Bumper sticker theology

I'm not a huge fan of bumper stickers, be they support for political candidates or sports teams, perspectives on social issues, or theology. Some people find bumper stickers to be a meaningful form of expression, obviously. One sticker did catch my attention recently. It read, "I was born okay the first time."

I took this to be a response to the Christian teaching of spiritual rebirth, based on Christ's conversation with the respected leader Nicodemus in the Gospel of John. On that occasion the Lord told him: 'You must be born again.' Nicodemus was perhaps as skeptical as the person in the car in front of me, 2000+ years later. But clearly what Jesus intended was a complete reorientation of one's life based on the relationship with God which he invited Nicodemus, and the rest of us, to have. Faith in Christ is to be transformational. It gives new life.

The whole "born again" thing has gotten a very bad rap in the media and pop culture due to its close identification with the evangelical right wing in recent years. But to be born again was not an invention of that politico-religious faction. It is an expression of the transforming life in Christ that comes when one experiences the joy of salvation in him. It is a life-long process of growth in grace that begins with the "birth in the Spirit" that comes through the confession that Jesus Christ is Lord.