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!
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