I received a copy of the new Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson from one of my sons for Christmas. Even though I am only through chapter 1, it has been a compelling read thus far. Steve Jobs was adopted at an early age and his parents allowed Steve to know that from the beginning. Having been abandoned by his biological parents, the abandonment issue would haunt and drive Jobs his entire life. Even so, Paul Jobs had an incredible influence on his adopted son Steve from the outset. Among other things, Steve adopted his dad’s ethics for hard work and striving for precision in everything he did.
In matters of faith, however, Steve’s parents were unsuccessful in winning Steve to their beliefs. Quoting from chapter 1:
Even though (Steve’s parents) were not fervent about their faith, Jobs’s parents wanted him to have a religious upbringing, so they took him to the Lutheran church most Sundays. That came to an end when he was thirteen. In July 1968 Life magazine published a shocking cover showing a pair of starving children in Biafra. Jobs took it to Sunday school and confronted the church’s pastor. “If I raise my finger, will God know which one I am going to raise even before I do it?”
The pastor answered, “Yes, God knows everything.”
Jobs then pulled out the Life cover and asked, “Well, does God know about this and what’s going to happen to those children?”
“Steve, I know you don’t understand, but yes, God knows about that.”
Jobs announced that he didn’t want to have anything to do with worshiping such a God, and he never went back to church.
Steve Jobs at Apple
This questioning on Steve’s part had no doubt been brewing for some time. And clearly no one, Steve’s parents included, had the answers which would satisfy this precocious teenager. This same inability to fill in the gaps for our older children will unfortunately lead to many falling away from their faith in their teenage years unless we parents are proactively ahead of the game. You cannot depend on your kids getting the answers they need from just going to Sunday School as far too many youth programs these days are focused on fun, fun, fun, instead of connecting kids with the truth that they really need. And if the Christian walk and talk only comes from mom, 85% of present-day teenagers will ultimately jettison whatever ties they have to Christianity. Everyone in the family knows that if a matter is really important, dad is involved, and so it must be with matters of faith. Dads, your genuine involvement in your kids’ lives matters so much more than you probably know.
Stay tuned for my next post in which I’ll share more about what I have in mind.
This is so true! I was just talking with my professor and his wife over Christmas about this. He is also a teaching pastor over the weekends, and they realized the vacuum that their Sunday school programs weren’t filling. They have transitioned away from teaching Bible stories to the kids, because the kids only know the stories but not what they mean or how they connect to God’s character. Instead, they are now teaching theology to the grade school kids on up. They will learn the concept of God’s sovereignty and the problem of evil hopefully before another Time magazine makes them wonder if Christianity has any answers. Now if the parents do their job too, then every child will be better off!
Love this post. It’s so true that it takes both mom and dad to raise children to be strong in faith. What saddens me about this story of Steve Jobs is that he obviously wasn’t getting the message from his exposure to church (or what his parents chose to teach him) that he needed, or he would never have turned against faith from this question. God’s word reveals who He is and with focused study of his word, we learn that in all things God works for the good of those who love him. Even though things like the images on that Life cover happen all over the world every day, it doesn’t mean God is not aware of it or that He doesn’t have some purpose beyond our own understanding in it. Every person on this planet has been given free will and choice. The choices we make not only affect ourselves but they also affect others – sometimes in profound ways. So does our response to life circumstances. Thanks for sharing this.
~Blessings,
Rosann
One more thought…this reminded me of the following quote.
“Sometimes I would like to ask God why He allows poverty, famine, and injustice in the world when He could do something about it…but I’m afraid He might ask me the same question.” Unknown
The questions and answers that compelled most adults to faith in Christ are different than what the present generation is facing. If the ancient Egyptians could delude themselves into thinking that they could one day be gods through their “perfection” of the world about themselves, how much more this is true with modern man’s cornucopia of gadgets, widgets, and technology! I can speak into my 4G LTE cellphone and it will almost immediately do a world-wide search for any question I pose. Truly remarkable.
Even though we all face information overflow every day, there are more evidences now than ever before which point to God the Creator. Helping our kids discover these genuine truths for themselves (and in their own lingo) begins with a fresh realization on our part as parents that this is a big part of our job description. Until we choose to be in this game, we will always be on the sidelines. Protecting our kids has always been much more than simply food, shelter, and clothing. Now more than ever, we must equip them to protect their hearts, minds, and souls lest they miss the narrow path to heaven.
Thanks to those of you have commented on this post thus far.
Hey Ussparenting,
I know what you mean, I’ve seen this with my little brothers and happend with me too, if my mom is trying to discipline my brothers they don’t take her seriously and then she says I’m calling your dad and they are like no don’t lol… my dad doesn’t even hit us but we are more scared of him. I see this a lot in movies too, like the mom says don’t make me get your father!
Catch you again soon!