The Source of Steve Jobs Confidence

Steve Jobs' authorized biography hits the stores today. A sign of his legacy (and that of a select few), it hit the Net first through the Kindle, iBooks, and the Nook. It is a portrait of a very human man, warts and all. Many will read the book looking for the warts, but more will be looking for those things that motivated him and inspired his genius. After all, we'd all like to be able to learn from success.

Walter Isaacson shared a surprising but understandable piece of Steve Jobs’ motivation. In an emotional moment, the adopted Jobs asked his parents why he was rejected by his birth parents. His parents response was, "No, you don't understand. We specifically picked you out."

Jobs reflected, “From then on, I realized that I was not—just abandoned. I was chosen. I was special.” Isaacson reflected, "And I think that's the key to understanding Steve Jobs."

This is no small thing, and God knows it. It is easy for us to feel rejected in this life, to think that God has thrown us away because of our past or God’s indifference. King David realizing his crimes against God says to God, “Don’t throw me out with the trash.” (Psalms 51, The Message) I think we all have a desire to be needed, but I know we all need to be wanted.

This is why Jesus wanted his disciples to understand, “You did not chose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last...” (John 15:16) This comes right after Jesus tells his disciples that they are not servants but friends. The two things that Jesus points to, when telling them they are his friends, is that he has shared his plans with them, and he wanted them to be with him, he chose them.

That’s great for those first disciples, but what about us? When Jesus died on the cross, he died for the sins and the salvation of all. This is the strongest way that Jesus could say, “I want you.” The New Testament gives witness that Jesus did not die for generic humanity. He died for each and every one of us as individuals. Jesus wants us.

Humanity has abandoned God, but God has not abandoned us. Instead, “when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father.” (Gal 4:4-6)

Jobs was right. He was special, he was loved, because he was chosen. We need to be wanted. He was wanted by his parents, but how much more worth do we experience when we realize we are wanted by God? We can work forever to be needed, but it is a clutching desire that is seldom fulfilled. On the other hand, to be wanted is a gift. That gift makes us special.

When Jobs realized that he was wanted and special, it motivated him toward higher goals for his life. It gave him a confidence, a confidence that sometimes slipped into arrogance, but confidence none the less. The same will happen for us when we take Jesus’ love for us seriously. Confidence is sprinkled with humility when the God of the universe is added to the picture, but it is an enabling confidence. Jesus chose us and chose us to bear fruit for him. This is a gift as well. He has already decided that we can be part of what he is doing, and he has gifted us to accomplish great things. Great things? Yeah, we need more confidence and gratitude to take up the promise and run. After all, “all you who have faith in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.”