Today, we’re talking about Looking for Leaders. - From 2 different angles: One is what Nehemiah was looking for, the angle is a bit more personal - it's what God is loooking for in us as we Lead in Life.
When we left Nehemiah, he had just finished building the wall. He accomplished in 52 days what other people could not accomplish in 80 years.
In Nehemiah 6:15 it says "So the wall was completed on the 25th of Elul." When I read that I have two emotions: one that I want to breathe a sigh of relief for the guy and say, "Congratulations Nehemiah, you made it! You finished! You did what you came to do! Relax! Take it easy now!" Another emotion causes the question, "Now what are you going to do? You did the project of a lifetime in only 52 days and your book is only half over. You've accomplished it by chapter 6 -- now what are you going to do?" The task is not finished.
What would you do? Sit back, relax, enjoy your victory, coast along?
How we handle achievement tells us a lot about ourselves, our character, our value system.
When we finish a project, when we've reached our goal, when we've accomplished the task you set out to do, one of the most dangerous times in life is when you've completed a goal, when you've accomplished what you've set out to do and you don't have another goal to follow it. Then you're in real trouble. Success tends to ruin a lot of people. We become unsatisfied, complacent, let down our guard, get comfortable. As a result we loose all the momentum we had built up for this big, big project. I've seen this happen in many different forms. - Alvin Church (Living Stones)- The moment the building is erected, the people breathe a sigh of relief "We've arrived! We're in the promised land!" Pastor went into a deep depression
“Now what?”
We loose our progress. You can loose what you've gained if you don't watch out! We could all probably name somebody who achieved some tremendous success early in life. You'd think they would for the rest of their life, have one achievement after another. Many people sit back, become complacent, settle down, and never go any further. Sometimes, if you don't watch out, you could loose what you've already gained.
We're going to look at a very important lesson in Nehemiah on How he Maintained Success. Nehemiah is a very wise person. We're going to see how he ensured what he accomplished would last.
Chapter 7 is the dividing line in this book. There are two phases in Nehemiah's life. Number one the construction phase. Number two is the consolidation phase. Chapter 1-6 is the construction of the wall. Chapters 7-13 is the consolidation of the city. These are two very distinct phases. Nehemiah has to shift hats, shift his focus, change his roll. What you do in construction is different that what you do in consolidation. He has to use a different set of leadership skills.
Unless a leader develops these skills the organization is never going to grow beyond a one man or woman.
HOW DID NEH MAINTAIN WHAT HE ALREADY GAINED?
*Recruit and Raise
1. You recruit leadership. You enlist, train, delegate, get other people involved.
2. You raise them up. lead by example. create opp. empower.
The Bible says that all scripture is profitable. What does this chapter want to teach us?
1. RECRUIT OTHERS - get others involved
v. 1 "After the wall had been rebuilt and I had set the doors
in place, the gatekeepers and singers and Levites were appointed."
The first thing Nehemiah does after they finish the wall and put up the gates, is he appoints leaders. There are three different kinds of leaders he appoints here.
Gatekeepers -- these were guards, watchmen, the police of the city. Later on in the chapter it tell us that there were 138
appointed. They were to protect and keep the peace.
Singers -- these were worship leaders. Worship was important to Israel.
Levites -- these were assistants to the priests. (help teach the Word)
v. 2 "I put in charge of Jerusalem my brother Hanani, along with Hananiah, the commander of the citadel, because he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most men do."
Nehemiah makes his brother, Hanani, a civil leader, in charge of Jerusalem. Today, we'd call this guy the mayor. Then he makes Hananiah, the commander of the citadel, which is a military leader. This guy is like the chief of police. So he's appointed gatekeepers, singers, Levites, a mayor and a chief of police and Nehemiah himself was the governor of the province. Nehemiah is demonstrating one of the important tasks of leadership as any organization grows and that is the task of delegation. He's getting other people involved. This is getting beyond his control so he's giving up responsibility, spreading it around. Nehemiah had never read a management book, never been to a seminar with Peter Drucker or John Maxwell, he'd never read ‘In Search of Excellence’ but he knew these management principles. You need to spread the leadership around.
The point here is that he knew no organization can ever
stabilize if it's built on one person. A church, business, family
cannot stabilize if it's going to be built on one person. It takes a team - Teamwork makes the Dreamwork
At the very beginning Nehemiah did it all. He didn't have a committee, he didn't ask any opinions, he didn't have any other leadership. He did the whole thing. He had his hands on everything.
