Steve Jobs' accomplishments were far-reaching, but he was not perfect.
The big headline this week was the passing of Apple CEO, Steve Jobs. Pundits and journalists have been unrelenting in their admiration of Steve Jobs. According to an article on Gawker, "His accomplishments were far-reaching and impossible to easily summarize. But here's one way of looking at the scope of his achievement. It's a dream of any entrepreneur to effect change in one industry. Jobs transformed half a dozen of them forever, from personal computers to phones to animation to music to publishing to video games. He was a polymath, a skilled motivator, a decisive judge, a farsighted tastemaker, an excellent showman, and a gifted strategist." (Quoted from http://gawker.com/5847344/what-everyone-is-too-polite-to-say-about-steve-jobs)
But then that same article continues, "One thing he wasn't, though, was perfect. He did things at Apple that were deeply disturbing. He was known to be rude, dismissive, hostile, and spiteful. He could praise and inspire people in creative way, but then resort to intimidating, goading, berating, belittling, and humiliating people. He did not lead a balanced life. He was professionally relentless. He worked long hours, and remained CEO of Apple through his illness until six weeks before he died."
The article titled, "What Everyone is Too Polite to Say about Steve Jobs" chronicles all the abuses of Apple, including its authoritarianism, paranoia, and censorship. Its sweatshops, child labor, and human rights abuses. Its lack of philanthropy. The man who made perfect devices lived an imperfect life and built an imperfect corporation!
Everyone has a character defect.
It is true that everyone has a character defect. You have a character defect. I have a character defect. We all have character defects. None of us is perfect either. If you think you are exempt, the lone exception in all the world, that's your character defect!
But you know, the Bible never glosses over our character defects! Romans 3:10 (NIV) says, "There is no one righteous, not even one..." Romans 3:23 (NIV) tells us, "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
In John 8 the teachers of the law and the Pharisees bring to Jesus a woman who was caught in the act of adultery. They make her stand before their group, in total humiliation. Her character defect was obvious. Their condemnation of her was brazen. "In the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women. Now what do you say?" See John 8:5 (NIV).
John 8:6-9 (NIV) continues the story. "But Jesus bent down and started to write on the ground with his finger. When they kept on questioning him, he straightened up and said to them, 'If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.' Again he stooped down and wrote on the ground. At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there."
It's hard to face the simple truth that we have character defects.
Did you notice that everyone left? Why did everyone leave? Jesus didn't tell them to leave. Sometimes it's easier to walk away than to face this simple truth that our character is defective, and that we need Christ to rescue us, heal us, and lead us out of our life of sin.
Ephesians 2:1-3 (NIV) is quite sobering, "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit that is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath."
In John 8:11 (NIV) Jesus tells the woman caught in adultery, "Go now and leave your life of sin." The problem with our character is that we can't just walk away. How many times have you tried to walk away, but found yourself unable to do it? Wouldn't it be great if character change were as simple as making a choice, attending a church program, reading a book, going to a Bible class, popping a pill, or undergoing a few sessions of counseling?
Sin is very powerful, captivating, and controlling.
In reality, sin is very powerful, it's captivating, and it's very controlling. It consumes us. It's a compulsion. Maybe you can relate to the apostle Paul in Romans 7:18-19 (NIV) when he says, "For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do-- this I keep on doing."
Or consider what Paul says in Romans 7:21-24 (NIV). "So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God's law; but I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within my members. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death?"
Just how is this power of sin broken? Paul says in Romans 7:25 (NIV), "Thanks be to God-- through Jesus Christ our Lord." Here are some things to encourage you in your struggle against your character defects.
Christ rescues us from condemnation.
Romans 8:1 (NIV) says, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus..." As you struggle against sin, you can rest knowing that the righteous requirements of the law have been fully met by Christ. Despite your sin, God isn't vested in your condemnation. Others might be, but God sure isn't! Guilt and shame are tools that Satan uses to hold us hostage to sin.
I repeat it often, but it's only because we often forget! John 3:16-18 (NIV) tells us, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son."
Christ cleanses and purifies us.
The proper response to character failure is 1 John 1:9 (NIV). "If we confess our sins, he (God) is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." When we fail, it's so critical that we turn to God, not run from God. When we sin, our impulse is to hide. When we fail, we want to withdraw from others because of our embarrassment. If you want to be clean, don't hide your hands from soap and water! Don't hide your teeth from your toothbrush and a little Crest. And don't keep your body from the waters of baptism.
Acts 22:16 (NIV) says, "And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name." Every day is decision day at Lakeside. Why not let today be the day you come to Christ to have your sins washed away? If you come to God when you sin, not only will he not condemn you, but he is faithful every time to forgive you, and to purify you from all unrighteousness!
I was speaking with a counselor a while back, and he told me that the average addict relapses dozens of times. No worries! The Bible says that God will forgive you 70 x 7 times. Keep coming back to God. Keep asking Christ to cleanse and purify your life. There's no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus.
Christ makes all things new.
I want you to think of all the reasons you lapse into sin. Maybe you blame your past. Your parents, or your ex, or someone else hurt you. Maybe it's your heart because you desire the wrong things. Maybe it's your mind. You are tormented by evil thoughts, tormented by inner voices, and tormented by evil spirits that accuse you. Maybe it's your attitude, maybe it's your spirit, or maybe it's your old nature, this body that's been formed in sin through decades of neglect, poor discipline, and self-abuse. Maybe it's your environment-- you are surrounded by darkness.
As we come to Christ, he promises to make all things new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV) says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!"
Ephesians 4:22-23 (NIV) says, "You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness."
Ezekiel 36:26-27 (NIV) says, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws."
Hebrews 2:11 (NIV) says that God gives us a new family, a new father, brothers and sisters. "Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers."
Isaiah 43:18-19 (NIV) says to forget about the past! What past? "Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland."
We are freed from condemnation, cleansed and purified, and made new. That's how we overcome our character defects!