https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv_UX_QXQfY
But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?
Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,” and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future—all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s. (1 Corinthians 3:1-4, 18-23)
This video and scripture may be a stretch for some people to get my point, but after reviewing this video today that I had seen previously from Steve Jobs in 1997…I immediately saw many spiritual applications of his branding and marketing viewpoints.
Steve Jobs as a business leader was either loved or hated. He was a branding guru and few people had a moderate opinion of the man. The bottom line is that he was a driven, independent thinker who always saw himself as different…and yes, better…than the person next to him. He was self-driven towards perfection and didn’t care who he offended or ran over on his way to accomplishing his ideas and goals. From reading his biography years ago, I am quite sure he was not a believer in Christ. He was quoted as saying he didn’t believe in God; He believed in a higher power which he described as Consciousness. Still, I would argue he was an example as a secular man of how we should be as spiritual people. We should be as driven or more so than Steve Jobs was with whatever we have to give to the cause we believe in…because our cause is GREATER than his.
Today people are more confused than ever about what it means to be a “Christian”. The brand and meaning of the word have been redefined, reconfigured, modernized, and non-standardized to the point of almost being meaningless. It is widely thought that Christians are the most divided, contradictory, and pious people on the planet. Most of them live just like the world around them. For many Christians, “thinking differently” is about some minute point of doctrine or lifestyle that THEY perceive as being more remarkable than all others. Many believers are all about doctrine or intellect but have little of the spiritual gifts and fruits from which the Bible says “we will know they are Christians” (John 13:35).
So, what is my “mission” as a believer? Do I want people to like me? Do I water down the truth so people around me won’t be offended? Do I pursue a “seeker-sensitive” church that doesn’t want to offend anyone? Do I just tell people about the “love of God” but leave out the part people don’t like about repenting from sin and the realities of a final judgment if they don’t turn away from their wicked ways? Do we really think that THIS life is the best or most important one there is? What would Jesus say to that?
The day is coming and perhaps is here, when people will prefer the religions of men instead of a direct relationship with God and His truth. The post-modern Christian world of today is full of people patting each other on the back and saying “everything is OK”. I’m OK, You’re OK. Yet, we know that is a lie. The world is NOT okay. The majority are NOT correct, and yet they rule us in the institutional realms of this world. There is little hope of returning to the Biblical values of true Christianity. The darkness has settled in just like it was foretold in the Bible. There is NO bright future for this planet…at least not until Christ has established His direct reign on this earth. For me, I don’t care to waste time anymore on thinking, praying, or hoping otherwise. Instead, I see it prudent to prepare myself and others for the worst. Scripture is clear on the future of this world and it is not pretty or hopeful. Those of us blessed to “smell the roses” may have limited days to do so.
In the video above, Steve Jobs states, “Those people that are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who actually do it…values and core values should never change”. While I think we realize he was talking about secular humanist values, I think we Christians must challenge ourselves in a similar manner but from a standpoint of spiritual values. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever…even while everything else around us may be changing. He expects us to think and act DIFFERENTLY. He expects us to be full of His spirit, not religion. He expects us to demonstrate love and compassion in an unlovely world…not judgment or condescension.
What do we have to be so proud about? Our blessings? Well, those can come and go with the wind. We should be thankful for them, but not dependent on them. Where your faith really shines is when you are hungry, hurting, or in hard times. How do you treat people then? What is your attitude towards God then?
Finally, to put faith into action and be different, we must view people differently than the world. The world looks at and rewards people based on their outward appearance, financial stature, or if they are “winners” or not. Scripture tells us God looks upon the heart and loved us while we were yet downtrodden sinners. We can simply demonstrate our difference in the world by replicating God’s actions and attitude.
Deitrich Bonhoeffer put it very well when he wrote, “We must learn to regard people less in the light of what they do or omit to do, and more in the light of what they suffer.” If we want to grow the Kingdom of God, we need to spend more time knowing and understanding those who suffer. If we have never ourselves suffered, it might be quite hard for us to understand those that do. To really show faith and think differently, we need to share in the suffering all around us more than bathe in the fountains of our blessings. THAT is what will build a church and help establish the Kingdom of God on this earth.