Book Review: The Gospel Comes with a House Key By Rosaria Butterfield
The Gospel Comes with a House Key by Rosaria Champagne Butterfield
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I’ve now finished another book that I should have finished long ago and was languishing in my “currently reading” pile. I wanted to finish it; I enjoy Rosaria’s writing style and content. She gives powerful arguments, testimony, and example. The stories bracket the book’s opening and closing very well.
One thing I’ve been thinking about this week, in particular, is how we react to people in a place of struggle – whether that’s emotional, spiritual, mental, physical, or all wrapped together as trauma.
From a final chapter, ruminating on the Emmaus Road,
Jesus does not hurry them. He does not jolly them. He doesn’t fear their pain or even their wrong-minded notions of who the Christ shoudl be or is. He knows that the process is important. He knows that grief and lamentation are vital to the soul. The Christian life isn’t a math test. A whole lot more than the answer matters a whole lot more. So he accompanies them in their suffering. And we need to do the same. When people are willing to stop and tell us where they hurt, we need to praise God for it, and we need to stop what we are doing, shut our mouths, and listen with care.
How can I listen with care to my children, husband, friends, church members? How can I listen with care to lamentations online? I tend to hop to problem-solving mode … how can we make this better? What suggestion(s) do I have? But that isn’t always what is needed – and it isn’t always the best thing.
There are stories here to make you draw back, to draw you in, to consider thoughtfully. There is a lifestyle and conviction to be met and discussed. There are challenges made – how can we serve one another and ultimately Christ himself in the day to day.
Recommended reading.