Mike Cosper
Marvin Olasky reviews Mike Cosper’s memoir, Land of My Sojourn, which takes a hard look at the intersection of modern evangelicalism and politics
MC: “Highly visible leaders in the large church I’d grown up respecting became bootlicking pundits, contorting both their spines and the Scriptures to provide apologetic to support their naked embrace of power politics. [Christian leaders] who refused to support Trump lost jobs, lost speaking opportunities, and began long seasons in the desert.”
MO: First takeaway:
MC: “This idea that we were always ‘one good conversation away’ from fixing what was broken was a symptom of the disease that had infected the church. In reality we were never one conversation away because we were never having the same conversation. The people gathered around the tables never actually wanted the same things.”
MO: Folks on the right have reasons to be concerned about drag-queen story hour and other headline-making follies, but Cosper’s reaction is nuanced and correct: “Even if we granted that these threats were real, our response to them is still wrong if, when fears arise, we reject the way of Jesus and cry for Barabbas. The persecution narrative merely justifies the militarization of the faith.”
MO: Second takeaway:
MC: “The leadership model we have in our evangelical world incentivizes grandiosity.”
MO: Jesus could have walked around with hundreds or thousands, but he told the truth and deliberately chose 12.
MO: Third takeaway:
MO: The third takeaway is implicit in Cosper’s memoir but more explicit in his wrap-up of “The Esther Option,” a 2018 Gospel Coalition website piece:
“We resist the temptation to fight power with power, and we resist the temptation to run away. … We pray for awakening and renewal in our hearts, we embrace the vulnerability of our identity as God’s people, we renew our commitment to the formative work and traditions that are both our heritage and our future, and we hope and pray our presence is filled with the aroma of Christ.”
To read Olasky’s full review, click here.