When I was a babe in Christ in my early teens, I remember how godly people in those days often talked about the difference between being just “religious” and a truly “born again” believer.  I soon understood that, coming from a very “religious” family myself.

That boundary line between outward religion and a Spirit born life in Christ Jesus doesn´t exist any more.  Or I should rather say it almost doesn´t exist.  It has been sadly flattened out.

I´m Danish born, but I´m an American too deep in my heart and soul.  So when we´ll hopefully land on American soil within a couple of months, I feel like coming home!  I have one problem over there, though.  The Americans are very religious.  Every time I speak of Christ, they would talk about their church.  And they often do so with enthusiasm and pretty eloquently.

I was once a visitor in the beautiful court building in San Diego.  I got acquainted with one of the witnesses.  “Are you a Christian?” he asked. -   “I´m too, -  I´m a Baptist”, he said.  He drove me home.  In the car I soon realized that my Baptist friend needed a genuine experience with Christ.

A Danish friend just shared with me something he once experienced at a tourist party in Israel.  At his table there was an American travelling companion.  He told the American that as a Dane he belonged to the Evangelical Lutheran Church (more than 81% of the Danes do as a mere formality only).  The American friend was so enthused about that piece of information that he immediately got up and announced to the rest of the party that “we have a friend among us who belong to The Evangelical Lutheran Church”.  And everybody clapped their hands.  Typical American? 

However, when my friend tried to start a spiritual conversation about spiritual realities, the curtain rang down, and there was no contact anymore, no joy and no enthusiasm of the Spirit.  The loud applause was religious, “soulish”, but nothing more.

I once in Romania asked a fine young girl and a follower of Christ how she became a Christian?  “Oh, you know, I used to go regularly to an Orthodox church.  One day somebody told me that I needed to be born again.  I´d never heard such a thing before.”  That´s how it started with her.

Do you understand what I´m getting at?  If you are a man or a woman who has had a genuine experience with Jesus Christ,  within your pious circle of friends and church people there´ll probably be a lot of “nice”, smiling religious people who have never had “the real thing”.  See to it that they hear your personal testimony – yes, a testimony coming from a born again heart the bottom line of which is:

“You (too) must be born again!”  (John 3:7)

-jn-

Febr. 7, 2010