Meet Brooke Phillips, Friend of Jesus
Ms. Phillips has been one of the prostitutes featured on an HBO series called "Cathouse," which follows the lives of women who work for the Bunny Ranch, a legal house of ill repute located in Nevada.
She was discovered murdered in Oklahoma City on Monday, along with three other people, shot to death, then burned in a fire that was intentionally set. Ms. Phillips, who was 21 years old, was a native of Oklahoma City. The district attorney has determined that six people died in the fire, since two of the victims were pregnant at the time of their deaths (Ms. Phillips was one of the victims who was pregnant).
I read the story on the online version of the Tulsa World, and as usual, there were several comments from readers. Among them was "William42," who said the following:
"And her mom and dad must have been so proud. That sick lifestyle cost her her life."
Readers called William42 to task for this comment. They chastised him for being devoid of compassion. Then he identified himself as a Christian, when he said this:
Everyone knows what this girl was. I hope God has mercy on her, but that wouldn't be biblical either.
WHAT?! It wouldn't be biblical for God to show mercy on a prostitute? What Bible is this guy reading?
I also commented on the story, and suggested to William42 that Jesus was friends with people like Ms. Phillips. Not that He gave these women a free pass—He always challenged people to be better.
I also suggested that William42 had forgotten how depraved his own heart is.
His last comment was to say that Ms. Phillips died totally lost, unless she managed to ask for forgiveness, which he apparently doubted had happened, because in a very smug way, he said, "this woman was a pregnant prostitute."
Couple things here, William42, and everyone else.
God doesn't send people to hell because they are pregnant prostitutes. He doesn't send people to hell because they are killers, or rapers, or stealers. He doesn't send people to hell because they are gay. Or because they don't go to church enough.
God sends people to hell who reject the gracious gift of the life of His son. That's it. That is the only sin that will send a person to hell. Now, ideally, once a person turns to Christ, they will abandon their sinful lifestyle. But not all of us are very successful at that. Some people really struggle with giving up the old ways.
One thing that William42 pointed out was the verse in the New Testament which says, "and you will know them by their fruits" (Matthew 7:16). In other words, when a person becomes a Christian, their actions (fruits) will prove that their conversion experience was genuine.
I agree.
However, many people in the church have changed the definition of what these fruits are. They may not say it out loud, but they seem to believe that the fruits of the Spirit are
- church attendance (whenever the doors are open)
- sexual abstinence
- no drinking
- no smoking
- heterosexual (at least in public)
I'm sure there are others we could add to this list of fake fruit. My point is the New Testament does tell us that true believers will bear fruit that indicates their conversion is genuine. But they have little to do with the above list. If a person has had a true experience with their Creator, it will be evidenced by:
- Love
- Joy
- Peace
- Patience
- Kindness
- Goodness
- Faithfulness
- Gentleness
- Self-Control
These are the things, according to Galatians 5:22-23, that indicate whether a person is a Christian. Hopefully the presence of these nine things will result in a change in sinful behavior. (It is that darn self-control part that gets me).
Jesus was especially good at loving people. The reason people followed Him then, and follow Him now, is because He is your friend. He isn't barking at you to give up your way of life. Don't get me wrong—He will tell you to give up your sinful lifestyle. Remember the woman caught in adultery? The men of the city brought her to Jesus, and told Him that they were going to stone her, because the law said they could. Jesus told her that they could stone her if they liked, and the first stone was to be heaved by the one who was without sin. LOVE that. They walked away, starting with the oldest, and ending with the youngest. Jesus then said, "woman, where are your accusers?" Then He said, "neither do I condemn you. Go, and sin no more." That was it. Go, and sin no more. No shouting, no condemnation. Just a loving admonition. His love is so powerful, that no matter what He asked you to do, you'll do it. People abandoned everything to please Jesus. They still do.
The sad thing is that often, the people who have the most difficult time with the forgiveness of God are the most "religious" people. It was true when Jesus walked the earth, and it is true today. We all struggle with sin, but people inside the church often struggle with sins that are typically more easily hidden: pride, self-righteousness, gossip, etc. Religious leaders struggle with the same sins as everyone else—sexual immorality comes to mind. But those people are quickly cast aside, so we can get on with the business of condemning all the "real" sinners.
Religious people like William42 think that religious pride and self-righteousness is not as bad as sexual immorality, but they are wrong. It is still sin, and it is still destructive. And it proves that none of us have made it, none of us have arrived, none of us are perfect. It proves that we have all sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God. It proves that all of our "righteousness" is like filthy rags, compared to the goodness of God.
