Rich young man

Written by Zhey Chua |Posted on April 1, 2008 | Comments

Yesterday, Warren and I were invited to have lunch with a former client from Houston, Texas. He is in the country for a three week vacation with his family and to do some business as well.

Tim and I go a long way back, back to late 2006 or early 2007, but back in the days we never discussed anything that is near religion. I have always assumed he is a Buddhist.

You see, this man is a Vietnamese, he was one of those boat people who paddled their way out of Vietnam in the 1980’s. He was eleven at that time. Staying six full months in a Vietnamese refugee camp in the Philippines (he could not exactly remember if it was in Batangas or Palawan), he was later boarded on a plane for the United States of America where he was eventually naturalized as a citizen.

Tim, indeed, is a very lucky man for having been given the opportunity to rebuild his life in the land of milk and honey. He got his education, became a software engineer, earned enough to start his own business, got laid off from work and finally had reason to become his own boss, and now, he is one of the young, successful and powerful (hey, you are powerful when you are rich, by human standards, isn’t it?) rich men in Texas. He is only thirty two years old and a father to two beautiful boys. Life is rosy and full of promises for him. Or is it?

It was only a few weeks ago that I learned from a fellow virtual assistant that Tim is a “Christian”. He attends Lakewood Church and over lunch, we had the opportunity to talk about Joel Osteen, their pastor. Tim excitedly told us about the “energy” they feel at Lakewood every Sunday, how incredibly powerful it is that you could immediately feel it as soon as you step inside their church. I was quick to tell him it isn’t anything spiritual, it is just the crowd heating up the place that creates this “energy surge”. He said, “maybe”. And then he proceeded to tell us that he has respect for Osteen because he is a good marketer and that the church just happens to be his family’s business, which, he said, they don’t mind at all. I swear, I felt parched the moment I heard that statement from Tim. I felt parched for him… The conversations swerved to a few near-miss directions and I just went on to say that Osteen can be respected as long as he is leading his people to the true Christ. Tim and his wife said that they don’t think he is misleading the people. Just then, Marge, who is right across me and who attends VCF-Dagupan, said “but the interview was such a mess up, Tim…” and they all went, “yeah, that was bad… he just didn’t know how to answer the questions…” Warren then interjected by saying that Osteen compromises because he is not afraid to displease God, but is more afraid of displeasing the people, which is totally unbiblical! Tim agreed to that statement from Warren and suddenly there was a brief silence on our table. I uttered a silent prayer just then for God to give Tim and his wife, Frances, the grace to absorb what we were saying. I also told them that Osteen would not have messed up on Larry King Live if only he read the Bible right (or should it be, if he reads the right Bible?). The answer to Larry King and the phoned in questions were so simple to find – they are all written in the Bible. How could anyone who knows his Bible go wrong?

After a short while, it was time for me and Warren to head back home. We left Tim and Frances with a gift, a John MacArthur book , with the hope that it will at least spark interest in them to seek God’s Word. The true Word. Not just the words being uttered by some smiling preacher who, according to his own church-goer, is primarily a businessman more than a preacher.

On our way home, I tugged at Warren’s arm and told him how I pity Tim. He is still lost and it is a pity that inspite of all his successes, his riches and his power, he is nothing but a speck in the eyes of God… If at all…