Embracing Obscurity- Chapter 8

(A few friends and I began reading this book together. After dropping it for over a year, I am endeavoring to finish it.  After reading a chapter, I am posting my comments, then giving my friends the opportunity to add their thoughts as well. If you would like to join us or simply find out more about the book, you can read about it here.)

Chapter 8: Embracing the Mystery
In this chapter, I didn’t find as many quotes that just jumped out at me.  Still, I found the theme of the chapter helpful.  Here are the things that stood out to me:
 
- The main point of the chapter is that when we embrace obscurity, it will cause us to be somewhat of a mystery to others.  We are called to consider our readiness for others to think of us as crazy or insane.
 
- I would like to add a caveat that the author did not address: just because I am different does not automatically mean I am right.  We are not to be different for being different’s sake.  We are to be different because God instructs us to do so.
 
- Also, I have heard or read statements from believers who seemed to take pride in the fact that others found their choices strange.  If we our choices make us mysterious to the world, but then we turn around and are proud about it- it defeats the purpose of embracing obscurity.
 
- “If our lifestyle doesn’t even raise the eyebrows of the world, what does that say about our devotion to the gospel?” (Page 128)
 
- In the section entitled “The Great Exchange,” the author listed things we may have to give up, but what we would gain by doing so.  I’ve included these headings so we could see them side to side.  (Of course, what we may give up is listed first, followed by what we would gain.)

• Financial self-sufficiency – God-Dependency
• Sway – Spiritual Power
• Recognition – God’s Approval
• A Dream – An Assurance
• Leisure Time – Purposeful Time
• Comfort - Suffering
• Important Tasks – Kingdom Tasks
• Being Known – Being Known (by God)

- At the end of the chapter, the author points out that if we fully embrace obscurity, the exchanges listed above are not going to be difficult for us.  However, our choices will affect our loved ones and may be much more difficult for them.

- I am challenged by Discussion Question #4: “Take an honest look at your life.  Does it look strange to those who don’t know Christ?  Or do you blend in with the world?”  (Page 144)

 
I've had my say, what say you?

Discussion on Chapter 7
Discussion on Chapter 9

January 27th

This image was found in a online newspaper archive.  This link will allow you to view the article.

Every year, January 27th is more than just another day on the calendar.  For me, it is a day of remembrance and reflection.  On this day 20 years ago my brother Jesse Hughes, along with 6 young men, passed from this life in a van crash. 

In the days leading up to this year's January 27th, I have been thinking about the crash and wondering what I could share about it.  When I think about the accident and about my brother, here are some things I have taken from it:

1. The loss of a loved one makes heaven more real.
- When I was a boy, I learned about my need for salvation.  I learned that Jesus died in my place for my sin and that He offered salvation by His grace through faith in His death, burial and resurrection for me.  He became my personal Savior.  However, I have never seen Him.  I have tried to picture what He will look like, what it will be like in heaven with Him, but I have trouble knowing what to imagine.
- Having Jesse in heaven with my Savior helps make it real, make it personal.  It isn't just a place where people go when they die (general).  It is a place where my brother lives.  No one likes sorrow.  No one likes tragedy.  No one likes death.  But through these difficulties the realities I cannot yet see have been made more real to me.

2. The impact one person can have on others, even in a limited amount of time.
- Jesse was 15 when I was born.  I graduated from kindergarten the year he graduated from college.  The time we both lived at home, I was so young that I have very few memories.  The years following he lived in our area, served at our church and taught at my school, but our age difference kept us from being around each other all that much.  I was 10 when he died- only 1/3 of my life, as of now.  Yet his life made an impact on mine.  When I think of Jesse, I am reminded that while I may not have much time to influence another person's life, time is really not the more critical element.  God can use us in each others' lives even in seemingly short amounts of time.

