Outposts of Hope

The original recipients of the Letter of First Peter inhabited a radically different social context from our own. We do not live under Roman imperial rule. Slave labor is not the driving force of our economy. Women are not under patriarchal domination in our culture as they once were. Society has changed, but what is beyond dispute is that Western culture remains antithetical to God's will and hostile to the Jesus way. The imperial Caesar has been replaced by the imperial self. The Pax Romana has been replaced by the American Dream. Western capitalism still trades in the bodies and souls of human beings. Culture obsesses over sexual freedom and material indulgence. Idolatry is pervasive. Autonomous individualism is the ideal. First Peter is about the inevitable clash with culture that ensues because of the good news of Jesus Christ. The Apostle Peter's bottom-up profile of costly discipleship is far more radical than we may realize. Hostility against the church is the believer's opportunity under pressure to reveal the goodness of God. Suffering and submission are essential for Peter's Christ for culture strategy. Sacrifice is the leverage of the gospel. Cross-bearing humility is the strategy for relating to culture and Christlike humility is essential for living in the household of God.For all of the talk about cultural engagement among evangelicals these days, there is, comparatively speaking, little sustained biblical exposition on the matter. Outposts of Hope is a book I've been waiting to see for a long time. We're certainly not smarter than the apostles when it comes to how we should relate to Caesar. Through first-rate exegesis and clear writing, Douglas Webster shows us how.--Gregory Thornbury, President, King's College, New York CityFirst Peter was written to Christians in exile who were nonetheless called a holy nation and God's own people. Believers today share the same tensions that marked the lives of exiles long ago, and Doug Webster presents this strategic New Testament letter as a manual for Christian flourishing in an increasingly inhospitable culture.--Timothy George, founding Dean, Beeson Divinity School, Samford UniversityDoug Webster's writings always find the right balance of accurate interpretation and contemporary relevance. This volume is no exception. Webster analyzes the message of First Peter in its first-century context, where Peter's suffering churches are seeking to be the people of God in an increasingly alien and hostile Roman world. While historically informed, this is also rubber-meets-the-road stuff, as the author shows how the clash of cultures in Peter's world parallels our own. Pastors, teachers, and general readers will find this book insightful, engaging, and practical for ministry application and personal enrichment.--Mark L. Strauss, Professor of New Testament, Bethel Seminary San DiegoWe don't need to travel to a foreign culture to feel like a visitor anymore. In the post-Christian West the church is living abroad at home, indigenously exilic, socially vagabonded in our baptized convictions. Peter gave us the go-to New Testament letter for navigating inhospitable cultural realities, and Doug Webster gives us in Outposts of Hope an incisive call to keep to the same way.--Cole Huffman, Senior Pastor, First Evangelical Church, MemphisDouglas D. Webster is Professor of Pastoral Theology and Preaching at Beeson Divinity School in Birmingham, Alabama.