Sunday, More Wisdom with Rosaria

FOR THE PAST TWO WEEKS, I'VE POSTED EXCERPTS from Rosaria Champagne Butterfield's stunning book, The Secrets Thoughts of An Unlikely Convert, which I cannot recommend highly enough for anyone, ANYONE, who wants a deeper walk with Christ. Week 1 here, Week 2 here.

Through her conversion and subsequent Bible study, she realizes that pride or going our own independent way, not sexual impropriety, is at the base of every sin. Sodom was not completely destroyed because of homosexuality and depravity but rather because of pride as well as its lack of humility, discretion and compassion for the poor and outcast and preoccupation with entertainment and wealth of all kinds.

Let us take up there:

But God is a God of mercy, redemption, second-chances, and salvation. And therefore, when Jesus uses Sodom as an example during his ministry on earth, the examply reveals that God is angrier at the religious people (the legalistic Pharisees) of Jesus' day than the inhabitants of Sodom. Jesus says this to God's people in Capernaum:

And you Capernum, who are exalted to heaven, will be brought down to Hades; for if the mighty works which wer done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I say to you that it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment than for you. (Matthew 11:23-24)....

These passages also convicted me that homosexuality---like ALL sin--- is symptomatic and not causal---that is it tells us where our heart has been, no who we inherently are or what we are destined to become.

These passages forced me to see pride and not sexual orientation as the root sin. In turn, this shaped the way I reflected on my whole life, in the context of the Word of God. I realized that my sexuality had never been pure and my relationships never honored the other person or the Lord. My moral code encompassed serial monogamy, 'safe' sex, and sex only in the context of love. Love, grounded only in personal feelings as mine had been, changes without warming or logic. The truth is....outside of Christ, I am a manipulator, liar, power-monger, and controller. In my relationships with men and women, I had to be in charge. I killed with kindness, and slayed with gifts.....

---Rosaria Butterfield

Amen sister...and.to be continued....next week she takes on quick evangelical believism.