The Gospel Comes With a House Key – Rossaria Butterfield

Rosaria Butterfield, The Gospel Comes With a House Key Wheaton: Crossway, 2018, 240 pp. $15.82

“Imagine a world where the power of the gospel to change lives is our to behold.” This is the soul-stirring, gospel-focussed message that Rosaria Butterfield proclaims in her most recent book, The Gospel Comes With a House Key.

The author aims to inspire readers to follow her example of radical hospitality that reaches out to family, neighbors, and complete strangers. The book is packed with personal examples of how this kind of Bible-saturated hospitality can invade a willing home.

One theme that will no doubt draw critics is the matter of patriarchy. Butterfield calls her female readers to accept their God-ordained call to submit to the authority of their husbands and reap the benefits of this biblical-minded obedience: “Imagine a world where biblical patriarchy – the benevolent leading of servant-hearted fathers – made all of us breathe a sigh of relief, knowing that the good fathers would protect us from the roving gangs of evil men,” writes the author.

But she continues by articulating how this countercultural model of manhood and womanhood should play out among Bible-believing Christians:

“The godly submission of a faithful wife to her head – her husband – does not diminish the power and strength that God has given to women but instead channels it to serve the most important people first … Godly patriarchy means rule by the godly fathers, the good men who sacrifice their lives for the protection of their family. In God’s hands, when the good fathers lead, the roaming gangs of violent men are kept in check and away. We need godly patriarchs because sin is real, and the droving gangs of male violence are real too. If men aren’t trained to lead by God’s design, they often destroy by Satan’s command.”

The theme of biblical patriarchy stands in the background yet provides the fuel for the larger theme of gospel-driven hospitality. The Gospel Comes With a House Key is a challenging, thought-provoking read that will prompt many discussions and even debates in the days to come. The end result will be a strengthened church whose covenant members commit themselves to demonstrating radical hospitality for the good of the neighborhood as well as the nations.

I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review.