A Prince Among Men

Once upon a time a Christian girl fell in love with a Christian guy for all the wrong reasons. She thought he was cute, fun, exciting, and different. Above all, he treated her like a princess. I suppose this last bit is not horrible; still, it should not be a deciding factor in a relationship as far as a Christian relationship goes. Nevertheless, that's what happened.

Married life was not all happily-ever-after as she expected. She soon found that his world was one that few would fully know or understand. Under the wild and fun-loving exterior was a man who was trying hard to stay true to his beliefs while immersed in a pressure chamber wrought out of pride, lust for power, deceit, and hypocrisy. You might think all this is taking place in a secular world where Christ is not known; sadly, that is not the case. Sometimes evil lurks in the holiest of places.

In time, this ugliness would wreak havoc in their lives and in the lives of innocent people. There would be betrayals, lies, and wanton acts of malice on the part of Christians who believed themselves in the right. While our man, now in his thirties, did his best to stem the tide of injustice, he was powerless to prevent it from happening over and over again. Yet, he never despaired of doing good. He remained diligent, fair, and transparent, and tried, with all the strength and hope he had, to make the place a better one for God's purpose.

Eventually, he also fell victim to the evil schemes around him. He was subjected to malicious slanders and public attacks. I cannot tell you why Christian men and women would go out of their way to attack fellow believers, trying to bring them down. Perhaps they are truly convinced of their mission to launch crusades against anyone who disagrees with their point of view. However, it's more likely that somewhere along the line their relationship with God became muddled, and instead of hearing God's voice, they are hearing their own.

Overnight our man was brought down. His reputation and career suffered. He was not allowed to return to work. Throughout all this, he did not retaliate against his attackers or use their ploys against them. While they spread rumors about him, he stayed quiet and waited for the truth to reveal itself. However, God turned this dark episode into a blessing: He opened the door for a publishing career that would make the man even more influential in his work. In time, he would be vindicated, and his writing would prove all the malicious, accusing rumors untrue.

Nevertheless, wherever he went, he would be plagued by small-minded men who aimed to assault him for no reason. Perhaps some people feel that God's blessings are finite and that in order to get a bigger piece of God's pie, they must snatch it from others. They spend their lives clawing and grabbing, taking pot shots at their "competitions" whenever their backs are turned. Instead of working in harmony for the kingdom of God, these men stir up dissent and mistrust, modeling their behavior after the world's ruthless social climbers.

Yet, all this had not proved entirely in vain. Had life been as dreamy and happy as our Christian girl had envisioned, she would never have discovered the true strengths of the man she had married. Had they not been refined in the furnace, she would never have known that she had married a genuine article, that he was above all a man of immaculate integrity, fierce loyalty, and immense self-control. Though he was savvy enough to recognize others' dirty tricks, he would never stoop to their level of meanness and smallness. She had found that, though she had not always felt like a princess, she had indeed married a prince among men. Though she fell in love with him for all the wrong reasons, she now has plenty of right ones for loving him better. And that is not altogether a terrible thing.

By now, of course you know whom I am talking about. This prince among men is my husband. Tomorrow night we will be attending an awards banquet, honoring this year's best Christian writers in Hong Kong. He has been nominated in two categories: best technical book and best author of the year. Whether he wins anything at all is irrelevant. He has proven himself faithful with what he's been given. Though he has been brought low, again and again, he was never beaten, and he never compromised his integrity or standards of ethics. For that, I can't be more proud than I am already.