3. The instruction (intentional and unintentional) an adult can model to a child.
- There are things that Jesse did 20+ years ago that are preserved in my memory.  Sometimes, he was specifically trying to teach me a lesson.  Most of the time, however, he was simply living life, and a little brother saw important principles modeled.  Some things Jesse taught me:

• By playing basketball with me on back to back days (going all the way up to 100 by 2's!), he taught me how foolish a person looks when he has a bad attitude after losing a game.
• By caring for others regardless of what they had to offer him, he taught me to love others without partiality.
• By talking, laughing, joking, being stupid, he taught me to enjoy life and to include others in that fun.
• By inflating (with just his lungs) a 7' tall dinosaur for Vacation Bible School, he taught me that having a servant's heart means just doing what needs to be done without caring about who knows what you've accomplished.
• By inviting me and a friend to stay while his wife was visiting her family, by playing with us in the park and by buying us donuts, he taught me that little things can make another person's day.
• By leaving behind so many good memories in others' minds, Jesse taught me that a person's influence can continue much past their time on earth.

If I could go back 20 years and somehow keep the crash from happening, I would.  Who wouldn't?  No one wants things like this to happen.  Yet as I look back, there are lessons that I only learned because of the crash.  I am grateful for those lessons and am privileged to share them today- January 27, 2015. 

Embracing Obscurity- Chapter 7

(A few friends and I began reading this book together. After dropping it for over a year, I am endeavoring to finish it.  After reading a chapter, I am posting my comments, then giving my friends the opportunity to add their thoughts as well. If you would like to join us or simply find out more about the book, you can read about it here.)
 
Chapter 7: Embracing Suffering
- I think Elisabeth Elliot was right in saying, "The word suffering is much too grand to apply to most of our troubles." (Page 108)  At least, it is true for me.  However, I like how the author adapted her quote and included the following as a definition of suffering, in order to include more circumstances from our lives:
1) The things in your life that you wish weren't there
2) Those things you want to have but don't
3) Anything you want to be but aren't
 
- He gives two reasons for suffering. The first is the change it brings in us.  This was a good reminder for me- my natural reaction is to look for the exit door of the suffering.  I was encouraged to take my focus off the exit and look for the lesson within it.

- I agree with his second reason for suffering as well: it enables us to give.  We have seen that events in our lives have helped us to more thoughtful of others- even when their situations don't match ours.

- The author asks, "Can you relate? In your moment ... of hurt, were those who spoke most poignantly to your soul ... the men, women, or children who have walked in your shoes?"  (Page 112)  Sadly, in some circumstances, the people we expected to understand or relate were just as nonchalant as everyone else.  That was frustrating.  Reading this paragraph and thinking of some specific examples reminded me to not let future circumstances crowd out the lessons I've learned from suffering.  I don't want to go through suffering but then ignore others in their hurt.

- His assessment of the "Joseph Principle" in modern-day Christianity was good.  I just wish he would have brought out more examples that didn't fit the principle.  I want to also view suffering as simply something for God's glory instead of a stepping-stone for my own advancement.
 
I've had my say, what say you?
Discussion on Chapter 6
Discussion on Chapter 8

Embracing Obscurity- Chapter 6

(A few friends and I began reading this book together. After dropping it for over a year, I am endeavoring to finish it.  After reading a chapter, I am posting my comments, then giving my friends the opportunity to add their thoughts as well. If you would like to join us or simply find out more about the book, you can read about it here.)

Chapter 6: Embracing Servanthood
- “It is one thing to follow God’s way of service if you are regarded as a hero, but quite another thing if the road marked out for you by God requires becoming a doormat under other people’s feet.”  (Page 91- Quoting Oswald Chambers)  This quote from the beginning of the chapter points out the biggest lesson I saw for myself.
 
- “None of the Twelve perhaps minded not being the absolute greatest, as long as he wasn’t considered the least.” (Page 93)  I had never considered the passage from this angle, but I was challenged by the thought.  Most Christians would know enough to say that he need not be the greatest, yet most of us would balk at being the least.
 
- He makes a great (and difficult to hear) point when explaining that the big areas of service in our lives are often highly regarded by others.  Those areas of service can be easier than the multitude of little decisions selfless service would call us to.
 
- I liked the illustration of the soaker hose.  As it in no way controlled the water running through it, so we must remove any controls we have placed on God’s ministering through us.
 
- He notes that the opportunity for a higher position or more authority does not necessitate that we should choose that option.
 
I've had my say, what say you?

Discussion on Chapter 5
Discussion on Chapter 7