Rosaria Butterfield is a well-known speaker and writer who converted from a life filled with questions about sexuality, uncertainty, and disdain for conservative evangelicals. A pastor, his wife, and their church congregation played a vital role in her conversion, reaching out to her, a secular college professor and practicing lesbian. She shares, “In this war of worldviews, [pastor] Ken was there. Floy was there. The church that had been praying for me for years was there. Jesus triumphed. And I was a broken mess. Conversion was a train wreck. I did not want to lose everything that I loved. But the voice of God sang a sanguine love song in the rubble of my world. I weakly believed that if Jesus could conquer death, he could make right my world. I drank, tentatively at first, then passionately, of the solace of the Holy Spirit. I rested in private peace, then community, and today in the shelter of a covenant family, where one calls me ‘wife’ and many call me ‘mother.’”
Our church must be willing to open its doors to anyone seeking after Christ, no matter how intimidating. The pastor in Rosaria’ life first invited her to his home to get to know his family, then invited her to church. Hospitality is a huge first step and a way to bring the church to someone rather than expecting them to come to us.
Source: http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2013/january-february/my-train-wreck-conversion.html
