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