Daily Devotional for Small Group Discussion: Born Again Is Not What You Think

by Matt Laney | published on Aug 5, 2024

Discussion Questions 

  1. Today’s devotional reflects on a well-known phrase from John 3. How were you taught to understand the meaning of being “born again” or “born from above,” as John 3:3 says? 
  1. In your faith community, what emphasis is placed on being “born again”? How is this idea experienced as helpful or harmful? 
  1. What might it look like to make a regular spiritual practice of “being emptied”? 

There was a Pharisee named Nicodemus who came to Jesus by night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God; for no one can do these signs that you do apart from the presence of God.” – John 3:1-2 abridged (NRSV) 

A university professor visited a respected Zen master. As the Zen master prepared tea for his guest, the professor proudly shared everything he knew about Zen.  

The master poured the tea. When the professor’s cup was filled, he kept pouring. The professor watched the tea spill onto the little table and onto the floor. “Stop! Can’t you see it’s full?” the professor blurted. “You are the same way,” the Zen master said. “You are full of ideas. How can I teach you Zen unless you first empty your cup?” 

Nicodemus, a learned Pharisee, came to Rabbi Jesus to talk theology. Jesus said (I’m paraphrasing), “Your head is too full. If you want to see the kingdom of God, you need to start all over. You need to be born again.”  

It’s possible that whatever you learned about being “born again” needs to be dumped out as well. Being “born again” or, more accurately, “born from above,” is not what you think. In fact, it’s about emptying our cup of earthly thinking and human concepts.  

I’ve often wondered if our worship of God is mostly worship of our ideas about God, which would be tantamount to making idols of our ideals. Like wind, God cannot be captured or contained. God is above and beyond even our best thoughts. Maybe Christianity will be born again when our minds, and worship spaces, are emptied.  

Prayer
God, blow us over, dump us out, and be born again in the emptiness of our hearts.

Matt LaneyAbout the Author
Matt Laney is co-Pastor of Virginia Highland Church UCC in Atlanta, GA and the author of Pride Wars, a fantasy series published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for Young Readers. The first two books, The Spinner Prince and The Four Guardians are available now.