What You Need To Know About Self Made Men
“There is no such thing as a ‘self-made’ man. We are made up of thousands of others.” George Matthew Adams
THE MAKING OF THE SELF-MADE MAN
A “self-made man” is the pinnacle of American idealism. The idea that a man can come from nothing and become someone of influence is a bedrock narrative in our culture.
Rags to riches tales are told and sold by the caseload, and we eat them up every chance we get.
We venerate those individuals who, by sheer willpower, lift themselves up by their bootstraps and overcome hardship with presumably no outside assistance.
These are self-made men. Men who rise from the ashes like a phoenix and go on to outshine weaker, lesser men, and inspire those who find themselves in meager circumstances.
HIP-HOP AND THE SELF-MADE MAN
This self-made man concept is not only held in mainstream culture, but it has also found a home in urban and hip-hop culture.
The famed Maybach Music Group has released 3 collaborative albums entitled Self-Made.
With many men in the urban context growing up in the hood with little resources, little to no education, and little family support, being self-made seems like the only way to “make it”.
No one and no agency seems to provide proper assistance for personal growth and development, therefore the onus is upon the individual to find a way up from poverty into wealth and cultural acceptance.
We see this picture illustrated in the stories of Jay-Z, as he sold drugs in order to start his record label and become a hip-hop mogul. The story is also seen in the rap artist 50 Cent who, after being a victim of violence, turned the tragedy into an opportunity to market himself and later become a rap icon and mogul.
GOD’S VIEW OF THE SELF-MADE MAN
Although the concept of the self-made man is inspiring, it finds no place within the Christian worldview. When we view the scriptures we find that God is the only one who can take nothing and make it into something.
In Genesis chapter one we see that God speaks the world into existence.
Genesis 1:1–3 states, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.”
No tools necessary, no cosmic matter needed, the spoken Word of God turned nothing into something. The belief that God the Creator took absolutely nothing and created something is what the church has classically called “ex nihilo”; Latin for “out of nothing”.
This attribute is rightly reserved for God only.
It is pride that would tempt a man to claim to be self-made.
Pride brought great humiliation upon the powerful ruler Nebuchadnezzar. In Daniel 4 King Nebuchadnezzar claims to have built Babylon by his own power for his own glory. Nothing much different than what any rapper or mogul would say today.
But God responded to his proud words with with condemnation and judgement. Upon his restoration after a period of exile and humiliation Nebuchadnezzar spoke these words in Daniel 4:34–35.
“At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, “What have you done?”
The self proclaimed self-made man was humbled by the self-sufficient and all mighty God. This should be our declaration as well.
WE ARE GOD-MADE MEN
Frederick Douglass, a prototype of the self-made storyline spoke regarding the self-made man in 1895. Within his lecture he admits, “Properly speaking, there are in the world no such men as self-made men.” He goes on to say,
“It must in truth be said though it may not accord well with self-conscious individuality and self-conceit, that no possible native force of character, and no depth or wealth of originality, can lift a man into absolute independence of his fellow-men, and no generation of men can be independent of the preceding generation.”
In other words, men are dependent upon those who have gone before them and cannot work independently without outside help and resources.
Practically, we would not exist were it not for the physical union between our mother and father. Similarly, we don’t exist within a vacuum, therefore we have learned skills and have aspirations based on our relationship with those around us.
Although Jay-Z and 50 Cent have an internal drive that pushes them to excel they are encouraged by family and they were trained and helped by relationships built within the industry. Proving that there is no such thing as a self-made man.
But none of that is possible without provision from God.
Ultimately, we are God-made men. God is the creator and sustainer of all life.
He appoints governments and rulers as he sees fit. More precisely he sets the place and parameters for each individual life ever lived. Even in the hardest of circumstances God is our ultimate provider and source of help.
God made man to walk in community (Gen. 2:18).
God is our source of help (Ps 121).
God is our provider (Ex.16).
God is our maker (Neh 9:6).
We are god-made men and women.
We are to work hard for the fame and exaltation of God alone using the gifts and talents that God has graciously bestowed upon us all. It is our sinful heart that pushes us to boast that we are self-made.
This was the original act of defiance that cause the fall of humanity in the garden of Eden.
Our pride and distrust of God leads to death and eternal separation from God. Our pride and distrust of God lead us to seek godlikeness in the garden and what he have found is death.
It is only when we seek to magnify God that we find life and fulfillment. The self-made man is a foolish man apart from God. But the God-made man’s chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.
