Mrs. Butterfield, and A Timely Testimony

In light of the recent conversation among believers about sexuality, I thought this interview was appropriate to post.  You might have heard of Rosaria Butterfield -- the ex-lesbian college professor who became a Christian and now writes books and speaks extensively about God's effectual grace.  Her testimony is powerful and clearly God-ordained, because it was the Gospel that got her, and not man-made religion.

In the conversation about Biblical sexuality, Christians typically fall under one of two categories:  There are Christians who say gay people are just choosing to sin, and they need to be "fixed" by choosing repentance instead; and then there are Christians who say that gay people are "created this way", so since it is natural, it isn't a sin.  The latter believes, "Since they can't help it, how could it be wrong?" while the former believes, "They can help it -- they just have to choose to."

As usual, both are wrong and both are right: Sin is in everyone's heart (Genesis 6:5, Ephesians 4:22) making us prone to many unnatural desires that they can't help.  But it's also true that everyone chooses to act in light of these indwelling desires (Mark 7:21-23).  Instead of it being either/or, it is both.  Sin is in each of us, and so we act according to it.  Some of us manifest the disease of sin with clearer outward actions, while others of us keep it "secret".  But the disease is in each of us, and no amount of good works can rid us of it (Romans 3:9-20).  This is true for the homosexual and the heterosexual -- both are prone to sin, and both are guilty of rebellious acts against God's created order.

The Christian believer is bidden by the Gospel to remember that the disease is in each of us, and so we must stop demonizing those with "clearer" outward sinful tendencies.  We must remember that we ourselves, before Jesus saved us, were just as "bad" as whoever we think "the worst" is (Titus 3:1-3).

Truth be told, if anyone were to ask me if I think I'm better than anyone else because I belong to Jesus, I would (I think) be the first to say, "No, I'm probably still worse, but the good in me comes from Jesus and His Holy Spirit, and through Him I'm overcoming sin."  I think it is with this attitude that believers are supposed to engage non-believers, whatever outward sin indwelling sin has made them prone to.

Most non-believers aren't interested in Jesus, and won't be, no matter how much believers "love on" them and minister to them.  But some non-believers really want to know God, and they feel like they can't because of their sin.  So they need to hear the good news that Jesus promises a) to forgive us as we are, and b) to give us power to change into what we should be, if we'll trust in Him and plug into His power.  He is risen!  Let's not block the way to His grace by not showing grace, or block the way to His truth by not speaking truth.

In the video above, note several things about the content of Mrs. Butterfield's interview:

1.  She was gay, and is now married to a man, with children.  And it isn't because she just "flipped a switch"; but because she sought Jesus, and everything else came along with Him.  If we try to save ourselves by stopping sinning, we either fail (and end up worse than before), or succeed, but become self-righteous (which Jesus says is worse than before -- Luke 18:9-14, John 9:41).  But if we seek Jesus, we get Him and everything else along with Him: forgiveness, acceptance, freedom, love, truth, etc.  "Trying" doesn't accomplish anything in the end.  Recognizing your powerlessness and coming to Jesus with your sin in your hands raises you from death to life.  In other words, Jesus is the Gospel.

2.  How long a time it took from the initial "outreach", to her conversion.  Mrs. Butterfield said it took two years of laborious conversations with the pastor before she became a Christian.  She said it "didn't look so good" most of the time, meaning that she spent more time wrestling and being skeptical than converting.  She also said the first time she spoke with the pastor, he didn't preach the Gospel or invite her to church.  And because of that, she trusted him.  Of course, he didn't just sit on his thumbs, but was in engaging conversation with her regularly.  But he didn't follow "the usual script"; and that made all the difference.

3.  How much of the interview is spent talking about the pastor.  The whole middle "chunk" of the interview is spent discussing the demeanor, practice, and attitude of the pastor the Lord used in Mrs. Butterfield's conversion.  Ken Smith, then a pastor in Syracuse and now the president of Geneva College (here in Southwestern PA), was humble, loving, and accommodating.  Prior to her conversion, Mrs. Butterfield was environmentally conscious and didn't believe in air conditioning, so when she came over to Pastor Ken's house, he and his wife turned the AC off.  Mrs. Butterfield was also a vegan, so when she came over for dinner, the Smith's served her what she was willing to eat.  This is all very accommodating and missional.  The word used in the interview was "Christ-like".  "He eats with tax collectors and sinners" is drawn to mind.
The point is this: far from diminishing the priestly role of all believers, pastors have a different and higher calling.  They are called by God to shepherd His church and feed His sheep.  But they are also called to be evangelists.  To them God has entrusted a ministry that is to be full (ie, "fulfill your ministry", 2 Timothy 4:5).  Pastors, we have a job to do.  Let's represent Jesus rightly, and watch what He will do in using us.

