Tuesday, January 01, 2013

Embracing Obscurity

Embracing Obscurity by an anonymous author encourages Christians to embrace humility, contentment, and unnoticed service rather than to seek after attention, influence, and wealth. It's a powerful and important message.
Here is an excerpt from the introduction:

"We're drunk all right. 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.

"Whether you're an athlete, postal worker, missionary, or government employee, haven't you felt the insatiable draw of notoriety? Where do you think that comes from? We live in a culture that bases significance on how celebrated, or common, we are. And now the church seems to have followed suit. This is serious stuff. It's serious because of its source. It's just the sort of lie that Satan--the father of lies--manufactures and sells best. It's not too shocking. It can be justified and religious-sized and explained away easily enough. But it kills with the same force as the 'big sins' from which we distance ourselves.

"We all feel it. We all sense the power of this problem, even if we only see the tip of the iceberg. Yet even as our intoxication draws us away from our Maker and His mission, we're not sure what to do with it" (pages 1-2).

This is a good book...a challenging book. I received it for Christmas, but you can find it at a local bookstore or online at places like amazon.com. If you are up for a challenge, please check it out.