Land of My Sojourn: The Landscape of a Faith Lost and Found

In 2016, evangelical pastor Cosper (Recapturing the Wonder), the director of podcasting at Christianity Today, was shocked when a financial supporter told him they were glad someone was going to “stand up for the white man.” He was referring to the conservative Christian embrace of Trump’s a misogynistic, grandiose presidential candidacy that fostered and racial tensions. This statement threw Cosper into an emotionally fraught journey of spiritual unmooring and personal deconstruction that left him nearly friendless and “spiritually exhausted, isolated and brokenhearted.” His concerns are not for the external forces of this political sea change but the ugly and ruthless attacks from within evangelical Christianity to get behind such a candidate—or get out—that upend his faith. Cosper’s leaving active ministry behind, taking a trip to the Holy Land (starting with Mount Tabor), and eventually ending up at the Sea of Galilee spell reception of a newer, less unspoiled but perhaps truer faith. His honest appraisal of Church disagreements and his own spiritual uncertainty results in his joyful acceptance of his identity as an imperfect wounded healer.