JUST FINISHED AN appropriate book for the Christmas Season, Embracing Obscurity: Becoming Nothing in Light of God’s Everything. Who wrote it? Anonymous of course! It only makes sense that the author of book would not seek the lime-light.
This is the perfect book for the holidays. The premise is that “although Jesus was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied himself taking the form of a servant” (Phil 2:6-7). In other words, he emptied himself of all the rights to fame, attention, and worldly popularity. He pointed everyone away from himself to God.
The author exposes our penchant for just the opposite, pointing everyone to ourselves. “We’re intoxicated with a desire to be known, recognized, appreciated, and respected. We crave to be a “somebody” and do notable things, to achieve our dreams and gain the admiration of others. To be something—anything—other than nothing.”(Kindle 78-80).
Although we are all drunk with a lust to be worshiped we are really only one out of possibly 100 billion people that have ever lived. We will never be really important, and so what if we are? Recognition seldom brings fulfillment. In addition, we are utterly apathetic to the amazing truth of the Incarnation that God became nothing.
The author notes the need to suffer in anonymity. Don’t buy into the health, wealth, and prosperity mentality. We may suffer in unknown, unacknowledged anonymity doing the will of God and never be known or appreciated by anyone but an audience of One. In addition, none of our non-Christian friends will understand our willingness to eschew fame and popularity. They might even persecute us for doing so.
The book closes with practical advice for how to handle fame (should God send it) and a strong exhortation to hope for the true notoriety that will be ours in the world to come.
This book is a jewel. I strongly recommend it. It is available for $6.99 in paperback or $1.99 in Kindle here.