On Three Crazy, Courageous Men
As the world now knows, yesterday brought news of the passing of iconoclastic Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, who has been memorialized in countless tweets, blog posts, and Facebook updates, not to mention in the more traditional forms of news reporting. Less heralded but no less important came the news of the passing of two key African-American leaders: civil rights champion Rev. John Shuttlesworth, who worked tirelessly alongside Dr. Martin Luther King in pursuit of racial equality, and Derrick Bell, the first tenured law professor at Harvard Law School (who gave up his position to protest the school’s hiring practices).
I had much less knowledge of both the Rev. Shuttlesworth and Prof. Bell until my more informed friends posted their obituaries on Facebook, but once I read about their lives, I better understood what it was about Steve Jobs’ passing that saddened me so deeply. It wasn’t that I’ll miss his “cool factor,” his brilliant marketing, or his storied creativity. What I will miss about him–and this is a quality reflected in the lives of Shuttlesworth and Bell as well–is his courage to chart a different path, to go against prevailing wisdom, to paint a vision of a new way to live.
Some might say there is no comparison between the value of what Shuttlesworth and Bell stood for and what Steve Jobs created and sold to the world, a realized vision in which computing shifted from complicated to commonplace. Pursuing racial equality certainly carries a moral weight that cannot be denied. Nevertheless, for Jobs to do what he did also required a strength of conviction and will that should not be ignored.
It is never easy to be the “crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers,” as Jobs himself narrated in the famous “Think Different” Apple ad campaign from the late 90s. Most of us would rather just keep our head down, plug away at whatever course of life we are on, maintain the status quo and try to stay alongside the proverbial Joneses. But the world needs more crazies, misfits, rebels and troublemakers. These are the people who make tangible and profound differences in our experience of reality, who imagine a picture of a life we cannot even dream of and then have the tenacity and the perseverance to show the rest of us the way there.
Missional living, in my mind, is all about forging the counter-cultural path, and if there is any one quality that is required when you approach life this way, it is courage. Courage to be able to stand up and say “yes, there is a different way.” Courage to resist the desire to people-please and stay true to what you know you have been called to do. Courage to be able to stick to your convictions when most everyone else around you is pursuing the path of greatest personal gain and glory, or the equally tempting path of least resistance. And missional living requires a little bit of craziness as well, as expressed so perfectly in the “Think Different” ad: “The ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
In Jobs’ now-famous 2005 commencement speech at Stanford University graduates, he gave the graduates this charge: “Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”
May the lives of these three men continue to inspire us to lives of crazy courageousness.
11 Comments on “On Three Crazy, Courageous Men”
Leave a Reply
Great post, great thoughts!
Leading our family in living compassionately & missionally truly requires intentionality & courage. It requires faith… it requires stepping out of our comfort zones… it requires daily fighting the middle ground. I wrote about these thoughts just yesterday: http://mamaof2greatkids.blogspot.com/2011/10/yet-i-still-dare-to-hope.html
love it Helen! here’s to the rebels! thanks for paving the way and reminding of us of the others who have gone on before us too!
Fabulous post! I loved this. It DOES take a lot of courage to step out and pursue your calling, whether it’s creating new technology or championing civil rights or whatever other “crazy” thing God calls us to do. Just this morning I was thinking about what absolutely outrageous faith Mary of Nazareth must have had to accept God’s commission for her–and to be excited about it, despite the fact that she stood to lose everything, from her reputation to her family to her fiancee to her life. That was one gutsy girl! A counter-cultural, courageous woman who raised counter-cultural, courageous sons!”
Hi Helen,
Great post! Were you still at Parkwood when Peter Cha gave a sermon about how often when important people die, they die in 3′s? I think it was Mother Theresa, Princess Diana and Sir George Solti who he cited…a religious, political and artistic figure.
I wonder if this is those 3?
Eddie
Thanks, Helen, for being one of the Crazies (Good Crazy, of course) in my life who challenges me to remember David’s words, “The Lord is the strength of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?” Thanks for reminding me that courage and salt are so intertwined. Love your writing!”
Pingback: On Three Crazy, Courageous Men | Moms of Faith- Christian Mom News Aggregator
Thanks so much for your comment, Aimee! I will go check out your post now–and yes you are right, we need to keep pushing ourselves out of our comfort zones. Takes courage, indeed!
Connie, my fellow Bud! Thx for taking the time to read and comment, you culture rebel, you! =) You know all about stepping out in courage. Grateful for you!
Great point! But doesn’t it sometimes feel like in the church we have lost that “crazy” edge? That we have succumbed to the cultural forces around us and live lives so indistinguishable from others? What I love about these three men–and Mary, certainly!–is that the courageous path will most likely differentiate you from the pack. But what is the church if it not to be salt and light? I appreciate your encouragement and support for the premise of this post–and may we continue to take “crazy” steps of faith for his glory! =)”
I do recall hearing Peter mention this in some context…whether at Parkwood or not I’m not sure…it’s been SO long. =) But thanks for mentioning it, it is an interesting phenomenon, isn’t it? Appreciate your stopping by!
Seriously, you made my day calling me Crazy. =)
Many times when I feel I am trying to be a little crazy, I get messages from others around me that doing so isn’t such a good thing. So I really appreciate your encouraging me to stay crazy. =)
Thanks so much for stopping by, Kristen!!! Much appreciated!