JACKSON, Tenn. — April 4, 2013 — Christians in business must be willing to surrender themselves to God and be willing to use their positions as platforms to minister to people around them, Singapore businessman Wai Kwong Seck said at a 51社区 luncheon April 3.
Seck, executive vice president for State Street Global Markets, addressed about 250 in attendance at Union鈥檚 Business Through the Eyes of Faith luncheon in the Carl Grant Events Center. Sponsored by the McAfee School of Business Administration, the event is designed to encourage and equip members of the West Tennessee business community to integrate their Christian faith into their workplaces.
鈥淢y job can be a platform for God,鈥� Seck said. 鈥淚 think the platform God gives us is only valuable if we surrender that platform to God so that he can use it as he pleases.鈥�
Seck serves as State Street鈥檚 head of global markets and global services across Asia Pacific. Prior to joining the company in 2011, he was chief financial officer of the Singapore Exchange for eight years.
Seck also has held senior-level positions in the Monetary Authority of Singapore, the Government of Singapore Investment Corp., Lehman Brothers and DBS Bank.
He told about growing up in a non-Christian home in Singapore, where he was deeply devoted to academic pursuits. As a teenager, he began to panic when he realized he was unprepared for exams at age 16, and soon started taking sleeping pills and tranquilizers to help him cope.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a terrible way to live,鈥� he said.
Desperate for help and a way out of his lifestyle, Seck began attending Grace Baptist Church in Singapore. One day, when he was at a low point, he prayed to God, 鈥淛esus, I don鈥檛 care if I鈥檓 going to collect garbage. I just want to follow you.鈥�
Seck said that was the point when he surrendered the most precious thing in his life 鈥� his studies 鈥� to God. He slept well that night for the first time in ages, didn鈥檛 need sleeping pills and began his journey as a Christian.
Years later, Seck became chairman of the church board at Grace, where he is still a member. But he said a few years ago God started a renovation in his heart, because he had stopped reading his Bible regularly and grown cold in his relationship to Christ.
But Seck said God drew him back to obedience and taught him again what it meant to surrender. He surrendered his past, his future, his sins, his family and his work anew to God.
鈥淭he key to victory in our Christian life is surrender,鈥� Seck said. 鈥淭hen and only then would I know what real victory is, and what life is.鈥