scandalous

One time I was browsing through a Christian website, and came across a book named Scandalous by D.A. Carson. I can't hide the fact that I felt impulsive to get it because of the title =P. And then I found that Mark Driscoll strongly recommends this book, so I totally went for it.

I have to say... it is good. "Scandalous" is an excellent book that explains clearly the work of Jesus on the cross and His resurrection. It provided me a deeper understanding of how every sin is a transgression against God, and more knowledge of the meaning of propitiation and redemption that was accomplished in the death of Jesus on the cross.

The first chapter talks about the "double irony" of the cross. D.A. Carson presents 4 "double ironies" from the account in Matthew 27 on the death of Jesus. I found it very neat, even though Jesus was mocked on the cross, ultimately God owns them with their own mockery.

1. Jesus was mocked as the King of Jews
   
   Matthew 27:27-31, the soldiers mocked Jesus, saying "Hail, king of the Jews!". And on verse 37, it is written the charge against Jesus, "THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS". The soldiers were making fun of Jesus, because He claimed to be the Messiah but He is now rejected and condemned. And that is the irony. But, the counter irony is that Jesus is indeed the King. Revelations 19 shows a breathe-taking description of Jesus as the rider on the white horse, and on His robe it is written "KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS". Jesus is King.
   
   
2. Jesus was mocked as powerless
   
   Matthew 27:32-40, Jesus was insulted even by one of the thieves who were also crucified (Luke 23:39). The soldier casted lots on His clothing, and the public kept on shaking their heads and insulted Jesus. They kept on with saying that it is impossible that Jesus e can destroy the temple and build in in three days. And that if He is the Son of God, then He should be able to save Himself! So basically, it was ironic that Jesus proclaimed that He is the Son of God, but was powerless in this situation. But the counter irony is that Jesus is indeed powerful because what He accomplished on the cross is indescribable. He took upon Himself the wrath of God for the punishment of our sins, and He resurrected from the death three days later. Jesus defeated death! Jesus is God, powerful.
   
   
3. Jesus was mocked as not able to save anyone
   
   Matthew 27:42, the chief priests mocked Jesus saying that Jesus save others but can't save Himself. They further mocked that if Jesus can come down from the cross, they will believe in Him. The irony is that Jesus offers eternal life for those who believe in Him, but He can't save Himself on the cross. But the counter irony is that Jesus can save all those who have faith in Him because of His death on the cross. Only Jesus can live a righteous life, and His righteousness is imputed on those who believe in Him, and our sins was imputed on Him so that He will take upon the punishment (2 Cor 5:21). Only the blood of Jesus can save us.
   
   
4. Jesus was mocked as not receiving help from God
   
   Matthew 27:43, further mockery about how Jesus always said that He trusts God, but if that's the case then God should be able to rescue Him. The fact that He is not receiving any help from God is an irony. But the counter irony is that Jesus is submitting to God the Father in obedience to death on the cross, and Jesus is then exalted to the highest place, and Jesus' name is above all names (Philippians 2:9).

This is just the tip of the iceberg of how good the book is, and how powerful Jesus is.

The work on the cross of Jesus and His resurrection is real power that defeats all human works, wisdom, mockery and anything. We can only boast on the cross of Jesus, and stand amazed at the grace offered to us.

"And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he [Jesus] made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." - Colossians 2:15

More about the atonement

draw our life from His smile

So recently I am watching an anime called Arakawa Under the Bridge, which is a comedy that consists of extremely peculiar characters doing random things, and they all live under a bridge. It sounds weird, but it's actually very enjoyable.

The main male character (Ric) is a guy who has everything. He is the heir of the most successful company in Japan, he is smart, knows his stuff, excels in many areas. Because of that, he is full of himself. Moreover, his family has a motto of "to never rely on anyone". Meaning that he has to do everything by his own powers. So the story starts with the main female character (Nino)  rescuing him from the death. And then he wants to do everything possible to repay her, as he can't owe people anything. She doesn't want to take anything from him, but eventually she requested if they can start dating, lol.

