I was saddened to find out this week that Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple Computer, had died of cancer. He was 56 years old. I have no idea if he was a man of faith (though I generally assume people in positions like his are not), but I think there is something quite faithful about this man as exemplified in his life. Admittedly, I’m a bit sentimental about his passing. I feel like I grew up with Steve Jobs, alongside the personal computer, the internet, cell phones, and mp3 players. There are a couple things I take from the life of Steve Jobs that I think really do intersect with the Christian life in positive ways.
Firstly, Steve Jobs was a visionary. Lately, I’ve been reading through the book of Genesis again. The story of Abraham is a fascinating one in which a man of unexceptional means is raised up to be a part of something so much bigger than himself. God spoke to Abraham and said, “Look up at the stars and count them. As many stars as there are in the sky, so shall be the number of your descendants.” The Christian life is very much about dreaming big dreams. We do not look upon the world simply as it is, but we look upon the world as that great work that God is doing. We are going someplace, and the dreams that we have in relationship to our God are so much bigger than anything else we ever could have dreamt alone.
We need to dream big and see the possibilities for the future. There is so much brokenness in this world today; it is easy to simply throw up your hands and say, “I’m done! I have nothing to offer here!” With the hunger, war, violence, and deep-rooted sin that infects all of humanity, what can we possibly do? The number of Christians continues to decline in this country, and we are under greater and greater pressure to do more with less. But much like the prophets of old, there is a vision of a new day, a better world in which darkness truly turns to light and salvation is realized in our midst.
So, yes, people like Steve Jobs can teach us something in this regard. Dream big dreams, not small ones. Look up at the stars, and try to count them. The possibilities are endless. The visionary, Steve Jobs, showed us how to find that imaginative spirit given to us by our creator and use it to inspire countless millions to strive for the greater things, to love the beauty of the infinite, and to never settle for good enough.
Secondly, Steve Jobs showed us how to accomplish great things through the everyday and simple. Various people over the years have reflected on how intelligent Steve Jobs was, but always with the addendum that he surrounded himself with people even smarter than him. His real genius was in his ability to organize other people. If there was a job to be done, he never believed he was necessarily the one to do it, but his job was to find the person who could do it better than anyone else. He was an expert organizer who knew how to work in the midst of people in the everyday, common things. He built relationships; he encouraged young minds; he put teams together; he saw the simple, daily tasks as paramount to the overall mission of the company.
So, too, we Christians know that it is most often in the simple and the mundane that we find the fruit of our mission. St. Paul reminds us that we are gifted individually yet for the interworking of the entire body. And through our daily labors, the Spirit of God is pulling us together to accomplish that goal which is in Christ Jesus. It doesn’t take a burning bush to change the world. It takes faithful people who are willing to engage in the simple things, everyday with conviction and commitment.
I believe that the world lost a great figure in Steve Jobs. My prayer is for the repose of his soul that he may find the light of eternity. May we all give thanks to God for the gifts of vision and simple work.
Grace and peace
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