What do you get when you take a
man, his journey and his faith, and put them through the prism of life? You get a book
entitled “Men for Christ: Living Out Our
Faith” of course.
This is an honest book. It is written by 21 men, grown men, wounded
men, crying men, successful men, devoted men, and fallible men. They are
captains of their own industry with well-known academicians, honorary editor,
ex-politician, banking head, senior pastors, renown doctors and a local history
professor with a first-class honors degree leading the charge.
But they are also men for Christ and their life demonstrates to the
reader and the world what it takes to be a true follower of God. These men could
be anyone’s mentor and the mentee will undeniably be better, richer and wiser
for it. You can’t possibly walk away from the book after reading it and learn
nothing.
The message in the book is well summed up by Associate Professor Ho
Peng Kee in the Preface: “No man is perfect, so it is important that
we do not put anyone on a pedestal.” That’s honest self-incrimination for you even before you flip to the first
chapter. Humility is indeed embodied in
21 successful lives lived for Christ.
In the book, you will read about their unshakeable belief, their
candid failures, their testimonies of faith in the marketplace, and their love
for their Savior. Their faith is simply poetic elegance in a world of
disruptive challenges.
You will also see a mirror reflection of your own struggles in
theirs, and you will come to know the reality of Christ in your life more
deeply, intimately and completely. The beauty of the book is that it does not
pretend to have the answers. It does not tell you that as a believer, all you
need to do is to name it and claim it. But in living their life in trust and obedience,
their personal narratives as they unfold in the pages stand as reliable
guideposts to point you in the direction you should take in your own journey of
faith.
What I like about the book is that it walks you through each life
with deep insight, humble faith and raw honesty. These grown men mince no
words. They tell it as it is. Their masculinity comes in a form of readily
admitted spirituality of vulnerability and their clay-like life is exemplary of
what the Master Potter can shape and fashion when broken dreams and broken
lives fully and humbly submit to Him.
Yes, they are not perfect, but they are enduringly inspiring. Their
journey sets the beaten path for the reader of faith because each step they
take, that is, their failures and successes, follows closely in the footsteps
of their Savior.
In the book, you have one grown man who openly admitted to this: “Every night, I cried to sleep. I cried
incessantly until I could cry no more…I slept curled up like a foetus in the
mother’s womb.” (Patrick Liew, Founder of Success Resources).
Didn’t they say strong men shed
no tears? Well, the truth is that they are only strong because they dare to
cry before the Lord as they surrender everything to Him.
To me, tears are never a sign of weakness. It is on the contrary the emblem
of maturity for the mark of woundedness is also the true mark of spiritual
leadership and stewardship. Here I recall this scripture: “My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart
you, God, will not despise.”
You will also read about a loving father who had signed up as a
patient at the Institute of Mental Health. The
reason? Because one of his children was afflicted with a mental health
problem, and in his own words, he wrote: “I
had decided to do this to learn first-hand the dynamics at play when a mentally
unwell person is under treatment…as it turned out, it was a very useful
exercise in self-discovery.” (Hsieh Fu Hua, Chairman of UOB and Tiger
Airways Holdings).
One may be tempted to ask here, “It
is really necessary to admit oneself into IMH just to learn about mental
illness?” The answer to that is succinctly spelt out in the man’s own
words: “Emerging from this journey, I
began to appreciate better one’s “inner core of being” which dwells in the depth
of the heart, soul and spirit. This core may be sensed as we learn and try to
draw nearer to God.”
At this juncture, let me speak a word or two as my takeaway from the
book. All the contributors have a story to tell, a story of their life in the
lowest depth and at the highest point of their struggles and successes. For
them, the savouring highs are meaningless without first overcoming the crushing
lows. And overcome they did not so much by confronting the circumstances around
them, but by meeting the challenges within.
I earnestly believe that the greatest battle in a man’s life takes
place in his consciousness where his conscience meets the serrated-knife-edge
of a thought that seeks to derail him, an idea that tempts him into sin, a
notion that lulls him into sleepwalking through life, and an image that draws
him into captivity. This crossroad is where the first step to overcoming
begins.
What makes a man a man for Christ is when he draws the courage, faith
and hope from God to face his own Calvary, and nails his self to it, one nail
at a time. Only when he is done with the self is he then ready for the world,
that is, to be a testimony of true worth and impact for the glory of God.
One contributor in the book said, “The challenge is we need to manage ourselves. But the honest truth is
that we are very unprepared for that.” (Lee Han Kiat, Halftime Certified
Coach and Roundtable Facilitator). The corollary truth to that is that we can’t
do it alone.
