Pages

Steve Jobs and the Meaning of Life

WSJ: “The problem is I’m older now, I’m 40 years old, and this stuff doesn’t change the world. It really doesn’t. I’m sorry, it’s true. Having children really changes your view on these things. We’re born, we live for a brief instant, and we die. It’s been happening for a long time. Technology is not changing it much — if at all. These technologies can make life easier, can let us touch people we might not otherwise. You may have a child with a birth defect and be able to get in touch with other parents and support groups, get medical information, the latest experimental drugs. These things can profoundly influence life. I’m not downplaying that. But it’s a disservice to constantly put things in this radical new light — that it’s going to change everything. Things don’t have to change the world to be important.” [Wired, February 1996]
So Steve Jobs had a huge impact on the way we live, work, and play. He was someone who "changed the world" and we can all admire him for the nice gadgets we have today. But in the end, when men turn back to dust, what does it all mean? If we are merely some advanced microbe that was able to advance quicker to intelligent life forms than the other fragments of ooz, well it would all matter not at all. If we make someone's day a little better, someone's work a little more efficient, or make others in this short life-span of ours a little happier, the only point to it all  is if it has eternal consequences. Did Steve Jobs make the world a little better? Absolutely. Did he do it as a reflection of who he was in Christ Jesus and for the glory of God? Only he and the Lord knows. He certainly hinted that life should have more meaning in the quote above. His gadgets were not the most important thing in his life. They were important and our work is equally important, but we must understand that our time here is short. This life will soon be past, only that for Christ will last. 


And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Mathew 16:26