There is one particular scene I really like, when the male character's father converses with the main female character... goes like this:

- Nino: whenever I brought him food, he wouldn't shut up about doing something in return.
- Ric's father: Of course he did. You need to want something too. Otherwise it is not fair.
- Nino: No. It's fair. When he's full, it feels like I'm full too.

With all the facial expression and musical background from the anime, it was really cool and spoke to me. When I serve God, I know that my works don't contribute to my salvation, because it by grace and through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). And I get my motivation to persevere in my faith because I desire in my heart that the Lord will say to me "good faithful servant" on the day I stand before God.

But, as I live here on earth, there are times of discouragement, burnt out, lack of fruits, and many other things that can damper my motivation to run in the race. So often, the lack of a visible affirmation from God that He is pleased with what I am doing really throws me off.

Then, I realized that perhaps I am putting more emphasis on results of my works instead of God Himself. I came to the conclusion that I have missed God in those times of discouragement in serving by focusing on what I do. Because I want to get something back (a visible result!), but I am missing the point that God already loves me.

Truly, I need to learn how to be satisfied in God, drawing power from the assurance that He loves me so much (1 John 3).

"[God] He meant us to see Him and live with Him and draw our life from His smile" from The Pursuit of God by A.W. Tozer

cell membrane

As an engineer I am used to study for engineering courses. Most of these courses have to be studied with learning how to solve problems (assignment questions). So understanding the theory might not as important (though, it helps and it makes you a better engineer). Somehow, I got a bit tired of engineering courses and decided to take a "free" course on human physiology (BIOL 273). It was fun, I have to learn to memorize text (and not numbers), and it was very interesting to know how the body works. It was also very fun that some CCFers from engineering and science were also taking that course at the same time. So, we engineers aimed to beat the science kids, but we couldn't beat the cookie eater.

I think high school science teaches about cell membrane in a very high level, and in BIOL 273 we went a bit deeper. These are some of the cell membrane's functions:

• Traffic control: semipermeable membrane that allows certain particle to pass and blocks others
• Protects the cell from outer environment
• Reads and process information: contains binding channels that reads information from an agent (hormone, protein, etc) and elicits a response

I might be a bit off so bear with me in my limited scientific knowledge.

I want to share a bit about the purpose of the ministry I am co-leading with Jon Lin, which is called  Breaking-down Brick Walls (BBW) (yes, we stole the name from a friend's blog name). The vision of our ministry is to help equip Christians into the service of God by imparting knowledge and teaching skills of various Christian topics (apologetics, bible studies, serving, etc) through workshop and discussions. We started as a ministry solely focused on apologetics, but later we expanded our scope across various Christian topics.

The more I think, ponder and talk (back and forth) with Jon about this ministry, I realize that our focus should not be so much about teaching people knowledge because people can just easily absorb a truth and believe it without thinking and questioning it. Besides, information is so easily accessible nowadays. Instead, our focus is   about helping people build a "biblical mental framework" that can teach them to filter knowledge. That people will not just blindly believe in one side of the argument without understanding where both sides of the arguments are coming from. Our aim is that through discussions we can incite people to think and question about the truths of our faith. 

Because it is so easy to just believe about what is taught in the church without looking in the bible. There is a lot of gain in "wrestling" with a passage of the bible (because a lot of verses are very hard to interpret). The more we wrestle, the more we gain from the riches of the Word of God  (instead of just believing everything a pastor say). Also, this is important especially since there are many false teachers in this age.

Since many Christians who grew up in church might think that Christianity is another part of their routine, that most of them might not be able to put in words the basic truths of our faith. It is important that we understand and think thoroughly and even question about our faith. We have to take ownership of our faith, meaning that I am not a Christian because I go to church or because my parents bring me to church, but that I decided to believe in Jesus Christ, who died for me on the cross for my sins. That I made that step of commitment knowing its implications (cost of discipleship).

Also, there are times when we are emotionally down, and the knowledge of our faith (assurance that God is faithful, the promises of God) is what we can cling on to persevere in our faith.

Moreover, there are many topics in which there is no black/white distinction of what is right or wrong (maybe because the bible is not clear about all topics) so a believer has to think critically and discern what biblical truths can be applied.

