If You Feel Anonymous: Finding Growth in Invisibility
with Dr. Alicia Britt Chole
Dr. Alicia Britt Chole has extensively studied the years of Jesus’s life that many of us haven't thought about. She has studied the years when He was a carpenter, part of a family, and a community member. She wrote the book ‘Anonymous’ on the subject of Jesus's hidden years, and it’s an absolute must-read! Dr. Alicia joined me for a chat about the inspiration behind writing this work. This is the edited interview:
How did you think to write about this? When did you first see a need for this book?
Dr. Alicia: I wrote ‘Anonymous’ in 2006. I began studying it eight years earlier, but I never thought about it being a book. I had been invited to a speaking engagement. Whenever I'm invited to speak and they have a theme, I ask the Lord to reveal what He would like me to say. And He led me to look at the temptation of Jesus.
Every time I studied the temptation of Jesus, I had always seen it as a window into a real-time crisis He was facing. It was a window to His present, but I also saw it as a window into His future. For the very first time, I started realizing that it was also a window into His past.
Jesus starts His public ministry and immediately makes these earth-shaking choices that we admire and want to emulate. But He wasn't dropped on the planet at the age of 30. He came as a baby. So, we have these 30 years of His life that are mostly undocumented, uncelebrated, and mostly unknown.
The strength we see in Jesus' visible years is the fruit of what was growing in Him during those hidden years. I was captivated.
I had never viewed the wilderness like that. And all of a sudden, this study took on a life of its own.
I started considering the strengths that Jesus showed and realized that those strengths had been growing quietly in hidden places. Jesus grew in anonymity, and He often grows us in the same way. We want those strengths to just drop on us in the moment of need. But true enduring strength grows in quiet, unseen, and un-applauded places.
What have you learned as you studied Jesus’s hidden years?
Dr. Alicia: One of the first take-homes was that being visible isn't the source of being valuable. When we look at how the Father choreographed the life of the Son, it becomes incredibly clear that there are times when God hides us to protect and grow us. But we tend to think of those seasons of anonymity as a stepping stone to becoming more visible or some kind of punishment for something we've done wrong.
God hides us at times so that future visibility doesn't crush us. Jesus's hidden years are similar to the foundation of a house. Whenever you add layers to a house, it exponentially adds weight to the hidden foundation. And so, that part of the house cannot afford to have cracks or hidden issues. The rest of the house will fall apart if the foundation is not strong.
Those hidden seasons where we felt overlooked, underestimated, unseen, or like somebody placed our potential on pause are the place where we grow into a truly fruitful existence. We keep wanting to build up, but everything we build will exponentially add weight and reveal the cracks in what is hidden.
Jesus's 30 years inspired me to make peace with God's pace, whether that leads us to a prolonged lifetime of hiddenness or moments where we are more visible. If we attend to that unseen foundation and truly establish our value in Him, we'll be able to navigate both types of seasons with our eyes fixed on Him and His love.
Does it scare you watching so many people be given such big platforms?
Dr. Alicia: Yes, absolutely. I think that many beautiful souls have been crushed by the premature combination of too much visibility and authority and frankly, too little self-control. When you combine those things, the weight on the soul is extreme. It’s crucial to have the value that comes from knowing that you are meaningful and special because God's eyes are on you, regardless of who else is clapping or booing.
It is such a frightening setup if you don't have that kind of identity and people who can speak into your life. Almost every week, we see these heartbreaking results of a lot of authority and visibility and too little self-control without that identity in Christ.
People who constantly reassure you of God’s love for you will lovingly point out when you act differently in hidden spaces. They’ll alert you when that area of your life appears out of control and will be there to ask the hard questions.
What questions should people be asking themselves when they’re in these spaces of high visibility?
Dr. Alicia: One of the starter questions is: “Is God's attention enough?”
In the social media age, we keep looking past Jesus' shoulder for more.
