Death to Life

At the heart of the Easter message is that we can be transferred from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of life - through Scripture, we recognize that we can become new creations in Him.  The Bible says that while we were still sinners, Jesus died for us. The Church should be effectively communicating life transformation and proclaiming how that has become a reality for those who are called children of God through Jesus.  Colossians chapter 1 (ESV) says:
13 He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son,
14 in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Romans 5:8 says: "God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."

A young lady, a wife, a mother of three, has been sharing her testimony for years - hers is s story in which she, by her own admission, sinned greatly - she lived an immoral lifestyle. But, Jesus has transformed her.  And, her husband celebrates that change with her, rejoicing in what God has done.  He posted about it on X, and it rapidly reached 20 million, 30 million views, and more.  But, not all were enthused about what Trevor Sheatz had to say about his wife, Ashley, and what God had done in their relationship.  He wrote:

My wife was formerly promiscuous. I was a virgin.

She was then radically born-again. Committed to church, evangelized constantly, Puritan books in her bedroom, prayer journals, grief over past sexual sin, etc.

We got to know each other well for over a year, dated for four months, engaged for two and a half, and didn't sin sexually with one another. Our first kiss with each other was at the altar on our wedding day (reaction pic attached!).

We've been married for over five years now, and she's been the most wonderful and godly wife, mother to our three children, and homemaker you could imagine.

Well-known Christian writer Bethel McGrew, on her Substack page, provided some context:

He was replying to an ongoing discourse about whether formerly promiscuous women are “damaged goods” to be permanently avoided by Christian men. Something about the post unlocked the secret to Twitter virality. Who knows why anything goes viral, but maybe it was the “hook” that he contrasted his wife’s former promiscuity with his virginity, to the end of offering hope that God can make this kind of union fruitful.

But, as she pointed out, it did go viral and elicited some inappropriate comments from a trio of Daily Wire commentators; McGrew writes: "Ben Shapiro, Michael Knowles, and Andrew Klavan took turns mocking the post. All speak as if the man sprang this on his wife out of the blue, apparently lacking basic facts Grok could have handed them with one prompt."

After a lengthy analysis about some of the issues that this topic may have raised, McGrew writes, "In summary: Jesus saves. Trevor and Ashley didn’t do anything wrong. Trolls are gonna troll, grifters are gonna grift. But also, these things are complicated. It’s important to be able to discuss complicated things normally."  But she adds: "However, this requires people to be normal first. That seems to have been a challenge for a lot of people this week, but the option is still available."

Owen Strachan, who is known as a writer and theologian who has served with the Family Research Council and James Dobson Family Institute.  On X, he stated, in response to the Daily Wire triad: "Ashley Sheatz has shared her conversion testimony for years."   He went on to say:

Of her own volition, Ashley shared about her deliverance from promiscuity, the occult, and doing hard drugs. These things wrecked and ruined her life. Again, Ashley was clear as crystal about her sexual sin, and said more about it in the 2020 article she wrote than Trevor did in the X post you tore to shreds on air. She has publicly talked about her deliverance from sexual sin on numerous occasions. (Nor did Trevor call his wife derogatory words--it's really disappointing that you all collectively presented him as doing so.)

Ashley does all this--from what I know--not to be salacious or get clicks. (Nor does Trevor.) She does so to warn others about the destructiveness of sin, and even more than this, the redeeming power of the blood of Jesus. Ashley, with her husband Trevor, is a born again believer. I won't speak for her, but as a friend of her and Trevor, I know that she lives to magnify the mercy of God in her life.

Ray Comfort and Allie Beth Stuckey also interviewed the couple following the dust-up, giving them the opportunity to share their heart with their audiences.  

Certainly, there are some who believe that Ashley and Trevor might be guilty of oversharing, especially about her past; that perhaps Trevor should have left it to his wife to reveal her indiscretions.  Fact is, she's actually been doing that - and Trevor is essentially telling his wife's redemption story to celebrate what God has done.  

I think that perhaps the Church, for whatever reason, has shied away or shrunk back from boldly proclaiming what God has done in the lives of its members.  And, we should never be intimidated or shamed into sharing our testimony - what Jesus has delivered us from, as well as what He has delivered us into.  That's the pattern of the apostle Paul.  So, this week, as we reflect on the dying Savior and the risen Lord, we can allow Him to speak and display His love through us.  

And, we should never identity with or accommodate our sin - in a spirit of compromise, some churches have glorified lawlessness by not fully talking about the power to overcome sin.  But, when sin has been overcome and lawlessness has been repented of, then that is a cause for celebration.  We are a victorious people, bought by the blood of the Lamb, our Savior who gave His life as a sacrifice so that sin could be defeated and we could be raised to new life.