Similar to a cell membrane, a "biblical mental framework" has these benefits:

• Information control: discern between biblical and "sketchy" teachings
• Protects us from false teaching
• Process information: think critically about biblical truths and know how to apply them

There are two caveats:

1. This is more geared towards seasoned Christians. For new Christians, it is understandable that the focus is more on just learning biblical truths (and not so much questioning it). But as your grow in maturity in Christ Jesus, we are called to correctly handle the word of truth (2 Timothy 2:15)
2. We believers have the Holy Spirit, and we acknowledge that He works in us and teaches us. So it's not just human thinking and knowledge, but it is taught by the Spirit and spiritually discerned (1 Cor 2:13)

Also, I talked in my past post about the importance of knowledge.

love relationships

I was reading an online conversation from my friends with some mormons, and they were defending their views on polygamy (a man can have many wives) with bible verses from the Old Testament in which many biblical role models (David, Solomon, Abraham, Jacob) have more than one wife (or had a child with the wife's maidservant). I pointed out that not everything that is narrated in the bible is an example of moral conduct. The bible tells us stories of God's interaction with men, and clearly shows us that men are sinful and are in need of the grace of God.

It pains me that people are twisting Scripture to justify their believe in a selfish and self-gain view on marriage by taking pleasure with many wives.

Because God's purpose on marriage is such a beautiful one. Ephesians 5:25 clearly says that the love display in a marriage symbolizes the unconditional love that Jesus displayed to His bride (the church) by dying on the cross for us (His bride). And yeah, it is not because we are in any way attractive to God or that Jesus needs us, but this is a display of God's love... giving up Himself to die for His enemies.

I was reading a friend's blog, and came across with this article of  Soul Mates or Sole Mates? from boundless that I think explains well the Christian view on relationship and marriage.

Also, for the guys, these are good question to ask yourself (21 Questions for a Prospective Suitor) before pursuing a girl :P.

Furthermore, for those who are single, this is a cool video from P4CM that encourages the single Christian to wait in a very poetic way:

the value of experience

The UEFA Champions League quarterfinals (soccer) ended this week. Surprisingly, the defending champion Inter Milan lost against the surprising "weaker" Schalke 04. On another match, Manchester United defeated their English rival Chelsea. An interesting point I want to emphasize is the value of the experienced players of the winning teams.

On one hand, Manchester United is historically a very powerful team. Many people from Hong Kong are fans of this team (I personally don't like them haha). But this year they are not in their most powerful state, still they are able to be in the semifinals. The three goals they scored were assisted by Ryan Giggs, a living legend of Man U. He is 37 years old (spend 20 years playing for Man U) and was indeed a determining factor of this series.

Schalke 04 is a not a so famous team, but they count with one of the greatest Spanish player, Raul Gonzalez, who had a great career in Real Madrid. Now he is in Schalke 04 to try to win things with another team in the latter part of his career. They faced the defending champions (Inter) and surprisingly destroyed them 5-2 on their away game. Raul scored two goals in the series showing his first-world class skills as a forward. 

This reminded me of a chapter of Naruto manga called "the value of Kakashi's experience", in which he fights the genius Uchiha Itachi for a second time and shows that he is able to fight fairly and squarely (after getting owned in the first fight). Kakashi did pretty well, but Itachi is still a lot more ownage.

Overall, experience is valuable in a person's endeavour, whether it is studies, work, ministries, relationships. Because experience teaches a person not to make the same painful mistakes and increases the knowledge framework for the individual to improve in such endeavour.

In a Christian context, experience is very valuable as well. This is not to say that people without experience shouldn't serve, as you have to start somewhere. But that mentorship and seeking advice from older people is beneficial. I remembered how encouraging and refreshing was to talk to my upper years about deep topics, and asking counsel about serving, fellowship, and Christian lifestyle. This does not mean that experience people are much more holier or better, but that their years of experience can make a difference.

In a more practical point of view, I think an individual should be connected with people more experience so that he/she can have easy access to advice. Also, an individual should be connected with younger people whom he/she can invest and share their experiences with them.