That's a sin of addition, where God is enough, but we keep adding to that with other things we think we need.
Once you settle that God's attention is enough, there is an immunity you inherit to people's praise and rejection. That's the kind of strength we see Jesus emerging with from His hidden years. His Father's attention was enough. So, people couldn't hurry Him or slow Him down. People couldn't intimidate or manipulate Him. And that's the indestructible type of strength that grows in hidden years.
So, that's the main question I ask – is God's attention enough? If not, then let's be honest about it. Let’s dig deeper to find a way in which we can anchor ourselves in God's character or edit our self-concepts if needed.
What do you recommend for people who find themselves in a season of visibility?
Dr. Alicia: My recommendation is theological because that's something we have to resolve in our hearts. God is infinite and omnipresent, meaning He is equally present in every moment.
Theologically, God being equally present in every moment levels all moments. It makes us realize that being on a stage doesn't increase God, and being hidden in the background doesn't decrease Him. We realize that if He's equally present in every moment, then all moments are elevated.
Every moment has equal potential to be sacred, to be lived with and for Him, to be loved by Him, and to love Him.
If we believe that, then leaders in these moments of visibility know that God doesn't like them more when they're holding a mic and He isn't disappointed in them when they’re passed over for that opportunity. They are God's beloved, and His presence is equal. When we believe that, then we view “opportunities” differently. It becomes a matter of Jesus leading you because He is more important to you than any platform.
I wrestle with what I do a lot. When I first got the opportunity to write, I was very anxious about the visibility because I didn't want to “gain the world and lose my soul.” Granted, there are times when visibility is obedience, and that has been what God has said so far. I think we can also demonize ourselves because we think we’re not obeying God’s voice. Talk a little bit about that.
Dr. Alicia: That takes us back to following. We see Jesus following the Father's voice, which initially led him to anonymity. Then, the Spirit led him into the desert of temptation. Finally, following the Father and the Spirit led Jesus into a season of visibility, controversy, accusation, and rejection. It led him to the cross.
People say they want to follow Jesus, but they’re not prepared to accept the 30 years of anonymity. They want Jesus's power and authority to echo through their lives and make a difference. But His power and authority are not isolated entities that we can order online at a discount. They come with His life, much of which was hidden, difficult, and spent in some kind of desert, whether it was anonymity, temptation, or conflict.
The real issue is following Him wherever He leads. The Holy Spirit's job is to lead us into truth and to convict us of sin and righteousness. He's going to do his job. And so, our job is to walk with Jesus and follow Him. Our job is to keep the Word of God fresh and alive and to have a relationship with that Word that's living and active.
Your job is to listen and follow. And you don't have to be afraid of where following leads you because the Holy Spirit will let you know way before you’re near a cliff, not when you’re about to step off.
There's the part of me that's making decisions and another that's judging all the decisions I'm making. Turning that off and coming back to the Spirit is so freeing, but that war continues. There's never an arrival point where it's all clear, you're doing what you love, and there's no struggle.
Dr. Alicia: The tension is a gift because it keeps us in a place of dependence, which is where we need to stay. That uncertainty is a friend of spiritual formation. It keeps us leaning into God instead of trying to stand on our own strength. The uncertainty, mystery, and constant tension keep us in Jesus’ shadow.
What God is longing for from us is a loving guess.
There are moments of certainty, and there are things in Scripture that we can be certain about. But sometimes we make a loving guess, which means doing something that we think would please God. And when we lovingly do something intending to please Him, we succeed. He's pleased.
Our entire team loves Dr. Alicia Britt Chole. Her book ‘Anonymous’ and a bunch of other amazing books she has written are available right here and everywhere books are sold. She also has some leadership retreats you can sign up for here.
MADE FOR THIS PODCAST
If you liked this content, you’ll love this season of the Made For This Podcast where we’ve been going through Jennie’s book Restless. Available anywhere books are sold!
