The High-Value Saint

Three months ago, the world of social media lost an icon. Kevin "the Godfather" Samuels, YouTuber, image consultant, life-coach, dating expert and influencer, died on May 5, 2022.

Rolling Stone magazine reported that Samuels had amassed 1.4 million subscribers on his YouTube channel since joining in May 2015, while his videos have garnered over 295 million views (as of publication). He was berated for what some considered his views to be full of misogyny. One, comment that made him a public enemy to Black women is the following:

“If you have made it to 35 and you are unmarried, you are a leftover woman. You are what is left. Men know that there is likely something wrong with you. Whether you want to hear it or not, I’m going to go there with you. I’m telling you the truth that you don’t want to hear.”

He was equally critical of Black men.

“Being a good man is not good enough! Not if you wanna have your pick of women…saying that you are good enough is just another way of saying I’m too lazy to do anything else. You’re not getting the women you want because you’re not good enough!”

The news of his death was just as polarizing as his YouTube show. A 911 call was made by one of his consorts that he was dating that night. He was nonresponsive, and on May 5, 2022, at the age of 57, Kevin Samuels was pronounced dead.

Reports of Black women rejoicing that he had passed triggered responses to the news like “It was poetic justice, Karma, etc.” Black men were saddened. They felt that they had lost a warrior for their cause of ultimate “dogism” (whoremongering). Black men loved him, and Black women hated him. He was indeed an influencer.

But Samuels biggest influence on pop culture was not just his controversial views on dating, but he is responsible for reviving the concept and coining the expression the “High-Value Man.” Society has always valued rich and influential people, but Samuels composed qualities of what men needed to be to amass “more options and to create opportunity for more favorable outcomes” namely in business but relationships as well; however, some have taken his idea and used it as a recipe to create a harem or to consider oneself husband worthy.

Here are Samuels’s six principles of a High-Value Man:

• Money—He must earn a minimum of six figures ($10k/mo)

• Stability—The salary must be over a period of 3-5 yrs minimum

• Credibility (Group Acceptance)—He must be known by other HVM (birds of a feather flocked together & secret societies, fraternities, sororities)

• Networking--He must know other people who are also influential because having wealth means you can only throw money at a problem. Picking up the phone knowing who can move things is a show of being resourceful (Book of Business).

• Visibility—He must have a Linked-In level career for transparency (saying you’re a VP at Goldman-Sachs is more compelling than saying you’re an entrepreneur)

• Utility—He must be useful to others and to the group. “I do not want to be used" is the wrong mindset. Presence is felt when they are there, and their absence is felt when they are gone.

The Lord has laid it on my heart to discuss with you the principles of becoming a High-Value Saint. The qualities that Samuels uses for defining a High-Value Man, we can use, with some modifications, to describe a High-Value Saint. In the parable of the Hidden Treasure, we can draw principles that make a High-Value Saint.

GIVE TITLE & PRAY

44 Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Matthew 13:44

Jesus taught the people in parables. A parable is a short story to depict a figure of speech or a moral object lesson. This parable is number five of seven of the parables given in which Christ is trying to convey the idea of the Kingdom of Heaven. It is not an accident that Matthew records seven of these parables in this chapter because God’s number is seven and represents His will coming to fulfillment or completion. And we are all waiting the coming of God’s kingdom. We pray it "Thy kingdom come."

“The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field,” Jesus said. If God loves us, if God sent Jesus to die on the cross for our sins, why would He hide His kingdom from us? This does not make any sense! Spiritual things have to be spiritually discerned.

In all these parables, something is hidden. Something is concealed. The word “hid” comes from the Greek word “krypto.” You ever heard of cryptocurrency? That is to say currency whose true value is hidden. Warren Buffet said he does not invest in anything that He does not understand. And that is exactly who in this parable the kingdom is hidden from people like Warren Buffett. Jesus reference to Isaiah’s prophecy in Matthew 13:14, 15, was a protest to the Jewish leaders in their handling of the oracles of God. They had a field of knowledge of God and His plan of salvation but could never uncover the hidden treasure. So, that which they had was taken from them, and the disciples who received saw the hidden value of God’s word and prospered.