“But, beloved, remember words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: how that they told you there should be mockers in the last time who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.” Jude 17-18
“. . . raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.” Jude 13
I naturally tend to react in anger when I read the blasphemous statements of apostates—those individuals who once appeared to hold fast to Biblical Christianity, yet now have wandered far afield and turned away from God’s truth. But there is one apostate who moves me to profound sorrow, a sorrow which far exceeds my anger. That man is Frank Schaeffer—the son of the late Francis Schaeffer and his wife Edith Schaeffer, whom I believe is still living.
I became a Christian in 1971, at the age of 37. There I was, a clueless new believer fresh from the erroneous “Man is Good” world view of secular humanism. I knew that I was a sinner—saved by the blood of Christ, God’s Son who died and rose victoriously to give me eternal life. Obviously these are crucial things to know, the vital core of the Christian Gospel! But that is literally all that I knew.
I’d received a Bible as a child but had never read it. (I tried once or twice, but I could have been trying to read the original Hebrew and Greek for all I understood of it!) The only Scripture I knew at the time of my salvation was Psalm 23. I had invoked that passage but once in my life—when I was terrified while dangling in a chair lift over Winter Park, Colorado. Because I was raised in the gentle hills of Wisconsin, Psalm 23 came in handy during that “Rocky Mountain High”!
Anyway there I was in 1971, knowing nothing—eager to learn, brimming with questions, frustrated because of my lack of wisdom and understanding. I desperately needed to sit at the feet of a friend who understood my background, someone who could delineate Scriptures and explain Christianity in contrast to my long-standing secular world view. Happily, I found this friend through the writings of Francis Schaeffer.
Francis Schaeffer’s books enabled me to see my former world view through God’s searchlight and revelation. Not only did Francis Schaeffer’s books clarify my new life in Christ, these writings underscored and reinforced what I was beginning to comprehend from the Bible classes I attended. I was starved for Scriptures, and could not get enough. Francis Schaeffer helped to make the Bible totally relevant and viable in my mind.
Equally edifying was the role of Edith Schaeffer’s writings in my life. As a homemaker, I pursued a lifelong habit of beautifying my environment. Even as a small child, creating beauty was a motivating force. I recall arranging shells and rocks in my childhood room, in patterns that pleased me. No one taught me to do this, although my mother certainly modeled beauty and order in our home. I simply was that way, without thinking about it. I enjoyed making things lovely, and there was no other way I could be!
Meanwhile, as a new believer I met some Christian women who believed that homemaking was a burdensome chore to be endured and dispensed with as quickly and mindlessly as possible—a kind of punishment rather than a blessed stewardship. These women thought that the Christian life was something be done “out there”. Certainly they believed that it was good to apply our faith to the relationships with people in our homes. But to invest time and effort into creating an atmosphere of beauty within the home was considered wasteful and idolatrous in these women’s eyes.
I was disturbed by these women, as I wanted desperately to please the Lord—yet I loved to bake, knit, garden, and keep my home in ways that reflected my hunger for beauty. I questioned, were those urges wrong? Was it truly “idolatrous” to be thoroughly contented with living creatively at home, to a point where there was no place on earth I’d rather be?
I anguished over my questions until Edith Schaeffer came to my rescue with her book, THE HIDDEN ART OF HOMEMAKING. In this book, Edith Schaeffer dealt with most every imaginable aspect of homemaking. She viewed homemaking as an infinitely valuable, God-honoring ministry where creating beauty and order is a high priority. Homemakers have a responsibility to savor their role, as they reflect the beauty and order of our Creator! As we mirror God’s beauty through home arts and crafts, we influence not only our families but people outside our homes—even people of future generations. In Edith Schaeffer, I found a godly role model who enabled me to discern and deflect anything which might distract me from God’s perfect will for me at home!
So you can see why I count Francis and Edith Schaeffer among my close friends! Thousands (maybe millions!) of others can testify to being blessed by the Schaeffers’—via their books as well as through their L’Abri ministry in Switzerland. Yet now the Schaeffers’ God-honoring ministries have been viciously attacked and undermined by their son, Frank Schaeffer.
I cannot even begin to list on this page, the times and ways in which Frank Schaeffer has denigrated and insulted his own parents. He has bad-mouthed his father’s character, denounced the conservative politics of his parents, and denied God’s work through Evangelical and Fundamentalist Churches at large. I cannot begin to record the scope of Frank’s writings, public statements, interviews with the press, etc. It would take too many pages of blogging to record all of this man’s defection. For details, you can GOOGLE “Frank Schaeffer”. You can read for yourself, and I believe you will weep!
Frank Schaeffer’s apostasy turns my stomach! But it also breaks my heart! I pray for Frank Schaeffer, as I’d pray for any other rebellious and reprobate child of dear friends. I pray that Frank will have a Damascus Road encounter—and that the Lord will turn “Frank” into a “Paul”!
Our Lord is a God of miracles. He can silence the mockers, and calm the raging waves of the sea!
Margaret L. Been, ©2011
