The other day at pericope group, one of my colleagues spoke extensively about the whole "born again" controversy related to John 3:1-17. Is the phrase "born again" or "born from above"? Does being born again (or from above) mean that a person has to accept Jesus Christ as h/his personal Lord and Savior in order to inherit eternal life? Does the phrase "of water and the Spirit" refer to baptism? On and on.

I appreciated my colleague grappling with these issues, but I found myself wondering, "What does this have to do with the Trinity?"

Here's one connection. While we disagree over how to interpret this passage, especially the phrase "born again," we are still one, just as the members of the Trinity are distinct from each other while still one. Of course, those three do not disagree over issues, as far as I know. If the three do disagree, they do not allow that disagreement to divide them. No, the three persons are too busy loving each other and us to let an issue split them up.

Born again. What does it mean? I'm not completely sure. Perhaps it is enough to know that the phrase calls us Christians to a new life in Christ, and central to that new life is loving the way the members of the Trinity love.

This idea is in accord with my ongoing desire to be an ecofeminist preacher. Ecofeminism calls for us members of creation to focus less on hierarchy and more on heterarchy. We are to worry less about who is better than whom, who is right and who is wrong, and more about embracing the diversity and working together for equality for women, non-human nature and, ultimately, all of us.

(from www.goodpreacher.com/blog/)

St. James Evangelical Lutheran Church,
Youngstown, PA