MIS85-2The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert is the title of one of the most significant Christian books in decades. It is the story of Rosaria Butterfield in which she chronicles her journey from being a lesbian feminist to a follower of Christ—the “details of the inner landscape of

[her] conversion to Christ.” It is a remarkable story in itself, but this book is much more than a conversion story.

In reading this book one is overwhelmed with a sense of God’s purpose and providence in the conversion of a sinner. When the Lord saved Paul on the road to Damascus He saved a mature, informed, and articulate sinner, proactive in his hostility against Christ. The same is remarkably true of Rosaria Butterfield. But the important thing about Mrs. Butterfield’s conversion is that, like Paul, the attributes that made her a significant sinner also make her a very useful saint. Her involvement in the GLBT community, her unusual introduction to Christianity, her refreshing view of the gospel, and her insightful understanding of evangelicalism are all very well articulated because—in the providence of God—she was an English professor at a major university in the United States.

All 148 pages of this book are weighted with thoughtfulness. It is witty and sober, reflective and insightful. As you read this book you will be moved by the warmth of the gospel at work in the mind and heart. You will be overwhelmed with the sheer power of God to “overhaul” the “soul and personality” (p. 34). Most of all, this book will make you think. It will cause you to reevaluate your Christian worldview and force you to face your secret sins with biblical honesty rather than with the self-preserving pretense that our Christian culture has encouraged. Parents will be confronted with the increasing need to instruct their children for the sake of the world rather than insulate them out of fear of the world.

The broader evangelical church will find in this book a corrective to modern evangelism and the fluffy, cheap-grace presentation of the gospel that denies the expectations that the gospel makes on the life. The cruelty and dehumanizing that many evangelical Christians have manifested in the name of piety and social morals towards the GLBT community is exposed. You will be forced to acknowledge that the homosexual is actually a human being and an image bearer of God, and you will see that to reach this community you must make the biblical distinction between acceptance and approval. Rosaria Butterfield refreshingly speaks of “my friends in the GLBT community.” Rosaria graciously offers a shot in the arm to the one who would dare to be like Jesus and be a “friend of publicans and sinners.” This book will both bring you to tears and give you a chuckle; it will inspire you, inform, and instruct you in how to live as a Christian in a culture that needs real Christians. You will want to buy this book and read it a second or third time. You can buy the book here.