I read a story in Vanity Fair a few weeks back about the mysterious case of Clark Rockefeller. This man was able to convince several prominent people, including his wife, that he was a descendent of the famously wealthy Rockefeller family. He had the charm, the grace, and he even supplied his own fake paintings as proof! According to the article, he had used his nom de guerre and supposed wealth to live his life in the fast lane among society’s upper crust for many, many years. In the end, of course, he was found out and it ended badly as he kidnapped his own daughter and attempted to go into hiding. I think the case is still pending or something of that nature; there’s not very much about it in the news these days though the story is fairly recent.
To tell a lie is one thing, but to live a lie opens up a whole new can of worms. I’ve heard that if you tell a lie often enough, eventually you will believe it yourself. Lies are dangerous things, indeed.
In the Bible (and I am always going to go there!) there was a man in the third chapter of the book of John that found himself living a lie as well. The man was Nicodemus, and he came to Jesus by night, we are told. He was an upstanding member of the church he attended, always did the right things, and tried to live his life in the best manner possible. People looked up to him and he was well respected as a result, but he knew something was wrong. Yet to simply come out and meet Jesus publicly was out of the question for him. A public acknowledgement could tarnish his reputation, I mean - what would the members of his church think if he did so? So he made his way over to visit Jesus by night. No streetlights back then, no prying eyes; to him it was the safe thing to do.
He got more than he bargained for.
He gives Jesus a salutation, almost bragging on him, and it sounds very well-rehearsed if you are asking me. Jesus dismisses the feeble attempt at brown-nosing by telling him that unless he is ‘born again’ he cannot see the Kingdom of God. Nicodemus was stumped – born again? What? In his own eyes Nicodemus was OK. He had done the right things, had followed the law and the prophets, and had treated people kindly all of his life. He had the best seat in church! Now he was being told that he had to be ‘born again’. It was not what he had expected, as we can tell from his response. Read the rest of the chapter for yourself and you will see what I’m talking about.
That one phrase, ‘born again’ is the subject of considerable consternation in the world today, and unfortunately, even in the modern, so-called Christian churches that we attend. We don’t like that phrase because it goes against what we feel and what we think about ourselves. But try as we might, we cannot simply dismiss it and move on, because Jesus repeated the phrase and added a ‘verily, verily’ to it in the process. “Verily, verily” means you had better listen up! When I was young, if mom said “Verily, verily you had better clean up your room” it was a cue that an "or else scenario" would be sure to follow if I did not heed her instructions.
So many times today, we simply go to church out of habit, or because it is the ‘right’ thing to do, or simply because of tradition. That’s a dangerous situation because we can easily fool ourselves into thinking we are OK - after all, we have our church membership letter as proof of our salvation. Over a period of time, we can become like Nicodemus and begin living a lie of our own. Salvation is not about church programs, youth fellowships, or even Sunday school attendance. Salvation is by Grace, through Faith, and the acceptance of what Jesus did for us when he took our place on the cross.
How sad it would be to finally get to the end of the road and find out that we missed Heaven by ignoring one important detail; we were never ‘born again’. It can be dangerous to go stumbling around in the dark. Just ask Nicodemus.
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