4.  How much of her theological foundations depend on original sin.  I wasn't taught about original sin growing up, and neither did I hear about it in Bible college.  To be fair, if it was being taught, I wasn't listening (and this very well could have been the case; but I suspect it was because I was in settings that didn't believe it).  Once I got into ministry, I began reading the Bible like it was water and I was in a desert, (and spiritually, this was exactly the case).  As I read the Bible, I was reborn.  Yes, you read that correctly:  I was a professing Christian growing up, all through Bible college, and then in ministry, but was not reborn until later.  And it was because I didn't love Jesus and trust Him to save me, and then I realized it. 
What got me was the doctrine of original sin -- found virtually everywhere in the Bible -- which teaches that everyone is an unworthy sinner, fallen in Adam into radical disrepair and enslavement to the world and self.  And Jesus is God who came into the world to be our Mediator and redeemer, giving us His righteousness as a gift by faith, because He was punished for our sin instead of us (Romans 3:24-25; 1 Timothy 1:15, 2:4-5). 
If I'm a fallen sinner who can't save myself, I have to come and get everything from Jesus.  And He died and rose again to give it to me, because even though I'm unlovely in God's eyes, He loves me anyway.  This is tough theology, but I think it is true.
I agree with Mrs. Butterfield that original sin is "the great equalizer", in that it is the best (and truest) theological foundation upon which Christians can engage non-believers. This is because only this theological underpinning makes Christians who don't think they're better than anyone else, don't have disdain for anyone else, and want to engage anyone and everyone with the truth, regardless of how "different" they may be.

I know you'll be encouraged by Mrs. Butterfield's testimony -- I was.  How timely it is!

Be Strong, and Act Like Men

"Dress for action, like a man"  Job 38:3

I've been convicted lately about the lack of men in the American church.  Surely there are many things in the American church to be concerned about.  But while many of those concerns are spiritual "root" issues, the absence both of men and and manly leadership in the men present is the effect of the root issues.  Surely, here "there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave no free, male and female", because we are all one in Christ (Galatians 3:28), but Jesus specifically gathered men together to disciple, that they would then lead other disciples.  If men are discipled and healthy, the church will be disciple-making and healthy.  It probably goes without saying (though I'll say it anyway) that the impotence of much of the American church can be traced back to men not taking responsibility and leading in Jesus' Kingdom-cause.

Men line up for "battle".

Men love shooting, hunting, sports, video games, and movies and TV shows about all of them.  This is because men are hardwired to do battle.  One blogger recently pointed out how quickly men line up at theaters to watch the latest war movie.  We love this kind of stuff, because, while most of us live comfortable and predictable enough lives to never flirt with the thin line between life and death, the line feels like home.  See movies and books like "the Secret Life of Walter Mitty" for an example of the need for adventure.  It's attractive because it's what men really want.

At the end of Babylonian exile, God's people were sent back to Jerusalem to rebuild His Temple.  Ezra was the assigned Bible-preacher during this time.  Most men, reading the story, would have a hard time identifying with the preacher, Ezra!  But men have no problem identifying with Nehemiah, the man who oversaw the rebuilding.  Nehemiah courageously took the initiative to rebuild the Temple, though having at times to stand toe to toe with many adversaries; he was willing, because "God had put it into his heart" (Neh. 2:12). 

As in Nehemiah's case, men like tasks where there will be a "finish line".  Since the Temple was to be rebuilt, there would be a day when it was done.  Ezra, on the other hand, with his task to preach the Word, undertook a job that would never be over -- and it was just as needed.  Some men are  called to be Ezras, and others are called to be Nehemiahs.  But both are waging a battle for God's mission.

Men are bored with the church.

When most men attend a church, they witness something far different from Nehemiah's and Ezra's stories.  Sure, there is an "Ezra" standing up preaching, and there are "Nehemiahs" on the church board who are responsible for building maintenance and all that.  But there is no sense of mission-or-bust, as was the case for Ezra and Nehemiah, or for that matter, the New Testament church.  The thought of Jesus telling his disciples, "Take up your cross and follow me" is missing.  The prayerful attitude of, "Lord..grant your servants to speak your word with boldness while you perform signs and wonders in Jesus' Name" (Acts 4:29-30, paraphrase) is missing.  And equally missing is the straight-to-the-point attitude of Peter to both Ananias, ("You have lied not to men, but to God" -- Acts 5:4), and Simon Magus, ("Repent therefore of this wickedness of yours, and pray to the Lord that, if possible, the intent of your heart may be forgiven you" -- Acts 8:22).  Truth, honesty, "go and do" is often nowhere near.

