A few quick references below: My analysis begins after the Issacason quote:
The repeated last words of Steve Jobs
“Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow,” said Jobs as he lay on his death bed.
DENIS SINYAKOV/REUTERS
On his deathbed, Apple founder Steve Jobs stared into the future as he had so many times in life and uttered these final words, “Oh wow, oh wow, oh wow.”
FROM THE LAST CHAPTER OF THE STEVE JOBS BIO BY WALTER ISSACSON:
One sunny afternoon, when he wasn’t feeling well, Jobs sat in the garden behind his house and reflected on death. He talked about his experiences in India almost four decades earlier, his study of Buddhism, and his views on reincarnation and spiritual transcendence. “I’m about fifty-fifty on believing in God,” he said. “For most of my life, I’ve felt that there must be more to our existence than meets the eye.”He admitted that, as he faced death, he might be overestimating the odds out of a desire to believe in an afterlife. “I like to think that something survives after you die,” he said. “It’s strange to think that you accumulate all this experience, and maybe a little wisdom, and it goes away. So I really want to believe that something survives, that maybe your consciousness endures.”He fell silent for a very long time. “But on the other hand, perhaps it’s like an on-off switch,” he said. “Click! And you’re gone.”Then he paused again and smiled slightly. “Maybe that’s why I never like to put on-off switches on Apple devices.”
Jayopsis: I have been thinking a lot about Steve Jobs... how can I not? I use an iphone/ipad/ and imac every day of my life. I bought his bio on ibooks and I listen to itunes all the time.
I have been grieving his loss... and my faith makes me shudder at the potential consequences of his life. Beautiful, creative, driven, admirable- but like any human... deep flaws... rebellion, refusal to acknowledge the source of all his extraordinary gifts, seemingly selfish, sometimes cruel.
To borrow a technique- what if I am wrong and Steve Jobs is much better that I have outlined (or how his bio presents him)- what if he only committed 3 sins a day? In 40 years he would have committed over 40,000.
If sin is no big deal- then no problem- right?
But sin is a big deal- all men leave a wake of hurt and mayhem behind- false promises, hurt relationships, dream killing, addiction enabling, heart breaking, and God hating words, attitudes, actions- both passive and active.
When Apple went public when he was 25, Steve Jobs was worth 256 million. When Pixar went public, his 80% share was worth 1.2 Billion!
But how much money can you pay to wipe away a debt of sin? How many good deeds can appease a life that looks at the sacrifice of the Son of God and says.. 'No Thanks'?
This is where atheists/agnostics/ and non-believers get critical and skeptical... "How dare you to judge! How can you condemn him?"
And I don't... I admire him. I miss him.
The ultimate question is- when a man stares into the dark abyss- what was in his possession to appease the True and Living God? What if Steve were wrong about the on/off switch?
See, at the root of the issue was Steve Job's determined fight for autonomy. His parents would ask him to not do something- He said "No- I will do what I want ..when I want" and he lived his life out that way. Dr's told him to get surgery and he said "No".
And that is ultimately what Hell is- the place where people place themselves for a life of looking at the universe and saying- 'No one will tell me what to do'.
C.S. Lewis said it much better:
Hell begins with a grumbling mood, always complaining, always blaming others . . . but you are still distinct from it. You may even criticize it in yourself and wish you could stop it. But there may come a day when you can no longer. Then there will be no you left to criticize the mood or even to enjoy it, but just the grumble itself, going on forever like a machine. It is not a question of God 'sending us' to hell. In each of us there is something growing, which will BE Hell unless it is nipped in the bud.
I willingly believe that the damned are, in one sense, successful, rebels to the end; that the doors of hell are locked on the inside.All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened. And yourself, in a dark hour, may will [a grumbling] mood, embrace it. Ye can repent and come out of it again. But there may come a day when you can do that no longer. Then there will be no you left to criticize the mood...
—excerpted from The Problem of Pain and The Great Divorce, by C.S. Lewis (1898-1963), included in The Quotable Lewis, 1989 Tyndale
Ultimately, it is not for any of us to know for sure the eternal state of Steve Jobs. He stepped out of his body and into the presence of God. I fully trust God to be fair and loving, just and compassionate.
The question is still before the living- What can wash away my sin?
Christians for 2,000 years have had a consistent message- NOTHING BUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS.
What are you going to do with the question?
For more info on the Biblical view of Hell please visit this article by Tim Keller:
The Importance of the Doctrine of Hell
1 comment:
That is an awesome word, Coach Matthews. Thanks for sharing!
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