I was sitting twenty feet away from The 10 Billion Dollar Man when all of his wealth and accomplishments were laid bare. In an instant, the one who was used to being on top of the world was crushed by his arrogance and what appeared to be a rather simple question.
His grandiose buildings…his resorts…his personal homes…his jets…his cars…his attendants and employees and fans…all combined equated to a massive sum…yet counted for nothing.
I should have wept…but I just stared…and listened…and waited. How would the crowd react? How would he get out of the hole he was digging for himself? How would this impact his latest endeavor? What would the masses say? How can he be this ignorant?
In an instant, it seemed like the oxygen had been sucked out of the room. With every additional word he added to his condemnation. Was he embarrassed? Was he scared? Was he scrambling for the first time in a long time to get the words out? What must have been going on in his heart, soul, and mind as he laid down the bricks on his own road to perdition?
Then…it happened again.
A simple question for many…but a hard pill to swallow for most, and perhaps, most of all for The 10 Billion Dollar Man. Finally, my heart began to ache. Finally, I saw him for what he really was: a poor man, exposed, laid bare, and dying.
While the masses collected their thoughts and then shared them in bits and pieces, I wonder who thought of caring for the poor man in his now public destitution? I wonder who looked upon him with sadness and pity and compassion? I wonder who fell to their knees on his behalf to cry out to his Maker for his soul?
The 10 Billion Dollar Man finished his time on that stage, slipped off to another smaller venue, and then eventually back to his skybound chariot of silver and gold. Did he sleep well last night in his castle, hidden away from the glare of the lights and the nagging persistence of his questioners? Did he fall asleep easily, surrounded by the trappings of his wealth? Did he dream of higher heights and bigger mountains and greater prizes yet to be had?
Or, perhaps, he had a nightmare.
A nightmare in which his kingdom was eclipsed by a Kingdom Without Measure. A nightmare in which his great wealth was reduced to rubble by a King of Limitless Wealth. A nightmare in which his self-sufficiency was erased by the reality of the All Sufficient One. A nightmare in which the price of his salvation was the one price he could not pay.
TRUMP is his name…but LOST is his reality.
The 10 Billion Dollar Man came face-to-face with the Man of Great Sorrows and came up short. Have you ever asked God for forgiveness?” It was a question he could not buy his way out of. It was a question he could not crack a joke about. It was a question that exposed his weakness despite his enormous power and influence. The empire of the empire builder came crashing down around his feet in front of the masses and what did the masses do?
Posted it. Tweeted it. Hashtagged it.
What did Jesus do? He wept.
“For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
– Mark 8:36-37