A caveat though, seek God first in all. Ask Him for wisdom first (James 1:5), but do remember that God can use brothers and sisters to speak to us as well.

more than conquerors

 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.
 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:


   “For your sake we face death all day long; 
   we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”


 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 8:28-39

This is one beast passage from the bible. Verse 28 is probably one of the most quoted verses I have seen. This passage has a lot of meat to chew, so I want to share a bit about "more than conquerors".

Pages 96-97 from the book Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper provides a great commentary about what "more than conqueror" means.

Basically, trouble, hardships, persecution, famine and sword might have the aim to make us fall away from God. When things are difficult, there might be thoughts of wanting to give up living for God. Victory occurs when we remain in the Lord, because Jesus' love is so intense. So the idea of being a "conqueror" means that the enemy is defeated (Christ's love endures and affliction does not separate me from God). But how about "more than conquerors"?

The idea is that,"more than conquerors" subjugates his enemy, making the enemy serve the conqueror's purposes. So, the afflictions do not just get owned by Christ's love, but the afflictions are actually making us realize how much bigger Christ's love is and propelling a bigger desire to remain in Christ's love. Indeed, how great is our God!

One time, I was studying at the SLC, and Bily asked me to get a fork from Timmy's or turnkey so that he can eat his lunch. But I was a bit out of it that day and brought him a spoon instead. While we're chatting online (we were in different tables, and it is quiet study room) he was telling me how hard it is to eat the meat with the spoon. Then he said, "but, there is victory in Christ =)". Yeah, this is kinda random, but even in small issues like this, we can remember that we have an assured victory in Christ, and that His love for us is as high as the heavens are above the earth (Psalm 103:11).

watchmen

"I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, 
   and in his word I put my hope. 
 My soul waits for the Lord 
   more than watchmen wait for the morning, 
   more than watchmen wait for the morning."
                                               - Psalm 130:5-6

I know it's exam season, and many people are going all out in their studies. It might be a time of relaxation or excitement for some, but it might be a time of worries and emotional fatigue for others. I guess sometimes, besides the stress of exams there might be other things (relationships, work situation, family, etc) that might add to the burden. It is not easy to be an university student, there are many things that come bombarding at you.

Even though, we know in our heads that these things are so small in comparison to other things in life and that in 10 years most of these worries will not matter much, we still tend to get caught on these worries and fatigue. It is part of being human, and shows how much we need God, how much we need to be soaked in His presence.

Everyday as we wake up, let's remember the goodness of the Lord, because there is joy when we think about the Lord, and we realize that how can we keep from singing His praise. Let's focus on God, giving our first priority to Him. Let our souls wait for the Lord, more than watchmen wait for the morning.

I had a tough 3A term (winter 2008), serving in committee as a Program Coordinator, having the hardest term academically (3A is killer for ECE) and dealing with some emotional strain. Adding on that, being in committee that term was particularly challenging, and I was just recovering from some burnt out period. It was God who sustained me and provided me with joy to persevere in spite of the turbulent waters.

Here are some words of encouragement.

man of empowerment

I really haven't followed NBA for a long time. I grew up watching Michael Jordan leading the Chicago Bulls to his second 3-championships, and it was so good to watch him own other teams. Another player that I liked (though I didn't really watched him play much) is Steve Nash. Besides the fact that he is an above-average player, his role in assisting his teammates is from another dimension. What is really cool is that when he plays, his teammates perform better by scoring more points. He enables his teammates to contribute more to the team.

Nehemiah 3-4, we can see that the wall is been rebuilt. It is not Nehemiah alone, but many other people are contributing to the cause. All chapter 3 talks about different people building different sections of the wall. The vision sharing in chapter 2 really brought results by making these people take ownership of this task.

I think as a leader, I tend to like to do things all by myself. It is more efficient as I know what I am doing, and also it is a pride issue of relying on my strength and not on others'. But it is so much more edifying to delegate some tasks to other fellow servants of God. It might take more time to train and teach, but when we see them growing and learning to serve God, it is such a joyful experience. 