In the book, Bishop Emeritus Robert Solomon wrote this about
redeeming our maleness: “We cannot
approach Christian discipleship with tools and techniques. We need to follow
Christ intimately.” The wise Bishop also said, “It is not so important to solve the problem, but to love the person.”
And emulating our Savior as he offered himself as a living sacrifice is a good
place to start in redeeming our manhood,
our maleness, our masculinity.
What touched me deeply about the book is that you have a father who
gave up his promising career (fast-track promotion from finance director to
CEO) for his son when his frequent absence from family caused his eldest son to
ask him, “Daddy, why are you abandoning
me?” (David Ang, PBM headed Dads for Life and chairs Kum Yan Methodist
Church). And this scripture quoted by David Ang moved me deeply as a father of
three: “…He will turn the hearts of the
fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers…”
(Malachi 4:5-6).
You also have a businessman, the CEO of Far East Organization to be
exact, who is not ashamed of the gospel of Christ when he made this declaration
in the secular marketplace:-
“I cannot be a Christian on one
hand and a businessman on the other. I am a Christian first and a businessman
second. One cannot compartmentalize; first and foremost, one has to follow
Christ. I make it a point to subtly let my prospective business partners know
that I am a follower of Christ. Christ is a shield that I put in front of me,
and He guides the way that I do business, of which the means is more important
than the end.” (Philip Ng).
Imagine that, an accomplished leader in the business world humbly
admitting to all that he is no more than a simple follower of his Savior, a
willing vessel for His use. You can’t help but have this conviction that their
successes are not so much the result of answering to the call of their board
members, trustees or equity investors, but to the call of their loving
Redeemer.
And last but not least, you have a lawyer, pastor, academician and
psychometric analyst (all rolled into one) who struggled with a broken heart
when his prodigal daughter told him this one day: “Dad, I am 16. I want to have my independence. I want to move out of
this house, I want to go and be on my own.” Dr William Wan then replied, “You’re only 16.” And his daughter said,
“According to the law, I’m an adult now.”
Thereafter, his daughter asked him “for a
bus ticket to Canada where she was born” and “in Toronto, she was part of the drug scene for seven years.”
Where is she now? What is she
doing? You will be pleasantly surprised. But you will just have to get the
book to find out for yourself. Trust me,
it’s worth your while.
I can actually go on to write here about a
dentist-turned-itinerant-pastor who took care of his mother who has dementia
and his father-in-law who has Parkinson (Dr Tan Soo Inn). Or a Bishop who
shares his heart out about men, sex and pornography.
Or about a barefoot doctor who left for Yunnan for 14 years to care
for the poor, share knowledge with them and love the people (Dr Tan Lai Yong). Or
an editor of Impact Magazine and founding elder of RiverLife Church who once
had this strange conversation with an earnest lady in Church who asked him, “How big is heaven?”. He then gave the
impression that it was “ginormous” and
asked her why she asked. The lady replied, “Because
there are people I want to avoid in heaven.” (Dr Andrew Goh).
The book has its light moments and the many serious and enlightening
ones. If you want to be inspired by the unsung Biblical heroes like Samuel and
Ebed-Melech, or allow a scripture or two from the Old Testament to lift your
spirit (Assoc. Professor Ho), or learn about the science of evolution and the
life-giving spirit of Creation (Dr Aw Swee Eng), or understand how history had
transformed a passion into a personal calling (Dr Ernest Chew), or learn why women are natural-born leaders in the church (Dr Robert Solomon), or just
read about the lives of grown men, that is, excellent leaders in their
respective field, and most of all, imperfect Christians following their perfect
Savior, you can’t not pick this book up and read it for yourself.
What endears me to the book is that it doesn’t tell you that all will
be fine, just have faith and believe, everything will fit nicely, and that God
wants you to prosper – full stop.
Alas, life is much more than that. It is much more than wealth and
health even. And these men in their own ways and words have taught about and
given me that insight (or foresight) in a way that coincides perfectly with
these words by CS Lewis: “If I find in
myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most
probable explanation is that I was made for another world.”
This desire is definitely not about self-enrichment or
self-glorification. It goes beyond what this world can ever hope to offer. It
is a perspective that is eternal. It is a hope that surpasses all earthly
pleasures. It is a joy and peace that are beyond human understanding. This
desire is out of this world because we came from out of this world. And if this
world is not our home, then all our earthly possessions are not ours to own. We
are faithful stewards and not ranch owners.
Let me end with this quote by Soren Kierkegaard found in the book: “Life can only be understood backwards; but
it must be lived forwards.”
Indeed, the men in the book understood this well. Theirs is a life
that is humbled and empowered by their past, and with that authentic
transformation, they draw the courage, love and hope to live fully for Christ
in the here and hereafter. Cheerz.
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