Preachers today tend to preach soft sermons, only getting fiery when talking about the many injustices in the world.  Injustice must be addressed, but I think one reason injustice is "the issue" to so many preachers and pastors is that, if it is put on the chopping block, we in our church can avoid the chopping block.  If all I do is talk about what's wrong with everyone else, I don't have to deal with what's wrong with me.  Since many Christians haven't followed Jesus into a life of continual repentance (2 Tim. 2:25), they never second-guess their agendas.  So there is no humility ... and there is no Good News because we're avoiding the bad news.

So many men are bored with the church because the church is boring.  We fumble around with our feminine contemporary christian worship songs, our flowers on stage, and our soft sermons that never call sin out.  Everyone is nice, but no one is holy.  And this would be okay if Jesus didn't demand holiness ... perfection ... from us (Matthew 5:48)! 

And often, when the church is characterized by this softness, the men who ARE there are so hardened in heart that the first time someone challenges them on any disagreement or character issue, they huff and puff and leave.  As John MacArthur has said, "Soft preaching makes hard hearts, but hard preaching makes soft hearts."

The Gospel calls men to faith and repentance.

The Gospel call is first an unveiling of what God demands (holiness and righteousness), then a proclamation of what Jesus has done (living the sinless life, dying the sinner's death, and rising again to give it to us), then a call to men and women to respond to it with faith and repentance.  Since man is a sinner, not just in deed and choice, but first in intention and want (Gen. 6:5, 8:21), Jesus alone is the only Savior.  He alone makes one righteous before God, to be received in faith (Rom. 3:25), and He alone can grant repentance and faith (Acts 5:31, Phil. 1:30).  If He is trusted in, He must be obeyed, like a disciple. 

How did the disciples obey in the Gospel accounts?  They left all to follow Jesus: they wrestled with His words, they recklessly put themselves in harms way for Him, they prayed to Him like He was God, they worshiped Him like He was God, etc.  They failed miserably at times, but, save Judas, they always came back, because they couldn't escape Jesus, the God-man.  What did Jesus say a disciple was to do?  "Obey my words, and then you'll be truly my disciple" (John 8:31).  One is a true disciple not just by liking Him, but loving Him; not just by being with Him, but staying with Him.

Many of us have wished that Jesus was still here, in body.  But Jesus said it's better for us that the Holy Spirit be here than He (John 16:7).  If that's true, then discipleship today must have no excuse to be less rigid than when He walked the earth.  Though Jesus is in heaven, men must still renounce all to follow Jesus.  This is why Paul was so forward and honest with everyone, from Peter, to the false Christians -- discipleship is the stuff of life or death.  Sin is real, hell is hot, and forever is a long time.

The real battle.

So since men are hard-wired for battle, they must be made aware of the battle the church is to wage.  The call to discipleship is as simple as "Follow Jesus"; but it is as difficult as "Be holy, as I am holy" (Lev. 11:44), and "Put to death the deeds of the flesh" (Rom. 8:13).  In other words, "Give yourself to God continually, find sin in your life, and kill it; and don't ever stop."  Practice holiness, and bleed God's Word.


Our battle in the church is not against liberals or conservatives, feminists or chauvinists, bad government or even terrorists.  For then, our battle would be against "flesh and blood", and Ephesians 6:12 makes clear that our battle isn't. 

Instead, the battle is against Satan, sin, and our sinful flesh.  Satan is a liar, destroyer, accuser, and enemy.  He is real.  He prowls around to devour you, and if you're unrepentant, he's already started.  Sin is lawlessness, rebellion, and idolatry.  It is deceitful (Heb. 3:13), and typically those who think they're the most righteous are the most in need because they're the most blind.  It is not just sexual immorality but lustful thoughts; not just murder, but harbored anger and unforgiveness.  And the disease is inside of each one of us.  This is why repentance is the command, holiness is the call, and Jesus' death and resurrection is the power. 

Men, this is the battle.  Put down your video games, and stop spending your days pretending you're a warrior when you're not.  Instead, come follow Jesus and be in his army.  He'll make you a warrior.  It'll be real.  He's already won the battle, but until He returns, we must "make our calling and election sure" by following and loving Him.  This invitation will change your life, because all that you've been looking for is found in Him.  No battle is greater than the call to "die daily" (Luke 9:23), and no reward greater than, "Well done good and faithful servant ... enter into the joy of your Master" (Matt. 25:21).

May the church recover the call that has been here all along.  "Dress for action (Heb. "gird your loins"), like a man".