Remember when we were kids and we wanted nothing more than to grow up? Our 16th, 18th and 21st birthdays were significant markers in our lives because it meant we could do what grown-ups do…legally. But now after being an adult for a while, there are times when I want nothing more than to be a kid again.
What is it about becoming a child again that is so attractive to us that we seriously contemplate surrendering our adult lives to get it?
In So Much to Say Dave sings about the powerful role our minds can have in determining who we are and, consequently, the lives we end up leading. He describes his mind like a closet he is stuck inside. The whirlwind of thoughts, dreams, and conversations going round and round his head consume him to the point of neuroticism. Even worse, he becomes paralyzed to the degree he is unable to share his creative thoughts and dreams of heaven with anyone but himself. Instead he fills his time with others by chatting about the weather, which is not all that interesting and provides no inspiration or motivation to pursue the life we were created for (no offense Jim Cantore!). Living life primarily in and through our heads (i.e. being overly self-conscious, even narcissistic) can feel a lot like hell in that our reality quickly becomes inhabited by a single person (ME!), left alone with only our thoughts. Living with an elevated self-consciousness is not the adulthood we wanted as kids and it’s not the reality Jesus invites us to live in.
Studies in the field of early childhood development have demonstrated that children under 2 years of age display no hint of being self-aware or self-conscious. When placed in front of a mirror, a child under 2 will typically smile or coo, freely and playfully embracing her reflection, whereas a child between 2 and 3 years old will often demonstrate signs of embarrassment at the sight of himself, such as by placing his hands over his face or burying his head in his chest. And so from age 2 onward, we live and view our lives through a lens of self-consciousness.
I can’t help but wonder if the free, joyful, and unassuming posture with which an infant interacts with the world is what Jesus was getting at when he taught that unless we change and become like little children, we will never enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:3).
There’s a story of a religious leader in the first century named Nicodemus who hears Jesus teach (or at least hears of his teachings) and is curious to learn more. So Nicodemus seeks Jesus out, and what’s interesting is that Nicodemus comes to Jesus alone and at night. Alone. At night. Now I interpret this to mean that Nicodemus is trying to hide something, not from Jesus, but from someone else. And I would argue that Nicodemus, being a self-conscious adult, is fully aware that meeting with Jesus is not going to earn him any points with his colleagues, who just happen to be the same people about whom Jesus has already said some harsh things. In fact, if Nicodemus’ colleagues found out that he was meeting with Jesus he would be at risk of losing his reputation, his position, and perhaps even his life. Meeting with Jesus at night by himself was a strategic move by Nicodemus. He definitely has his lens up.
So the two begin to talk and it doesn’t take long for Jesus to get to heart of the matter. He knows why Nicodemus has come: to find out what it takes to live in the Kingdom of God. Now if you’re in Nicodemus’ sandals, you’re probably looking for a list of do’s and don’ts that, with strict adherence, will guarantee your place in the Kingdom and keep you in good standing with your peers. Jesus, however, doesn’t offer him that list. Instead, Jesus tells Nicodemus that he has to be born again. This completely throws Nicodemus for a loop. He can’t fathom the thought of a fully grown adult re-entering his mother’s womb to be born again. It doesn’t fit inside his mental paradigm. How is being born again even possible?
For Nicodemus, his hang up is not a lack of desire to become more like Jesus (he has already sought Jesus out!), rather it is the lens through which he has been viewing himself and the world. As a Pharisee (Jewish religious leader), Nicodemus would have been subject to the many Jewish laws and rituals for keeping oneself pure and holy. And not only that, he would have also been responsible for seeing that others followed the same laws and rituals. From his perspective, one’s status with God was dependent on one’s adherence to a particular set of laws and rituals.
But here comes Jesus, teaching people about how they can enter the Kingdom of God by becoming like little children, being born all over again. I can imagine Nicodemus thinking to himself, “Where are the laws in this? If only there were a few additional laws to follow then I could do it.” And that’s precisely the problem for Nicodemus. His self-conscious lens is looking for a way to make sense of this invitation, but being accepted into and participating in the Kingdom of God is not dependent on his usual strict adherence to religious rules and laws, rather it is dependent on loving Jesus and trusting him in every moment of life, much like a little child trusts her parents without being taught to do so.
So Jesus offers Nicodemus life in the Kingdom of God by becoming like a little child, being born again, and changing out the lens through which he previously saw himself, others, God, and the world. For those of us who thought at one time or another that all the rules of following Jesus were just too much, there’s good news! Life with God in this world and the next is available to us through the surrender of our old lenses and the acceptance of new ones, namely those of Jesus. In doing so, we give up much our self-conscious approach to life, and in following Jesus we develop an “other-consciousness”, seeking out ways to love others and serve them as we participate with God in re-making the world as he originally intended it to be. Leave those trodden trails behind!
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