The Power of Collaboration

Raise your hand if you own an Apple product; an iPod, iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, or Mac computer. Apple products seem to be everywhere. I’m not sure Steve Jobs envisioned this when he and his two friends started Apple in 1976, or maybe he did!
I once read that Steve Jobs’ favorite quote was a Wayne Gretzky quote, "I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been." It seems to me Jobs built Apple on this principle, always forward thinking. Steve Jobs was this centuries Henry Ford. His creations changed the way the world communicates, much like Henry Ford changed the world of transportation.
When Apple introduced the iPhone back in June 2007, they sold 250,000 in the first 2 days. Then in July 2008 Apple open their App Store. A virtual software store which makes Apple products more functional. In just under 18 months there were over 250,000 apps available and now over 2 million. Today the App Store feeds the success of Apple, yet we Apple users tend to take the App Store for granted.
Lucas Ramirez in the book, he co-wrote with Mike DeVito, titled Designed for More writes, “The App Store is probably one of the most overlooked innovations of Steve Jobs.” I agree. Ramirez goes on to point out Apple knew a single company could never produce the innovation, creativity, and sheer volume of applications the App Store would demand. They knew they were going to need a multitude of app developers. So, they designed the App Store to rely on the power of collaboration. Apple's current CEO Tim Cook recently announced there are now over 20 million registered IOS developers. This is a testimony to the power of collaboration.
I think God designed His church with the power of collaboration in mind. The apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 12:27, “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.” Paul intentionally uses the human body to describe the church, which also relies on the power of collaboration to keep our hearts pumping and lungs breathing. Recently I’ve been fascinated by the power of collaboration, following our OMN NextGen Ministry Conventions. These ministry events are a witness to the power of collaboration, the Body of Christ working together for a common mission.
Church, let’s keep tapping into the power of collaboration, releasing the talents, gifts and abilities of each member of the Body of Christ to fulfill the mission of God.