Growing Up

In John 3, we find a fundamental teaching of the Scriptures.  A man named Nicodemus came to Jesus, and He taught him about new life.
3 Jesus answered and said to him, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
4 Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"
5 Jesus answered, "Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God.
6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
7 Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'

To be born again - it's a principle that Jesus taught and the Scriptures reinforce.  The Bible teaches that we are new creations in Christ Jesus.  Romans reminds us that we have died with Christ and have been raised to new life in Him.  Galatians says that He lives in us; we have been crucified with Him and now possess His life.  Colossians is very direct: Christ is our life.  God is dedicated to transforming hearts, and He alone can make that lasting change in a life. As we depend on Him, we realize more fully the significance of that new life that we receive when we made Him our Savior and were born again.

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When we accept Jesus as the Lord and Savior of our lives, something amazing happens in our hearts. Romans 6 describes it:
4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
5 For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection,
6 knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.
7 For he who has died has been freed from sin.

OK, so I'm going to use some material in today's Front Room that is from a website that I don't recommend, endorse, or even read regularly.  But, BuzzFeed is appealing to a particular audience, and the plethora of numbers and lists that you can find are, well, quaint.

I was pointed to a recent post by the Deputy Editorial Editor of BuzzFeed San Francisco, Jessica Misener.  It has quite a catchy title, 27 Sure Signs You Grew Up Evangelical.  Now, since I don't really think I'm in BuzzFeed's target audience, some of these "sure signs" occurred in my life after I was, well, grown.

Some examples:

1. You had only one book listed in your Facebook profile’s “Favorite Books” section.

Self-explanatory, but really sort of sets the tone for what is to follow.  Above a picture of Bob, Larry, and Junior from VeggieTales, we find:

2. You can still name all of these guys.

Here's an interesting one:

3. You lost your dad at the grocery store and panicked for a second that the rapture happened.

Then, of course, there's:

5. Your mom listened to James Dobson’s talk radio show.

And, its corollary:  

6. And you listened to Adventures in Odyssey in the car on family road trips.

Other iconic items that she covers are: the books, I Kissed Dating Goodbye by Joshua Harris and Jesus Freak by DC Talk, Psalty the big blue singing songbook, knowing the hand motions to Audio Adrenaline's Big House, and the Teen Study Bible, giving as a birthday present.

Some of the items are a bit sad, such as:

14. You became fluent in all the ways to signify you were *really* praise-and-worshipping.

and

26. You showed someone the Roman Road, even if you totally didn’t understand what it meant yourself.

The writer was obviously relating some personal experience, and there are some really endearing aspects of what has been called the "Christian counterculture" that many of us and our families have taken part in.  

And, Ms. Misener, having participated in those forms of Christian behavior, apparently does not identify as a Christian any longer.  In another BuzzFeed post, called, Why I Miss Being a Born-Again Christian, she writes:

I’m not the only millennial with what author John Jeremiah Sullivan calls “a Jesus phase.” A BuzzFeed post I made aimed at people who grew up going to evangelical youth group continues to be among my highest performing; anecdotally, I’ve talked to scores of people in all walks of life who also used to go on mission trips and know all the words to “Lord I Lift Your Name on High.” Statistically, exiting your Jesus phase is also a real phenomenon: According to polling organization the Barna Group, there’s a 43% drop in Christian church attendance between the teen and early adult years. Statistics show that younger people are currently leaving evangelicalism at faster rates than older people, which many credit to differing beliefs on topics such as same-sex marriage. For me, it was a traditional soul- and spirit-crusher: graduate school.

She went to Yale to study religion and ended up developing a skewed view of the Bible, essentially, in my opinion, believing that what she perceived as flaws discredited the Scriptures from being authoritative and sufficient for her life.

She writes:

Even though I staked my life on an arbitrary historical document for six years, I liked who I was when I was born-again. I woke up each day determined to conquer my “sinful nature,” i.e., my id that was prone to thinking only about myself, and determined to put others first. I was more selfless. I was a more caring and giving friend back then; I listened deeply, instead of waiting for my turn to talk. I prayed for people and made care packages and wrote nice letters and volunteered. With a divine outlet compelling me to focus on something besides self-preservation, I felt free from the prison of ego.

 And, listen to this:

I know — I think — that Christianity isn’t real, but I miss believing it was real. When I got confused in my career, or hurt by a broken relationship, fellow Christians assured me that it was all part of God’s plan to lead me to the right calling or the right person, something that made me calmer and more willing to take risks... 

Wow - where do you begin?  This writer apparently liked who she was when she identified as "born again," but because of lack of understanding or application, or both, she doesn't quite think that the principles of the Bible work for her.  But, the seed is still there, and thinks fondly about those times that she spent - in youth group.

I think that Jessica is representative of many in our culture and really the culture at large.  They have been exposed to the Christian faith, maybe practiced it for a time, but other ideas have made their way into their understanding, so they live a life of self-reliance, perhaps even rejecting the teachings of Christ.

We all have to own it, you know.  And, possess it in a way that withstands the temptation to depart. This is especially true for our young people.  Because growing up in a Christian home doesn't make you a Christian.  Knowing the books, the songs, and the lingo doesn't either.  Being identified as a Christian is important, but identification with Christ is the central element in one's Christian faith.

In trying to define, "evangelical," which I seem to see a lot these days, we have to remember the words of Jesus, "you must be born again," and "I am the way, the truth, and the life."  The Bible says that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  But, that's just the beginning - we are transformed into new creatures, but then the adventure starts...we are called to grow, to know God more deeply, and to move beyond trying to do good things or revise our nature and recognize that the road to Christian maturity involves abiding in Him and allowing His presence to flow through us.