I have waited long enough.  Its time for a blog post about Steve Jobs.  I hesitated to write anything sooner because I really did not have anything helpful to say until now.

The recent articles coming out including THIS ONE in response to the Walter Isaacson biography of Steve Jobs have us wondering just how much of a jerk Steve was behind the scenes.

First off, I thank God Steve was on Earth for 56 years.  He made things that make it possible to spread the message of Jesus further faster.

Yet many are taken aback at the stories unfolding about his demeanor and antagonism toward those he loved and especially those he hated.  Its shocking to some this “great innovator and leader” is flawed beyond what we would normally expect in people who seem so admirable from a distance.

I ask, “Why?”

Why are we EVER surprised that great people also have great flaws?  The Bible paints this picture repeatedly and deliberately.

David was arguably the greatest king ever and he blew it big time costing many people their lives including the devoted husband of a woman he slept with.

Noah was God’s instrument of human preservation amidst the righteous judgment of God and he had a drinking problem.

Jeremiah cried too much.

Solomon married too much.

Peter spouted off at the mouth too much.

Paul boasted more about his weakness (2 Cor. 11:21), his failing (1 Timothy 1:13), and his sinfulness (1 Timothy 1:15) than all of them.

So I’m not surprised to hear great men can also be great jerks.  Deep inside, there’s a jerk in all of us.

David properly proclaimed in Psalm 51:5 “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.”

Like this or not, we are desperately messy from the inside out.  We need to remember that for 3 basic reasons:

1. You must trust Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, spiritual cleansing and new life.

2. Do not put anyone on a pedestal.  They will fall off.  Trust me.  Put your faith in God goodness, not in the goodness of others.

3. You need a ton of grace, now give away a ton of grace.

That’s the way to “Think Different.”