Pastor Ben’s Ponderings

“Then Haman said to King Ahasuerus, ‘There is a certain people scattered and dispersed among the people in all the provinces of your kingdom; their laws are different from all other people’s.’”         (Esther 3:8)

When Torrie & I were newlyweds, we had many friends who were young parents. As we listened to them commiserate about potty training and behavioral problems, the conversation often turned to how hard it was to raise godly children in the middle of an ungodly world. I remember self-righteously thinking that they all seemed just a little bit overprotective and old-fashioned because, in my mind, kids needed to be exposed to the “real world.” They couldn’t grow up in some kind of Christian bubble!

But then, I had kids! Believe me, before they were even out of diapers I would have paid big money for a nice, safe Christian bubble to raise them in! As they grew older, I became increasingly aware of the fact that without prayer and perseverance, the world around them had the potential to drown out the still, small voice of the God inside them.

In the story of Esther, God’s people had assimilated themselves so deeply into the pagan culture of Persia that their own faith and identity had almost completely disappeared. It seemed wiser to try to fit in than to draw attention to themselves by practicing an unpopular religion. Even Esther’s Uncle Mordecai insisted that she hide the fact that she was a Jew, perhaps hoping that would increase her chances of being chosen by the king. Maybe she could help the Jewish people without anyone ever finding out she was one of them.

Ironically, it was Mordecai himself who ended up spilling the beans! When the law of the land required him to kneel down and pay honor to Haman, his Jewish soul rose up inside of him and he refused. He may have been a resident of Persia, but on that day, Mordecai publicly claimed his real identity as a follower of the one true God.

We all face situations in our lives when we have to decide if we are going to speak up for what we believe, or just duck our heads and go with the flow. But the truth is, God never intended for His people to seamlessly blend into this world. We honor Him most when we stand up and stand out.