But its not everyday a book is written that calls people to embrace the idea that Obscurity is something to be set as a goal!
That is because, everyday, every human being faces their biggest area of vulnerability when it comes to temptation.....pride!
Pride is the core of every sin, because it sets 'me' as the No. 1 priority and authority when God should be my No. 1 priority and authority.
But as we have studied more and more on the issues that are the fabric of what is known as an 'honour/shame' society or culture, the issue of "Misplaced Shame" (as author John Piper terms it), has at its core, our own pride. Misplaced Shame or Honour can only have influence because of the sinful pride of the 'fallen' human heart.
That is why I was so interested to find the book "Embracing Obscurity" by an author who was only willing to be known as 'Anonymous'!
When our (African) Motswana research assistant/consultant joined us in ministry this year, it was one of the first books off the 'research material shelf' he wanted to read and it challenged him deeply. He would desire for many to understand the truths conveyed in this book and because of that wrote a bit of a 'review' of the book from the perspective of someone who is part of the African honour/shame context and culture.
We would like to recommend the book because:
1. it will challenge you to the depth of your heart and lead you further in your walk with Christ, so as to glorify God even more day by day
2. it will enable you to see a little more of the even greater challenges of a Christian in a culture where personal honour in the eyes of one's community by conforming to its mores is the ultimate goal of life
3. it will help you share our burden to allow the Lord to use us to share truth such as "the first shall be last and the last shall be first" in a cultural setting where to be "last" or 'least' is shameful and to be avoided and escaped from if at all possible
4. it will hopefully provide additional context for your prayers for us here, and for African Christians and for God to help them to be more true, strong and faithful witnesses to the Lord Jesus Christ
Here are some excerpts from his review of the book.............
In this Book the author points out that we are all drunk. He writes "in our defense the epidemic is so common that most of us don't even know that we are under the influence". This intoxication and influence is driving our attention away from the kingdom and we end up undermining the gospel of Christ. The question then is, "what is this influence and this intoxication?" The author answers this question by saying the following: "we're intoxicated with a desire to be known, recognized, appreciated, and respected."
We live in a culture that bases significance on how celebrated, or common, we are. And now the church also has bought this lie. The author points out this lie is very serious because of its source. It's just the sort of lie that Satan, the father of lies, has manufactured and sells very well. Therefore this lie, or this virus, has to be addressed radically. Just as David cut the head off Goliath, so must we deal with this virus of popularity and fame.
In chapter 2 the author talks about 'embracing the definition'. He quotes Cicero when he said "we are all motivated by a keen desire for praise". This desire for praise is
manifested in different forms.
The author does not hesitate to state that this desire for pre-eminence is sin. It is only when our eyes are opened to see this as sin that we will be able to deal with it seriously. The first test that Satan tested Eve with was his tried and tested old trick of pride. He did that by appealing to Eve's pride and eventually Eve gave heed to the lie. Since then all mankind has been struggling with this old trick. He writes: "the depth of my own pride is seemingly infinite". (pg 32).
The honor and shame culture bases its dynamics on the performance level. The performance levels are done with a view of gaining recognition and acceptance and honor from those I respect. Therefore a person living in this culture is influenced more by this cancer than a person living in guilt based culture. So the topic of embracing obscurity will not be allowed, for it is seen as something that brings shame and dishonor, for this is a culture that strives for acceptance.....
The question then comes how do I deal with pride? Is there a solution for this? The author, in chapter 3 leads us to the above question. He states that the answer to the above question is two-fold. First we have to admit that we cannot do this on our own. Second we have to follow God's instruction. He then leads us in chapter 3 to the solution of overcoming pride. The perfect model to follow to overcome our cancer is embracing the humble King (Jesus Christ). Christ laid down his rights and took on the nature of a servant/slave. He goes on to say "the supreme Being; the one who spoke our entire universe into being with a word, yet cannot be bound by human language; the namer of stars and the crusher of the mountains; the God whose face necessitates veiling to preserve a man's life; the one responsible for each breath you've taken while reading this paragraph; the only omniscient reality - yeah, this God became a roughly eight pound mass of created cells". Christ's humility and service makes any other so called great leader to disappear into the background. To overcome our cancer we must take a closer look at Christ....
After pointing out the vanity and the empty pursuit of that which is temporal, Mr Anonymous leads us to the pursuit of that which is significant and eternal.
.......our union with God clearly shows is that we are dependant creatures. This union is maintained by prayer. J I Packer defines prayer as a point of whereby we show that we are helpless to do what we do, and therefore we call the Almighty God to act on our behalf. .... It is in this union that we find our significance.
The person in this culture wants significance so that he will be able to fit in the community and be able to be noticed. The only proper way of dealing with this is to show the people living in this culture that what you are doing violates the principles of the big family community in which God is the Father, therefore this brings shame and dishonor to his name and who he is.
It also has to be noted that if this culture is not studied properly it leads to the fact that what the members of the society condone is not what God allows. So God's approval is secondary to the principle that runs the community.
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