-This article was written for Christians in Sport -

It really seems ridiculous when you think about it. Six years ago Tiger Woods was already being almost unanimously declared as the greatest golfer ever with ‘the perfect game’ from tee to green and yet in 2003 with his coach’s help he started to overhaul his swing. Not just a few tweaks mind you, not even a few significant adjustments, but a complete overhaul. He started over. He completely rebuilt the swing from first principles as if he’d never played golf before. However Tiger Woods was insistent after the changes that his swing now was better than ever and he was a more complete player in 2005 than previously.

Over the last few weeks we’ve been looking at the core truths of the ‘good news’ that Jesus taught in his ministry on earth and still teaches through his word the Bible today, and the last thing that we need to consider is how we should respond. Often when people start to understand something of Christianity they wrongly conclude from talk of their moral failure before God that they need to respond by ‘trying harder’ or trying to be a bit better. However Jesus’ teaching is crystal clear that the response he’s looking for is something much more radical. He says we have to start over.

One of the most controversial phrases that Jesus used to describe what it means to start over is to be ‘born again’. In an incident in John chapter 3 where he is talking to a religious leader called Nicodemus he tells him that ‘no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again’. Nicodemus doesn’t grasp what Jesus is teaching because like so many of us he hasn’t really accepted what a radical conversion is required to follow Christ.

To make the point let’s pause to consider what Jesus means by being born again. Imagine I went along to an athletics club full of the desire to win the 2012 Olympic High Jump. Any coach worth his salt would take one look at my 5 foot 11 stature and limited vertical jump and conclude that I would have no chance. I could train as hard as I like and try to perfect the ‘Frosbury flop’ but no matter how hard I try I’m never going to win the Olympics – I just lack the physical attributes. What I need isn’t a good coach, an improvement in technique, nor a brilliant training program, what I need is a new body – preferably one that is close to 7 foot tall and leaps like a salmon heading upstream!

Similarly when Jesus tells us that the response he is looking for from us is to realize that we need to be born again he is telling us to stop trying to do it ourselves and to admit that we need to start over. Of course when we think about this we realize that it’s beyond our capabilities, and that’s Jesus’ point because if we can’t do it ourselves then we must ask him to do it for us. This is what the Bible means by ‘faith’, it’s a mindset change where you say ‘I can’t do it myself, and I have to trust in you Jesus to do it for me’. And of course that’s why Jesus died and rose to new life, because he was doing what we are unable to do – making us right with God by appeasing his wrath and giving us a completely new start.

So today Jesus’ command to you in the light of his good news is that the only way to enjoy the forgiveness of your moral failure and peace with God is to admit that you can’t do anything about it yourself and to trust him to give you a new start. And if you’ve never done that before – then his call on you is to do that today.