Well......what can we expect?
It's not a free lunch. The idea of being born again is so appealing that, we reckon it happens like magic. But what we are really seeking is an emotional feeling, which......doesn't last.
So we have to ask ourselves whether we're just pursuing an emotional feeling or a relationship with God, which......is not so straightforward. Of course, as Christians we like to think that it's an easy road, that it defeats the whole purpose of Christianity if it isn't easy. I'd say it's easy if we trust God all the way, but God isn't an emotional feeling, so we shouldn't put our trust on that.
Being born again? Isn't that supposed to happen after we die?
It is said that a person can be "born of the Spirit" in the sense of the being "baptised by the Holy Spirit," but I would think of that as being more of a "partial rebirth."
I suppose we've got to be careful with this "born again" thing. Let me introduce a 12-letter dirty word
that is rarely used anymore:
Superstition.
In understanding the notion of being "born again," we've got to understand the difference between so-called "reasonable/rational belief" and superstition. Reasonable/rational belief makes full use of our minds, given the abilities God has bestowed on our minds. Superstition is where we allow ourselves to be manipulated by a kind of "blind logic" that confines our behaviour as well as our thinking.
The idea of being "born again" is so appealing, so fantastic, so wonderful that a lot of us want to know if there's a way of telling if we're "born again." So our preachers and teachers come up with a story, or set of criteria, or some explanation that makes it all sound so easy and straightforward -- because of course, they want us to think it's easy. They don't want Christianity to sound hard. They are the preachers and teachers. They are supposed to come up with the answers.
Then we use the explanation they give us, and we're manipulated by the instructions we've been given. Much like a pregnancy test. But there is no method or technique. It doesn't work that way.
No doubt "born again" would mean a change in a person, but does it happen in this lifetime? If so, I would think it's more likely to be partial than complete. Life would be pretty boring and pointless if we spent the rest of our lives being perfect. No challenge there. We always make the right decisions from then onwards. No mistakes from now on.
Moreover, what could "born again" actually mean? If we are not to be manipulated by the notion of "born again," we've got to be careful what we mean by "born again." It is, obviously, a theological phrase that has nothing to do with physiology and neurology. Something happens to the human soul in the process.
No free lunch, that's all I can say for now.
