Buried deep in the Old Testament, in the middle of an obscure book, in an odd chapter, you will find a comment about an otherwise unknown man. The comment is worth digging for because it contains one of the most impressive compliments that anyone in the word of God ever received.
The quote comes from the book of Nehemiah. For fifty-two days, the people of Jerusalem had been focused on rebuilding the wall that protected the city. When that job was complete, Nehemiah appoints two men to govern the city and to watch over its growth. About one of the men he says, “I put in charge… Hananiah… because he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most men do” (Nehemiah 7:2). I think that is impressive for several reasons.
The first thing to notice is that, in God’s kingdom, character trumps competence. Nehemiah does not say, “I appointed Hananiah because is the best book-keeper that I know”. Instead he says, “I appointed Hananiah because he is a good and Godly man”. Now I am sure that he brought some skills to the job (don’t hear me saying that incompetence is a Holy quality), but Nehemiah’s confidence in him was based on who he was rather than what he could do.
Note, too, that he was a man of “integrity”. In other words, he acted consistently. He was not Godly at the temple and otherwise in the workplace. His faith had an effect on everything that he did. Integrity is a much needed quality in the religious world today. Too often people think that Christians are “two faced”, or (to use one of Jesus’ favourite words for the religious people of his day) that they are “hypocrites”. Apparently, that was not true of Hananiah. He lived what he believed.
Lastly, think about the phrase, “He feared God more than most men”. Fear in this case carries the idea of “respect” or “honour”. Hananiah cared about what God thought and what God wanted and that was a good thing.
In a world that measures success in money, status, accomplishments and stuff, maybe this is a better measuring stick. Maybe “success” has much more to do with who you are and how you live, rather than what you do for a living or how much stuff you have.
If we get to the end and people say, “He/she was a person of integrity who feared God more than most”, I think that would be a pretty successful life.
It got Nehemiah’s attention.
The quote comes from the book of Nehemiah. For fifty-two days, the people of Jerusalem had been focused on rebuilding the wall that protected the city. When that job was complete, Nehemiah appoints two men to govern the city and to watch over its growth. About one of the men he says, “I put in charge… Hananiah… because he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most men do” (Nehemiah 7:2). I think that is impressive for several reasons.
The first thing to notice is that, in God’s kingdom, character trumps competence. Nehemiah does not say, “I appointed Hananiah because is the best book-keeper that I know”. Instead he says, “I appointed Hananiah because he is a good and Godly man”. Now I am sure that he brought some skills to the job (don’t hear me saying that incompetence is a Holy quality), but Nehemiah’s confidence in him was based on who he was rather than what he could do.
Note, too, that he was a man of “integrity”. In other words, he acted consistently. He was not Godly at the temple and otherwise in the workplace. His faith had an effect on everything that he did. Integrity is a much needed quality in the religious world today. Too often people think that Christians are “two faced”, or (to use one of Jesus’ favourite words for the religious people of his day) that they are “hypocrites”. Apparently, that was not true of Hananiah. He lived what he believed.
Lastly, think about the phrase, “He feared God more than most men”. Fear in this case carries the idea of “respect” or “honour”. Hananiah cared about what God thought and what God wanted and that was a good thing.
In a world that measures success in money, status, accomplishments and stuff, maybe this is a better measuring stick. Maybe “success” has much more to do with who you are and how you live, rather than what you do for a living or how much stuff you have.
If we get to the end and people say, “He/she was a person of integrity who feared God more than most”, I think that would be a pretty successful life.
It got Nehemiah’s attention.
Comments