I can relate much more readily with Brooke Phillips, the pregnant prostitute, than I can with William42. And that doesn't bother me. I used to be like him. Now, when I look back at how I was, I'm ashamed. I thought that because I was in church every Sunday, because I didn't drink or smoke or chew, that I was better than people who did. I thought that because I wasn't a prostitute or a crack addict, that I was more attractive to God. But I was wrong. Jesus would be more likely to be friends with Ms. Phillips than with me, because people like Ms. Phillips KNOW that they need help. I didn't think I needed any. It was only after I hit rock bottom that I figured out how dark and depraved I really was. And it was only after recognizing the depth of my own depravity that I began to relate to people like Brooke Phillips.
Ms. Phillips was raised here in Oklahoma. Maybe she attended a church youth group. Maybe she went to Falls Creek. Maybe she gave her life to Christ. Maybe she was a very loving and decent person, but went down the wrong path when it came to her lifestyle. I hope that when she died, she knew her Maker. And I hope that today, she is in Heaven, fully aware that her lifestyle was wrong, but thankful for a merciful Savior.
If you believe Luke 18:9-14, it is a more likely scenario than William42 being there. Because self-righteousness is a bad, bad thing.
Even worse than being a pregnant prostitute.
The difference between me and Hayden Brooks is this. She was a prostitute. She got paid for her services. When I was 19, I was a whore. I didn't get paid for my services. I also got pregnant. And, I loved Jesus then. I was a girl who was desperate to be accepted after feeling abandoned, worthless, and invisible my whole life. It didn't work. The hardest part, that has changed me the most, is that those who were teaching me in Sunday School were the first ones to "cast stones" and pour their judgment onto me. Not so funny part, within 2 years of my pregnancy, 4 other girls from our youth group ended up pregnant too. Including members of family of those who looked down their self-righteous noses at me. What was missing? I can't say that I know that answer. I can say that my experience has allowed me to try to never judge. Who am I? I often tell people, still, when they comment on my 16 year old daughter and my 15 year old marriage that the only difference between them, and me, is that I could not hide my sin. I grew bigger and bigger until the whole world could see. They may be able to "hide" theirs from the world to see. But God knows.
My sin resulted in a truly repentant heart, an amazing daughter, and a live dedicated to living for Christ out of gratefulness that he forgives me, constantly, and took care of my judgment for me. And, I can't say I would have it any other way. I may have been one of those who judged if I hadn't gone through the experience of receiving God's mercy...
I could have been "Hayden Brooks".
But, for the Grace of God, there go I.
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Shawna, I really appreciate your transparency. Knowing you now, it is difficult to imagine you the way you describe yourself, and to me that is a testimony to how thorough God is when He renews a heart and a mind. I would call it a remarkable transformation. Thanks for your testimony.
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I have learned over the years that people may be impressed with our success, but they are IMPACTED by our failures. If ALL of us would remove the veil from our "appearance" and be honest, we would realize that we are all the same. We all have different things that we struggle with. If we don't share them, satan wins. If we do, Christ gets the glory.
Revelation 12:11 - They overcame him by the Blood Of The Lamb and their testimony and they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.
Sometimes that "death" is simply letting go of what others may think of you... God does not take us through something to keep silent. My story has impacted teen girls all over to make different decisions. If I had been silent, who knows.... There is freedom in transparency!
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This post made me think of the lyrics from one of my favorite Pedro the Lion songs.
"This line is metaphysical
And on the one side, on the one side
The bad half live in wickedness
And on the other side, on the other side
The good half live in arrogance
And there's a steep slope, with a short rope
This line is metaphysical
And there's a steady flow, moving to and fro"
http://www.rhapsody.com/pedro-the-lion/control/magazine/lyrics.html
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Joshua, I know I am revealing my age here, but I have no idea who Pedro the Lion is. Dang it!
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such a great post. if I recall, the people Jesus was most harsh to were the religious people who didn't take to kindly to prostitutes.(mary m) or whores.(woman at the well). we are all prostitutes and whores in some way.
my view of heaven and hell have changed over the years. I hope that God is more merciful than the most merciful and gracious of us. I tend to think folks opt into hell. I think the grace of God thru Christ is more expansive than we think. Ironically, it's the those who demand judgment, who declare the letter of the law who may have to keep it and buy doing so opt themselves out of heaven (because that's not what heaven's about) and into hell, because thats what the choose for themselves.
regardless. God has a special place in his heart for the broken and the lost. It's a heartbreaking story. tragic. not how God intends the world to be.
thanks jason.
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Read this earlier jason but was on vacation so didn't respond then. this is a fantastic post! I despise it when people "speak for me" as though their brand of "christianity" is mine. I do not know Ms. Philips heart. Only God does and until then I refuse to castigate her. I will allow God to take care of that. Besides, I have enough of my own junk to deal with let alone worry about where someone of "ill repute" will be spending her eternity (after the fact). Again, great post!
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