The Game Changer

I am an Apple man. I love their innovative products. Most everyone else does as well. I don’t know anyone who does not have an Apple product.
Steve Jobs and his creative team at Apple changed the computing world for the better. His genius, leadership and marketing prowess have given us products that are simple to use, elegant in style, and as the younger generation would say, “just way cool.”
The world’s reaction to his death shows the enormous impact he has had in the world. Time Magazine literally stopped their presses to change the cover of their next issue to honor this computer icon. The number of posts about Steve Jobs on Facebook and Twitter is off the charts. Many are even using Job’s image as their profile picture. He is being heralded as a game changer and joined to John D. Rockefeller and Henry Ford as the most influential innovators America has ever produced. Rarified company indeed, and a spot well deserved for Mr. Jobs.
Jobs wanted to put a ding in the universe. He wanted to be a game changer. Here is a quote from him, one that many people are sharing through the social networks to honor this significant man: “Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
He did see things differently, and he was brave enough to follow his heart and mind. But did Steve Jobs change the world?
The Apostle John wrote this concerning the world: “For everything in the world–the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does–comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:16-17). Despite the great advances in technology, the world remains as it has been since Adam and Eve ate the forbidden apple. And it will continue under sin’s influence and the deceptive philosophies of the evil one until Jesus returns. That is the world.
Jobs changed the way we function in this world. He changed the way we listen to music, the way we connect with one another, and the way we share our lives. In many ways he has helped to make our lives simpler, yet more elegant. And for that he is a game changer. But even so, the world is still a mess. Humanity is mired in sin and death. Evil is everywhere. Technology cannot change this dark reality. Human hearts still gravitate toward sin and evil and rebellion.
But God has not left us without hope. He sent the Game Changer, Jesus Christ. He came to rescue us from the corruption of this world. Those who trust in Him are snatched out of this world and placed into His Kingdom. John described this as “being in the world, but not of the world.”
One day, there will be new heavens and a new earth and we will be part of it. Jesus sent His Spirit into our lives as a guarantee of what is to come. Until then, Jesus continues to impact this world by imparting His life to those who receive Him.
There have been many people throughout history who have changed the way we function in the world. But there is only One who can, and who will change the world itself, the One who has power over sin and death.