I've
recently finished a most interesting little book, The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert. It tells quite a tale.
Imagine being a tenured professor at a well-regarded school, Syracuse
University. You teach in the English Department as well as in the
Center for Women's Studies. Your academic interests include
'Queer Theory', a postmodern form of gay and lesbian studies. You are
also a key member of the gay community along with your lesbian lover
with whom you share a home. Fast-forward just a bit. Now, you are the
wife of a Reformed (Covenanter) pastor and the (classical)
homeschooling mom of your four adopted children. Welcome to the life
of Rosaria Champagne Butterfield, the author of our little book.
The
book is not solely about Rosaria's conversion. There is much more
here. But that is the one part of her story that I want to highlight.
In the days of my youth, conversion pretty much meant cleaning up
life a bit because now you were a Christian. Much of the rhythm of
life stayed the same, especially at first. It's just that now you
added (and maybe subtracted) a few habits while, over the long haul,
the realities of the Gospel slowly seeped into your life. That is not
what happened to Rosaria. She uses words like 'train wreck', 'trauma'
and 'comprehensive chaos' to describe her journey from lesbian
feminist activist to Christian disciple. So much changed and had to
change: the woman she had professed to love had to go, a whole
network of friends had to go, even her job had to go. Train wreck,
indeed.
The
Church looks both really good and really bad as Rosaria labors to
find her way to a completely different kind of life. It was not a
smooth ride. And that gets me to my point. God willing, there will be
many converts in our future. But as our culture slowly unravels, many
of these converts will, like Rosaria, come out of backgrounds and
communities that are so very different from that of so many in your
average (and especially, Reformed) church.
So, here's my question: Will we be prepared to receive these new believers with open arms to help them as they have to completely remake their lives, or will we make that transformation more difficult than it needs to be? Rosaria made it because there were some Christians who were very involved in her life and helped her. They were not put off by what she herself called her R-rated testimony. And I cannot help but think that what makes it possible to gladly accept someone with such a past is understanding two things. First, all sin is equally disgusting to God - my sin, your sin, everyone's sin. There is no better/worse when it comes to that. So, Rosaria was no more offensive to God than I. Anything other than that is just pride. 'I'm not as bad as you are.' Really? Then, there is the second thing. There is grace for every sin. The Father will forgive anything. And he can do that because Jesus has suffered. 'Come as you are because there is grace for you. I know that not just because it is the promise of the Gospel. I know that because there is grace for me.'
We are called to change the world. The only way to do that is by the Gospel. And the first step in doing that is for us to believe what the Gospel says about us. Paul was clear about that: 'Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the worst.' Once we get that right, once we believe it about ourselves, we can proclaim it to others in a way that they will find believable: grace for sinners because of Jesus.
So, here's my question: Will we be prepared to receive these new believers with open arms to help them as they have to completely remake their lives, or will we make that transformation more difficult than it needs to be? Rosaria made it because there were some Christians who were very involved in her life and helped her. They were not put off by what she herself called her R-rated testimony. And I cannot help but think that what makes it possible to gladly accept someone with such a past is understanding two things. First, all sin is equally disgusting to God - my sin, your sin, everyone's sin. There is no better/worse when it comes to that. So, Rosaria was no more offensive to God than I. Anything other than that is just pride. 'I'm not as bad as you are.' Really? Then, there is the second thing. There is grace for every sin. The Father will forgive anything. And he can do that because Jesus has suffered. 'Come as you are because there is grace for you. I know that not just because it is the promise of the Gospel. I know that because there is grace for me.'
We are called to change the world. The only way to do that is by the Gospel. And the first step in doing that is for us to believe what the Gospel says about us. Paul was clear about that: 'Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the worst.' Once we get that right, once we believe it about ourselves, we can proclaim it to others in a way that they will find believable: grace for sinners because of Jesus.