The world is filled with people who will live and die in anonymity, never achieving notoriety. True success, though, as modeled by Jesus, begins not with fame but with humility, service, sacrifice and surrender, contends the anonymous author of Embracing Obscurity: Becoming Nothing in Light of God’s Everything, released by B&H Publishing Group.
Living up to the title of the book, the author chose to publish under the name “Anonymous” and maintains nearly complete anonymity. Only one B&H editor and a couple of executives at LifeWay Christian Resources know the identity of Anonymous—reportedly a well-established author—and the author communicates via a specially created email address, explained Selma Wilson, vice president of B&H Publishing Group.
“We did not know anything about the identity of the author when we received the manuscript,” said Wilson. “But the message of the book grabbed us immediately. It is exactly what we are about at B&H—bringing an engaging and substantive Christ-centered message.”
“This book is a call to stop imitating the world’s formula for success and instead follow the model of our humble King,” Anonymous said. “I couldn’t think of any way to reconcile that message while simultaneously promoting myself, so I chose to take up the challenge of embracing my own obscurity.”
Obscurity “can be either assigned (by God) or chosen (by us),” Anonymous writes in the book. “I don’t know whether one is harder than the other. I just know that from a prideful, human point of view, either can gnaw at us. We don’t want to live as one in a crowd. We don’t want to be just another person living in a subdivision in the suburban sprawl that has become America.”
“It is my desire to awaken the church to the unsurpassing peace and pleasure of becoming nothing in light of God’s everything,” the author said.
“Even when an overarching, global obscurity has been assigned to us, we still have a choice of whether to embrace personal obscurity—an obscurity of heart as much as position,” Anonymous writes. “And that is the message I believe God has for us, a message He modeled as well as taught.”
The author has modeled the principles of the book well, Wilson said.
“Writing a book, especially one with deep transparent personal themes, is a painstaking event,” she said. “And to do that with zero credit is a tremendous thing. The message Anonymous brings forward in this book is very appropriate for the evangelical world today.”
To maintain the integrity of his/her anonymity, the author will not make any appearances or speaking engagements in support of the book, Wilson said. However, Anonymous will interact with visitors at Facebook.com/EmbracingObscurity.
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