facing death

Steve Jobs, founder and CEO of Apple passed away this week. His worldwide impact as a computer entrepreneur and innovator is well documented. As a corporate leader he was admired not only for his genius but also for his determination in the face of the adversity that marked his life.

Yesterday, my intrigue about his life caused me to stumble onto an online video of a Stanford University commencement address he gave in 2005, following his first bout with the cancer that eventually took his life. In that address, Steve told three stories from his personal life while extracting three overarching principles that guided his life. Although in the past I had heard and seen references to that address, I had never sat down and watched it from start to finish.

It was short, all of about fifteen minutes, but it blew my socks off. And here is why. This side of heaven, we do not have any indication Steve was a Christian and whatever religious leanings he had are tied to Zen Buddhism. However, the things that Steve conveyed are truths that could have been lifted from the pages of the Bible. God is obviously the author of truth and examining Steve’s address from a Christian perspective is instructive. As I listened, I could not help but acknowledge that the power and conviction of such a message should be on the lips and demonstrated in the life of every Christian.

Now it is important to interject that these life principles, embraced apart from a relationship with Jesus Christ lack His resurrection power and promised redemption. But viewed from a Christian perspective and tied to New Testament “Life” principles these truths are the doorway to discovering and fulfilling God’s eternal purposes for our lives.

And so here are the three Christianized lessons from the life of Steve Jobs.