heartbeat in the life of the tiny infant yet unborn; as surely as He puts motion into the planets, stars, and heavenly bodies, He implants His divine life in people’s hearts who earnestly seek Him through Christ. This is not conjecture; it is a fact. Has this happened to you? Have you been twice born? You see, the Bible says that unless we have this new birth, we are unfit for the Kingdom of God.”

 

One of the strongest biblical statements about this is Romans 6:4, in which Paul explains, “We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” It is this new life that empowers us to live as the Lord commands.