Steve Jobs and the Great Commission

Such was his impact on the world that his passing yesterday has been mourned by global figures US President Barack Obama, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

What they and many more agree on is that the Apple founder was a creative genius and a visionary who truly changed the world.

Obama praised him as being “among the greatest of American innovators”, while Gates noted that “there may be no greater tribute to Steve’s success than the fact that much of the world learned of his passing on a device he invented”.

Dr Michael A Milton, chancellor-elect of the Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi, wants to focus on a different aspect of Jobs’ specialness.

To him, Jobs didn’t just make great computers or change the face of technology; he equipped the global church in fulfilling the Great Commission.

“I do not know his final moments and therefore I make no judgments, commending this man and his family to a God whose grace and love is greater and wider than we could ever imagine,” said Milton.

“Yet, in God's common grace, He used this man's innovation and creativity to build a new Roman Road to the world - a pathway through the extremities of a world still held in the tyranny of despots and dictators, poverty and radical religious fetters.”

Milton said iTunes had become a “beacon of hope” by bringing the Word of God to the ends of the earth, allowing sermons and teaching to be downloaded onto Macs, PCs, iPads and iPhones all around the world.

He admitted that Jobs’ legacy might not be one he himself had thought of, linking the world “in order to bring Christ to those who have never heard”.

“And so the Gospel is getting through to the most hostile places on earth as well as to the most hostile ideological places in the secularised Western world. So I thank God for the life of Steve Jobs,” he said.

Jobs died on Wednesday after a seven-year long battle with pancreatic cancer.

President of Lifeway Research, Ed Stetzer praised the way in which Jobs embraced death and spoke publicly of it.

“Watching his health over the last few years reminds us of our own mortality – and Steve thought that death was a good thing for all of us to consider,” said Stetzer.

Christian band Jars Of Clay also paid tribute on their Facebook page, saying: “We're sad for the loss of Steve Jobs. Truly, his innovative technology impacted and changed the way we interact (both creating and experiencing) music and art on a daily basis. We have made our music on Macs for the whole of our 17 year career.”