“You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind, or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. You must not bow down to them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands.” Deuteronomy 5:8-10 NIV
“We have the fire and the wood, the boy said, but where is the sheep for the burnt offering?” Genesis 22:7
“It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” Frederick Douglass [1]
[2]Why is Elon Musk the way he is? He lacks empathy, he is ruthless, and his relationships largely are in shambles. One could say it is genetics and, in a way, that is true. But if you wanted to be concise you would simply say, his father, Errol. Just reading about Errol’s treatment of Elon and his younger siblings is a painful experience. Much of the damage was done by Elon’s 10th birthday but was enhanced greatly when he decided to move in with his father and not to stay with his newly divorced mother and his siblings. He arrived on the night train in Johannesburg alone, which revealed a lack of parental care. Elon was about to enter into a highly dysfunctional environment. Forty years later, Musk remains ambivalent about his father and regrets the decision.
Later, Elon, along with his brother Kimbal, moved into a Game Reserve one hundred miles east of Pretoria. Some of the parental neglect included taking them on international trips where he would give the boys some money and disappear in Hong Kong for several days. Also, having had to watch the dysfunctional relationship of his parents, the yelling, Errol’s promiscuity, the eventual divorce, and the tug of war regarding the children added to his trauma. What makes the dysfunction stand out is the general neglect of the father. The boys would visit their father and return with no clothes or food. He would leave them alone to fend for themselves—two boys on their own without care, roaming freely in dangerous environments. The family ethic was when you meet someone, punch them in the nose before they punch you. Establish your dominance.
Elon the damaged genius
Elon was a genius, had undiagnosed Asperger’s, and in an interview in Rolling Stone [3] magazine he confessed, “I never want to be alone. That’s what I would say…I don’t want to be alone.” The reason Musk wouldn’t mind being “Saved” [4] is that Hell itself is not fellowship. It is the ultimate in loneliness because God won’t be there. No person living now can fathom life without the presence of God. God sustains creation with common grace. Hell is a place absent of grace. Hell is the best God can do for people who don’t want to be with him. As C.S. Lewis posits in his fictional masterpiece, The Great Divorce, in Hell people move as far as they can from one another. One can only imagine the hell one experiences when angry, hostile, resentful people have unlimited time to get worse.
Elon was odd and temperamental. In school he would zone out, staring out of windows or remain unresponsive to fellow students. He would call them stupid, he couldn’t make friends, he would stay up all night reading, and slept very little. He was fierce, with an extraordinary ability to focus and stay on point. He would ignore everyone around him, their wants, their desires, and welfare. Today at 52 years of age, his fundamentals are the same, the biggest difference is the many children he has spawned—they have been able to moderate his personality, but his effect on them has been much greater. The other side of Musk is that these traits have created much good for humankind; automobiles, internet: Starlink, advancement in technology, space exploration, and medicine.
Why would the richest most stubborn man on earth consider submitting to God? There are many ways to say it, because he has a deeper need that he knows is there, but he can’t explain it. It is something like the Psalmist who wrote that God “restores his soul.”[5] You may remember that in the first column in this Musk series he said that he would be open to God “saving” him, even though he didn’t suspect that God would take unilateral action to do so.
Elon Musk is in deep pain, he lives everyday with the contradictions of his soul. None of us like pain, but human life would be impossible without it. Pain is the gift that no one likes. No infant, no person, can live thirty days without pain. People who ask for a painless world don’t know what they are asking for.[6] God allows people to suffer because he is benevolent. As the philosopher, Dallas Willard, wrote, “Few people stop to ask themselves if they deserve to live in paradise. They just want to. And when they don’t get what they want, they feel insulted.” [7]
God is quite interested in Elon Musk. In fact, he is presently working through his pain and pathology drawing him closer to salvation. Whether God succeeds is not yet known to us or Musk. In the final analysis, Musk has a mind of his own, and if a person wants to hide from God, God will accommodate them and hide from them. God won’t interrupt the decision, but mysteriously, he never stops being part of the decision. If you can’t wrap your mind around that, then good—get on your knees and enjoy the glorious God that is holding all of creation in the hollow of His hand.
What Meanth [8] This?
It means that our character and conduct matters because it has a multigenerational impact. Musk’s father Errol matters. What went on in that family home in South Africa fifty years ago is now multiplied through a genius son who is presently the world’s richest man. Our culture has trouble getting its mind around the fact that the most important work many of us will do is raising children. The family is the most powerful means for building, preserving, or destroying a civilization. This is clear from the passage from Deuteronomy 5:8-10 NIV that began this column. Any human life has generational impact, especially that of the parent.
General society is built from one generation to the next on character. Societal improvement or decline is based on it. Human conduct cannot save a world, but it can be used to accomplish divine goals. It must be admitted that success breeds compliancy and decline. This is a frustrating human malady. This is the reason when an NFL team wins the Super Bowl, it is so hard to repeat. Everyone gets rich, famous, and distracted. Maintaining the same level of focus and work ethic is nearly impossible, then another team peaks and defeats them. This is true of families, communities, nations, and people in general. Western Civilization will fail and fall. It could be that the post-World War II era has been a short period of success that will stand out as unusual in human history. What we can do is intentionally submit ourselves daily to follow our leader, Jesus—just as he did to his father. As I have told many a person, “Follow Jesus, and he will teach you everything you will ever need to know.”
Bill Hull
January 2024
[1] https://www.artofmanliness.com/people/fatherhood/the-ultimate-collection-of-quotes-about-fatherhood/
[2] I must remind the reader that general content and history of Elon Musk comes from Walter Isaacson’s great biography Elon Musk. Simon and Schuster, New York, 2023. I also must remind the reader that what is written is in my own words. I take full responsibility, blame or credit for my prose.
[3] https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/elon-musk-the-architect-of-tomorrow-120850/
[4] “Saved” The general biblical idea that one through Christ can be “Saved” redeemed and have eternal life. Sounds better than a nine month trip to Mars strapped into a seat next to a Billionaire from Norway.
[5] Psalm 23:1-3
[6] Think of maladies such as neuropathy or in ancient times leprosy, the great damage that is done because the victim cannot feel pain in vital parts of the body.
[7] Dallas Willard, The Allure of Gentleness, Kindle edition @ 60%> My favorite book on apologetics, a true celestial feast.
[8] King James English. Isn’t it interesting that the King James version of scripture released in 1611 was not written in an English that most English people spoke or could write. Another genuflect to the aristocracy. It was also based on an inferior Greek text called the Textus Receptus- Latin for received text, look it up.
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