Also, I realized that I cannot bring a change to the fellowship by doing everything myself, but I need to share the vision that God has given me to convict others, and empower them so that they can also take part on making this vision come true by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Delegating is such a key skill that can avoid someone from burning out. At the same time, we don't want to delegate just because we want to split work to other people. But the reason of delegating is so that other people can take ownership of the fellowship (or any Christian community). When people realize that they can contribute to the fellowship, they feel "more" part of it, they develop confidence, and are encouraged to do more for our gracious God!

man of action

Overall, this is what happened in Nehemiah 1-2:

• Nehemiah is broken by the current situation in Jerusalem, because he sees what God sees, his heart is close to God's (like Hosanna song, "break my heart for what break Yours".So God gives Nehemiah a vision.
• Nehemiah spends lots of times seeking God in prayer and fasting.
• Nehemiah was the cupbearer to the king, so he was in a situation of influence to do something.
• Nehemiah takes action to speak to the king in midst of fear (not easy to just talk to the king I guess).
• From the conversation with the king, it seems that Nehemiah has thoroughly planned many things ahead.
• Nehemiah surveys the walls and then shares the vision to the other Israelites, who are encouraged to see God's work in Nehemiah, and are pumped up to rebuild the walls!

I really admire Nehemiah because of his willingness to take action. It's one thing to see that something is wrong and complain about it, but it is another one to really do something about it.

One of my close brothers, Herman, said this quite often: "If you see a problem in the fellowship, you're likely the best person to do something about it". That reminds of my first ministry in CCF, which was welcome team. I used to be very scared of CCF because of its big size, and I felt unwelcomed. Somehow I served in the welcome team in my 1B, and I found that I could relate a lot with the shy newcomers.

This is not to say that we should always serve because of a need (that can lead to burnout), but that a need is an indication of something. If we see a need, instead of complaining about it we should talk to other brothers and sisters, and see God in prayer to see how can this need be met.

In general, the problem is people not taking action in fellowships is quite apparent. I can think of 3 reasons now why people usually don't like to take action: I don't feel passionate about it, it's scary, I don't have enough time. I think I talk about it a bit in one of my past post. I just gonna focus on the first two. 

I don't feel passionate about it

In the past, I have burnt out because there are things that I do are based solely on meeting a need or fulfilling a duty. Some other brothers and sisters from CCF experienced similar problems, so the fellowship put a big emphasis on serving on areas that "you feel passionate for". I agree with the concept, because God  is who works in each of us, and He will accomplish His purpose by using us, so there should not be any room for burnt out. So if we are doing what God wants, then it should be ok. The danger of this statement is that it gives a sense that doing what you're passion for is always being pleasant and smooth, without difficulties or hardships. But the reality is that there will be tough times when I don't really want to keep on doing ministry, but it is only God who pushes me to continue. 

Being "passionate" is not just a emotional feeling, but a willingness and conviction to suffer for the cause.

My point is that we should not rapidly close a door to serve in a certain area because we don't feel passionate about it. There are other factors like fellowship's needs and responsibility that are often neglected.

In the case of Nehemiah, he was indeed emotionally affected by the broke walls, but later on he faced many struggles and opposition, and it wasn't easy. It is the assurance of knowing that God is in his side that carried him through.

It's scary

It must have taken quite a lot of courage for Nehemiah to speak to the king. Like, if someone do or say something "wrong" to the king, he can order that person to be killed. But Nehemiah decided to take action. He spent 4 months praying, and was praying as he talked to the king, so it shows that relying on God carried him through.

One of my greatest joy in serving is that it really puts me in situations where I have no place to go but to rely on our merciful God.

I think the we need more men of action. There are many attendants in a fellowship, but not so much participants who actively contributes to the body of Christ. The reason why a fellowship might not be as impacting is because maybe "one arm" and "one leg" are not taking action. Imagine how beautiful it is, if all the members of the fellowship co-partners displaying the full potential of the body of Christ!

As a child, I really liked Dragon Ball Z. There is this movie called "Wrath of the Dragon: If Goku Can't Do It, No One Can", which I actually haven't watched entirely. Nevertheless, I really like the title. If Goku can't do it, one one can! If we are not doing what we suppose to do, then who will?

man of vision sharing

For those who watch Naruto, you probably know who this person is. He is considered to be one of the strongest and greatest leader of the ninja world, Minato Namikaze, the 4th hokage (leader of the Fire Country). He is really cool and ownage.

