Meet the Author
After posting nearly 200 book reviews on sowhatfaith using the same basic format, I find myself writing the first introduction to an author that lacks biographical data. The anonymous author of the book chose not to reveal her/his identity because he/she felt it was inconsistent with the book’s basic message. While never sharing that identifying information, the author did weave personal stories into most chapters.
Book Basics
Many today define success in terms of how much money, power, and prestige one attains. Embracing Obscurity calls those who follow the way of Jesus to aspire to the radical goal of blending into the fabric of humanity by becoming “just 1 in 7 billion.” The author constructs an argument for this countercultural message based on Jesus’ “model of selfless service and obscure suffering” (p.41).
Relying heavily upon Bible verses, personal experiences, and a variety of stories the author invites readers to reconsider how they will spend the rest of this life. The book features chapters focused on attributes Christians should seek to attain (including true success, servanthood, suffering, and hope), and concludes with a lengthy list of discussion questions for use in individual reflection or group study.
Written from a conservative Evangelical perspective using dated language for humanity and for the divine, Embracing Obscurity offers the faithful a reminder that their faith is not about adopting the ways of the dominant culture. Overall, the book is well suited to encourage those who have long believed its message but have not acted in accordance with such; it is unlikely to challenge the perspective of those with other religious perspectives or the non-religious.
So What?
Religion provides a framework for living well. In what areas of life does your religion lead you to adopt views that most would label countercultural? If you follow the way of Jesus, how does this shape your understanding of self-importance vs. selflessness?
Anonymous. Embracing Obscurity: Becoming Nothing in Light of God’s Everything (B&H Publishing Group, 2012). ISBN: 9781433677816.
Posted by the request of the publisher:
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