THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A SELF-SUFFICIENT MAN
2 Corinthians 3:4-6 Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit…
Have you ever had a profound epiphany or thought yet struggled to find a way to immortalize it so that you can return to it when you have the proper time. In September 2010, after battling pancreatic cancer for seven years, Steve Jobs, the billionaire cofounder and CEO of Apple, addressed the below email to himself.
I grow little of the food I eat, and of the little I do grow, I did not breed or perfect the seeds.
I do not make any of my own clothing.
I speak a language I did not invent or refine.
I did not discover the mathematics I use.
I am protected by freedoms and laws I did not conceive of or legislate, and do not enforce or adjudicate.
I am moved by music I did not create myself.
When I needed medical attention, I was helpless to help myself survive.
I did not invent the transistor, the microprocessor, object-oriented programming, or most of the technology I work with.
I love and admire my species, living and dead, and am totally dependent on them for my life and well-being.
The message above does not match the picture I have of Steve Jobs: a calculating and ruthless, yet extremely talented businessman and innovator. Such a highly capable individual, who held himself and his employees to highest standards of performance and execution, took a moment to ensure that he acknowledged, at least to himself, the illusion of self-sufficiency. This realization and admission, that we are““helpless to help” ourselves, is so close to the initial step of Christ’s teaching, that I surprised Jobs did not walk head first into the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Jobs lost the battle with cancer just over a year after penning this email. In his life, he claimed that he became disillusioned with the Christian faith when his childhood pastor failed to adequately answer the question, “Why does God allow suffering in the world?”. He thought that Christians focused too much on considering the doctrine of faith instead of emulating Jesus in their interactions with the world. He was not wrong in criticizing the way we as people, and even Christians, treat each other. However, he failed to grasp that a faithful understanding of doctrine will produce a response that will change a Christian’s approach to the world. Despite his email’s admiration and praise for all that man has accomplished, he fails to acknowledge the cruelty and suffering that exists in spite of these accomplishments. All of our accomplishments do well in meeting our physical needs, but what of our spiritual needs? We must acknowledge that we are totally dependent, not just on each other, but more so, on Jesus Christ.
The doctrine of our faith helps us understand and define our spiritual relationship with God, our Father. How without Jesus Christ, we are spiritually bereft (poor of spirit), we mourn our inability to spiritually support ourselves, and in response we humbly seek the righteousness gifted to us through Jesus Christ. If you are seeing the parallel with Matthew 5: 3-11, then perhaps our current series on the Beatitudes each Wednesday evening is finding the mark. There is a correct approach and response to understanding Christian doctrine. Discovering that we are helpless to help ourselves is an attitude that we must maintain in order to glorify God.
Life has a way of humbling us. If you think you have it licked, prepare for a storm — it is coming. Even the strongest and richest among us eventually succumb, though they may more resources with which to their own image of self-sufficiency. There is no need to wait until the end to have the revelation that self-sufficiency is an illusion. The sooner we see through that illusion, the sooner we can live a life of gratitude and grace, both physically and spiritually. In that spiritual state, we will find ourselves emulating Christ more and more, because we know that we are totally dependent on Jesus.
Your Brother in Christ,
Thomas Goodrich