Former lesbian responds to Christian author Jen Hatmaker's remarks supporting LGBT relationships

A former lesbian has spoken out against best-selling Christian author Jen Hatmaker's comments expressing support for LGBT relationships.

In an interview with Religion News Service last week, Hatmaker affirmed her support for gay marriage and said that LGBT relationships can be "holy."

Rosaria Butterfield, a former lesbian who turned to Christ in 1999, asserted Hatmaker's words would have harmed her if she heard it before she converted to Christianity.

"If I were still in the thick of the battle over the indwelling sin of lesbian desire, Jen's words would have put a millstone around my neck," she wrote in a blog published by The Gospel Coalition.

The former lesbian stated that she has not converted out of homosexuality but out of her unbelief.

Butterfield recalled her encounter with a 75-year-old woman who approached her after she spoke at a church a few years ago. The woman told her that she had been married to another woman for 50 years and they already had children and grandchildren.

"Then she said something chilling," said Butterfield. "In a hushed voice, she whispered, 'I have heard the Gospel, and I understand that I may lose everything. Why didn't anyone tell me this before? Why did people I love not tell me that I would one day have to choose like this?'" she narrated.

Butterfield acknowledged that the Church has failed to demonstrate the love of God to the LGBT community but cautioned that Christians have also failed to recognize the true nature of the doctrine of sin.

"For when we advocate for laws and policies that bless the relationships that God calls sin, we are acting as though we think ourselves more merciful than God is," she concluded.

LifeWay Christian Resources decided to stop selling Hatmaker's books after she expressed her approval of LGBT relationships.

In a Facebook message posted on Monday, Hatmaker encouraged Christians to speak with grace regarding the controversy, noting that the LGBT community is keeping track of the conversations.