Will Jesus Know You? Examining Faith, Obedience, and the Heart with Jason Butler

Will Jesus Know You? Examining Faith, Obedience, and the Heart with Jason Butler

Interested in the personal battles against addiction? This episode of Crossroads with Jenny Bushkell shines a light on how faith, obedience, and the condition of the heart sit at the centre of a life with Jesus. Jenny chats with Pastor Jason Butler, who once appeared to have it all as a highly successful businessman while privately wrestling with addiction.

He shares how God’s grace "not only restored his life, but transformed his life" and led him to ask a deeply unsettling question: "How do I know if Jesus will know me?" Jason explains how a man at a men’s group, troubled by Matthew 7, pushed him into years of study and reflection on Jesus’ words, "I never knew you; depart from Me." Rather than offering a checklist, his book Will Jesus Know You?

follows the Sermon on the Mount as what he calls "an incredible blueprint" for being known by Jesus. He and Jenny talk through the story of the rich young ruler, where "his stuff was his saviour, his idol," and how many believers today might say they know Jesus yet never move beyond simple belief.

With plenty of humour and honesty, Jason describes writing the book after God spoke to him while he was mowing the lawn, turning ten years of sermons, study, and his own recovery journey into a 16-day burst of writing. He breaks down big theological ideas into everyday language, explaining how issues like anger, unforgiveness, fear, and lust reveal what’s really going on in the heart.

At its core, the conversation is about moving from non-belief to belief, then to follower, and finally to someone who abides so closely with Jesus that "everything I do is based on how this is going to affect my relationship with Jesus." If you’ve ever wondered whether your faith is more than words, this episode might nudge you to ask: how’s your heart, really?