#start new

The sun rises, and so do we.

“Amen, amen, I say to you unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

Growing up Protestant (yes, I’m a convert), this was one of the more confusing Bible verses that got thrown around. And it shows up in today’s Gospel.

The confusing part? All of the different, contradictory ideas people had about what it meant to be “born again.”

At bottom, there’s something about a fresh start that’s really appealing to us.

Especially if we’ve made lots of mistakes. Or if we’ve got a lot of baggage. Or both. Which (since all of that applies to every last one of us) is just another way of saying – if we’re human.

The biggest problem with most of the ideas I’ve run into about what it means to be born again?

The odd notion that by becoming a Christian/coming back to Christ, we can somehow magically ignore everything we’ve done up to that moment.

And start new. Right here. Right now. With zero baggage. Like nothing we’ve done before now has any lasting impact.

Half a moment’s thought shows the problem with this sort of magical thinking. Nowhere does reality work like this.

If you’ve got a flat tire, solving your problem doesn’t stop with the happy discovery that your car has an actual spare tire (as opposed to one of those useless little patch kits). You actually have to deal with the flat tire. And it’s going to take some work.

Figuring out how the jack works for your car. Removing the rim with the flat tire. Mounting the spare, etc.

While it is absolutely true that with becoming a Christian/coming back to Christ, we can start new. Right here. Right now.

But we’ve also got to deal with everything we’ve done, with all of our baggage. And it’s going to take some work.

In fact, that work is actually a critical part of our new start in Christ.

Not just by letting Christ give us a new birth of the Spirit. But by dealing with the consequences of our actions. By cleaning up our mess. By making amends.

But it’s not something we have to do on our own. Christ will help us every step of the way. If we’ll let Him.

If that reminds you of the Sacrament of Reconciliation, well…it should. That’s the model.

As C.S. Lewis put it, “A sum can be put right: but only by going back till you find the error and working it afresh from that point, never by simply going on.”