Monday, February 15, 2010

Reaching the rich and powerful

Mark 10:25 tells us that it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. This verse gives the reality of the difficulty of reaching the rich, and also the powerful and famous, for Christ. If you've come across rich and powerful people and got to know them more closely, you will find out that their power and wealth give them a false security. You may not hear them directly saying this, but you will observe that the worldly things they have make them less interested with spiritual things.

This does not mean though that we should not anymore try reaching these people to Christ. Jesus died for them too. If they die without Jesus' righteousness imputed on them, their wealth and power will not be able to buy them a ticket to Heaven (Prov. 11:4). And so, we should try our best to deliver the Gospel to them.

Prayer, as always, will play a significant role if you do want to reach them. Why? Getting to them will be a big challenge. You can't just expect a very rich and powerful person to give you an appointment just because you ask for one. You have to pray for that opportunity to come. I believe that prayers for opportunities like this is something God enjoys answering. The Bible says that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us (1 John 5:14), and it is very clear that God is not willing that any should perish (including the rich and famous) but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). So if we ask for an opportunity to share the Gospel to basically anyone, that is in line with God's will and we can be sure that He will hear us. In the past 3 years, I have prayed for opportunities to share the Gospel to rich and powerful people from the president of the Philippines to Manny Pacquiao, the boxing pound-for-pound king. All the opportunities I'm asking have not arrived yet, although God has allowed me to give out tracts to a few of them like sports and TV personalities. I'm confident that God will someday give that one chance for people I'm praying for to hear the Gospel. I really don't care if that will be through me or through another Christian as long as they hear the Gospel.

Once given the opportunity, we must be sure that we do not preach a prosperity gospel to this people. Please be reminded that they have everything that they want in life and any more prosperity promises you give them will just make you foolish in their eyes. And "NO", they don't have a God-shaped hole in their heart that only God can fill. What they have is the same as what any person has--- a wicked heart that God hates looking at. And so, it is crucial that our presentation focuses on man's standing in front of a just and holy God. If you can make them understand that despite their wealth and power, they don't look lovable to God's eyes because of their sins, they have all the reason in the world to listen and consider what you are telling them. The Gospel will appear very desirable to them once you've made them understand their true state before God.

Then after that, continue praying for them.

In the past 5 months, God has given me opportunities to deliver the Gospel to the rich and famous. The picture above is an example. Last December, God allowed me to be in the same restaurant wash room as former actor and politician, Rey Malonzo. I'm not a fan of his or his martial arts skills but when I bumped into him, I appeared as starstruck as I can so that I can hand him a Milion Dollar bill tract. I was so happy to see him later in the lounge of the restaurant reading the tract. Just a week ago, I handed a congressman from Bulacan a Giant Money tract which he really liked when we shot a video of him giving his well wishes to graduates of the school I work at. I also wrote a letter each to Bill Gates and Warren Buffet explaining their need for Christ. I have no knowledge if the letters reached them, but I'm praying that God would make a way for them to read my letters.

Maybe you also know some rich and powerful person out there. They also need Christ just like all of us. You can do something to deliver the Gospel to them. All it takes is a little initiative. Yes, the camel has a better chance of passing through the eye of a needle than for the rich to enter into Heaven. But we can help them. Let's give them a little push.

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