Mike Cosper - Faith Among the Faithless: Learning from Esther How to Live in a World Gone Mad

CONTENTS

PRAISE FOR FAITH AMONG THE FAITHLESS

Be a Daniel is the go-to-phrase for encouraging Christians to impact our culture. Mike Cosper turns this mantra on its head by looking to Esther to figure out our world. A brother looking to Esther, I love it! He gets it because Esther has the guts and the grit that we all need to bend the times to Christ.

Kyle Idleman, pastor and author of Not a Fan and Grace Is Greater

Mike Cosper gives us a finely written, timely, and sometimes provocative commentary on the themes of Esther. He retells the story with particular emphasis on how her story is really our own in a highly secularized society. I want an authentic witness in todays world and this commentary will help you to live and tell Christian truth in a non-Christian world.

Ed Stetzer, Billy Graham Distinguished Chair, Wheaton College

Faith Among the Faithless reveals rich and timely parallels between the ancient biblical story of Esther and the current time Christians find ourselves in. Deftly weaving these threads together, Mike Cosper creates a rich and illuminating tapestry of timeless biblical truth. Its been a long time since I have been so informed, inspired, and encouraged by a contemporary examination and application of a biblical narrative.

Karen Swallow Prior, author of Booked and Fierce Convictions

Mike Cosper is one of only a few Christian authors today who can match meaningful, insightful commentary with a sense of craft and artistry. This is why Im honored to recommend Faith Among the Faithless to you, not simply as a guide to wisely navigating our tumultuous times but as an excellent reminder that the beauty of Gods gospel has always overpowered the lures of this fallen world.

Jared Wilson, director of content strategy at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, managing editor of For The Church, and author of Supernatural Power for Everyday People

We may live in a world gone mad, but thats not a new development. So long as you and I or our ancestors have walked this earth, sin has followed close behind. We need wisdom and grace to walk by faith among the faithless. Youll love how Mike Cosper retells the timeless story of Esther with details and perspectives you hadnt before considered. We need this books vision of courageous faith in the face of assimilation.

Collin Hansen, editorial director for The Gospel Coalition and coauthor of A God-Sized Vision

Few things resonate more powerfully than someone reminding you of who you are. Faith Among the Faithless plants the truth of scripture into our modern moment. With power, clarity, and conviction Mike Cosper clarifies the Christian response in our cultural moment.

Gabe Lyons, president of Q and author of Good Faith

Mike Cospers latest work is a brilliant and timely walk through the book of Esther. From the moment I started reading this book, I could not put it down. In Faith Among the Faithless Cosper ushers the reader into the biblical account and shows how the message of Esther is a beam of light for a follower of Jesus navigating the current culture. I hope every Christian reads this book!

Brian Howard, chairman of the board of Acts 29 and founder of Context Coaching

O n a hot June day, with green skies and swirling winds, I found myself stuck at the Denver airport, my flight home crawling through a series of delays that would ultimately lead to cancellation. I made my way to a restaurant with an indoor patio overlooking one of the airports central hubs and began writing down some thoughts that had been stirring for a whilethoughts about the book of Esther, and how it might illuminate a way of life for Christians in a culture people have called a secular age and post-Christian.

A year later, on another hot summer day, I was stuck once again in the Denver airport, awaiting a long-delayed flight. I took the time to look over my thoughts on Esther and culture. This time, though, the manuscript was pretty much finished.

It seemed oddly poetic to begin and end this book in an airport. Airports are in-between places, liminal spaces, thresholds that lead us to and from honeymoons, vacations, funerals, sales meetings, and the glories and miseries of work. They are also (as I know all too well) places of unpredictability, much like our world.

Consider the cultural shifts of the last decade. Weve seen the expansion of gay rights and the rise of the alt-right. Weve elected the first African-American president and weve elected Donald Trump. Christian schools, bakers, and florists have faced litigation for their beliefs and practices. Meanwhile, a conservative justice who nearly all assume is committed to the cause of religious liberty was easily confirmed to the Supreme Court. Even as I sat finalizing this manuscript, there were images of neo-Nazis and white supremacists marching around the city of Charlottesville, Virginia. By the days end, one of them would slam a car into a crowd of protestors, injuring several and killing one.

I didnt see any of this coming, and it leads me to ask: Where are we headed? What comes next?

The world seems to be alternatingly progressive and regressive, and neither movement seems to be getting any closer to creating a world of peace and flourishing. Nor does either movement harmonize well with the way of life and understanding of the world described in the Bible. It seems most certainly a post-Christian world, but it isnt yet clear exactly what kind of world that is.

Within the Christian community, debates are taking place about the posture that Christians should take in this in-between space. Some think we should grasp once again for power and take back the cultural influence and cachet thats been lost in the last few decades. Others, seeing things in a bleaker light, are calling for a well-considered withdrawal, focusing on shoring up our institutions and preparing for the new dark ages that modern decadence is sure to bring upon us.

I confess Im sympathetic to the latter view. I do think things are going to get worse before they get better. In spite of signs to the contrary, secularism marches on, and it will continue to apply pressure on churches and ordinary Christians, both in resisting their beliefs and undermining their place in the public sphere. Theres some wisdom in saying, Dear Christian: brace yourself.

But its also true that this has always been the posture of Christians in the broader world. Christians have always served a different King and a different kingdom, and every generation faces the temptation to compromisewhether it concerns sexual ethics, racism and human dignity, or the ever-present lure of power and money.

And of course, compromise is never confined to one single issue. Today, were immersed in a secular age, and were profoundly shaped by its valuesits consumerism, its addictive nature, its pleasure and distraction seeking. A way forward in such a world will be countercultural in a host of ways.

SEARCHING FOR A ROLE MODEL

Many who have examined our current cultural situation have looked to the prophet Daniel as a role model. Daniel found himself living in pagan Babylon and pressured on all sides to compromise, but he endured that pressure and lived to tell the tale, unstained by the culture around him. He bore witness to Gods faithfulness, and he won a certain respectability and plausibility for Jews in the process.

But theres a problem with looking to Daniel: Most of us arent a Daniel. In fact, we are far from it. As much as we recognize that our culture is in decline, we also kind of... like it. Christians in general consume as much mass media and are as addicted to pornography, as likely to divorce, as consumeristic, and as obsessed with social media as the rest of our world. Again: were immersed in a secular age, and its had a profound effect upon us.