Several books have been foundational to my Christian maturity, and Rosiaria Butterfield’s The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert stands tall among them. In this autobiography, Rosaria recounts her conversion from a lesbian lifestyle to faith in Christ. I love this book for two reasons: It encourages me concerning the power of the gospel, and Rosaria Butterfield is an talented writer in her own right. 

I chose to review a paragraph from the introduction to her book, so you will see that Butterfield is setting the reader’s expectations for the following pages. Her conversion story relates a total revolution in her life, and this paragraph perfectly prepares us to follow her on that journey.

THE PARAGRAPH

“In the pages that follow, I share what happened in my private world through what Christianas politely call conversion. This word—conversion—is simply too tame and too refined to capture the train wreck that I experienced in coming face-to-face with the Living God. I know of only one word to describe this time-released encounter: impact. Impact is, I believe, the space between the multiple car crash and the body count. I try, in the pages that follow, to relive the impact of God on my life.” 

The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert [Second Ed.]. By Rosaria Butterfield. 

Pittsburg, PA: Crown & Covenant Publications, 2017, xi. 

STRENGTHS   

CLARITY — This paragraph clearly defines the key theme of the book.

Butterfield restates “conversion” with the word, “impact,” and this restatement meaningfully shapes the reader’s understanding of what “conversion” means to her. By “impact,” Butterfield means that Jesus Christ is not just a positive addition to her life, but rather a total revolution of it. She uses “conversion” throughout the book, but the reader’s subconscious has been programmed from the beginning to think of conversion as “impact.” 

VISUALIZATION — This paragraph utilizes metaphors to make readers visualize the theme.

I like books more than television because a good author can paint pictures inside my head. Television can only put pictures in front of my eyes. In one paragraph, Butterfield (via metaphor) paints two major pictures in my head. First, a train-wreck, then a pile-up of crashed cars on the freeway. Both images vividly relate the type of impact conversion had on her life. It wasn’t a side-swipe or a fender-bender. Her conversion was a total loss — a devastating impact that completely disabled what was functioning before. Butterfield proves her story-telling talent as she paints vivid scenes on the canvas of my mind. 

WEAKNESSES

Nope — None that I can see! 

IMPORTANCE

Conversion should make an impact, and this highlight emphasizes that truth. The paragraph simultaneously refutes two problems in Fundamentalism and Evangelicalism today: easy believe-ism and grace exclusion. 

“Easy believe-ism” is the idea that faith for salvation need not involve any recognition of or repentance from sin. In the easy believe-ism scheme, a person can pray the “sinner’s prayer” and then go on living as if nothing had ever happened. No change of life need occur to demonstrate the reality of that faith. In other words, conversion of a lesbian to Christ need not have such “impact.” She could pray the sinner’s prayer, go on living her former lifestyle, and still be saved. 

“Grace exclusion” is a term of my own invention. It describes a minority opinion among some ultra-fundamentalists. The opinion basically declares that certain sinners are excluded from the very possibility of receiving God’s grace in salvation. The general idea is that homosexuals can never be saved (contra 1Corinthians 6:11). This view is mainly popularized by Steven Anderson and the “New IFB.”

Rosaria’s testimony is the stone that kills both of these birds. If homosexuals are beyond the grace of God, then how can she be so dramatically saved? If salvation necessarily requires no repentance, then why is “conversion” so “tame” a word to describe the total revolution of her life? Birds, meet stone! 

RECOMMENDATION

The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert is an easy, enjoyable, and encouraging read, written for the popular level. It is only 148 pages in length, and 179 pages if you stick around for the encore of appendices. This is a great book for everyone, especially those who like to read biography and those who like to admire trophies of God’s grace. 

To view the book on Amazon, click here.