In the very first chapter/episode, it is told that he sacrificed his life to protect the village from a fox beast. So we don't get to see much of this cool guy. 

What is really cool is this idea of the "will of the fire". Since the first hokage, there is a vision for the ninjas to use their strength to protect their village. This vision is pass on to all the ninjas of the Fire Country. Therefore, even if the cool 4th hokage died, the "will of the fire" continues with the remaining ninjas, who will fight to protect the village.

In a similar way, leaders gets a vision from God, and needs to share this vision to the rest of the Christian community because:

• a vision from God deals with people (convicting people of sin, challenging people to mature, encouraging more prayer and outreach, etc)
• a leader cannot make a vision happen by him/herself
• Christian community can confirm the vision

I mentioned that a leader's role is to influence people towards the direction of God's vision, therefore a leader has to share this vision to convict people that God is calling them. Let's look at Nehemiah:

"The officials did not know where I had gone or what I was doing, because as yet I had said nothing to the Jews or the priests or nobles or officials or any others who would be doing the work.

 Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.”  I also told them about the gracious hand of my God upon me and what the king had said to me.

   They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work." 

- Nehemiah 2:16-18

Nehemiah tells them "let us rebuild the wall" because this is the vision God gave him in chapter 1. He also shares that God has shown him grace (gaining king's favors) which confirms that testifies that God is in his side. This encourages the Jews who readily agreed and began this good work.

Vision sharing is quite key in a fellowship, because in order to improve the current state of things, to move towards where God wants, the leader(s) alone cannot take the whole job, but it is also everyone else. Therefore, the vision needs to be communicated in a way that impacts everyone. If everyone "catches" this vision, then everyone will participate in being used by God to move this fellowship to where God wants. Even if the leaders are to "disappear", the rest of the fellowship will be able to continue the good work.

man of responsibility

How does Nehemiah 1 ends? It talks about Nehemiah's job, he was the cupbearer to the king.

Why is this important? Perhaps to state the influence he had, and the possible favor he can ask from the king.

What does this job entail? He served the king wine but he was also responsible for the well being of the king because he tasted the wine to make sure that there was no poison in it.

But how did he become cupbearker to the king? We can infer that Nehemiah is trustworthy (for such big responsibility), reliable (have to be proven to be able to perform such duty), reputable (to gain initial trust), courageous (put his life on the line).

I find it interesting that just before chapter 2 (when there is a time jump of 4 months), Nehemiah's job is mentioned. In a way, this precedes his plan of action to talk to the king in chapter 2. At the same time, it also shows that Nehemiah is not just a random guy, but he holds a very high position, serving closely to the king, and this implies that Nehemiah has shown a good track of record of responsibility and integrity. This tells us something about Nehemiah's character.

I believe that a good track of record is important for someone in leadership. One extreme view is that a leader has to be all equipped for the task, and this often intimidates those who want to step up in leadership but feel unequipped. The other extreme is that the person's track of record is not really an important factor, but more his "passion" to serve.

The problem with the first view is that in the Bible, God often calls people who are not adequate nor equipped to serve Him. God called Moses (who didn't want to talk to people), Jacob (a sneaky person), Elijah (who ran away from his enemies even though God just showed Him that fire can fall from the skies). Jesus came and called fishermen and tax collectors, who are very low-position roles during that time. This shows that these people are not relying on themselves, but on the grace of God (1 Cor. 12:9). God chose Paul, a persecutor of Christians, to be an apostle who brought the gospel to Gentiles.

The problem with the second view is that it is easy to let everyone become a leader because we see his/her enthusiasm for the Lord, but we haven't seen him/her serve in other roles to observe his/her character. Therefore, it is easy to let people who are not matured in Christ in leadership roles. And that is dangerous for the person (might get burn out, discouraged, character issues in leading), and affect the fellowship (bad leadership, stumbling others, discouragement).

Therefore, I believe it is important to consider one person's track of record, which shows his/her character, whether that person is responsible or of integrity, that would allow him/her to do a good job in leadership by God's grace.

"Whoever can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much." - Luke 16:10