At the beginning of any project an entrepreneur must be involved in everything. You do what is natural and necessary.
Nat - b/c it’s your goal, dream, cause - Nec. b/c not many others
But as it grows he has to release more and more to staff people, lay leadership, etc. It's good to start with but it's not good long term management.
Ever start a project and you did everything?
Our 1st venture in ministry together Cathleen and I did was in Cali. - a family min. was in it’s infant stages, we noticed a need, young couples w/ no children didn’t really fit in anywhere
(tell story)
There is a limit to one person's ability, time, effort, energy, talent, knowledge. You give the ministry away. This is the principle of delegation. It's in everything we do - releasing to others is necessary for the growth of others.
Even with our children: when they're young it's natural and necessary for us to be involved in everything,
but as they get older we must release more and more responsibility to them for THEIR growth.
Nehemiah says, We've built the wall. Now it's time to make sure we don't loose what we've got. Let's spread the leadership around. And he starts spreading out and delegating responsibility.
At FOCUS*, anybody can start a ministry here. If you want to start a ministry, Great!
You're it! You're responsible to get it going.
Everything rises or falls on leadership. So it's very important the type of leaders you choose. The seeds of destruction in any ministry, program, business are always laid when you choose the wrong people for leaders.
What kind of leaders did Nehemiah look for? What do you look for when you look for people to help you out?
Better yet what kind of person are we? Are we the same kind of person that Nehemiah looked for.
What does that look like?
1. Integrity.
That's the first thing we need to lead in life. Notice he says,
"I put in charge of Jerusalem my brother Hanani, along with Hananiah, the commander of the citadel, because he was a man of integrity."
The bottom line in leadership is integrity. If you can't be trusted who's going to follow you? If no body is following you, you ain't the leader. "He who thinketh he is the leader and hath no one following him, is only taking a walk." You've got to have integrity. Leadership is built on trust. If they trust you, you're the leader. If they don't trust you, you're not the leader whether you call yourself one or not. The moment you have to say to people at work, "I am the leader!" Guess what? You're not. It's built on trust. Do people trust you?
2. Godliness
Nehemiah looked for people who take the relationship with God seriously. "... he was a man of integrity and he feared God more than most men do." What does fear mean? To have reverence for God. This guy had a walk with the Lord. When God looks for leaders he looks at their personal life to see what kind of people they are, what their relationship is. (mirror)
3. Faithfulness
Both of these guys, Hanani and Hananiah, had a track record. He knew them both. Hanani was the guy who came all the way back to Persia to tell Nehemiah in the first place that the wall was down. He said, "Please come back and help us." Nehemiah prayed about it and said, "I'm going." Here is a man who had gone on this long journey just to get the whole process going. If he hadn't taken that initial step Nehemiah would never have gone to rebuild the wall. But they were faithful. They had been proven reliable.
1 Timothy 3:10 gives the qualifications of deacons. It says, a leader, a servant, in the church must first be tested in their faithfulness. When you choose somebody and put them in a place of leadership that hasn't been tested, nine times out of ten they're going to bomb out on you. Count on it. Look for people who have a track record and have been proven reliable.
Are you reliable?
Matthew 25:23 says promotion is based on faithfulness. If we're faithful in little things, God gives us bigger things. "Well done, thou good and faithful servant, you were faithful in little things you will be given much more responsibility. Enter into my joy." 2 Timothy 2:2, "And the things you have heard me say entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others." This is Paul talking to Timothy. What you've seen and heard in me, I'm giving it to you. You are to give it to reliable men, faithful men, who will also be qualified to teach others. Pass it on because of their faithfulness. Invest in faithful people.
The point of this is if you want to be a leader, that God chooses people -- leaders -- on the basis of two things: their personal life and their past performance. This is what God and others are looking for in us.
In verse 3 of chapter 7, Nehemiah, after he's selected the leaders, now gives them a clear job description. "I said to them the gates of Jerusalem are not to be opened till the sun is hot [until it's real bright. If you open the gates before daylight some enemy might sneak in.] "While the gatekeepers are still on duty, shut the doors and bar them [before you close down at night] also appoint residents of Jerusalem as guards some at their post and some near their own house."
He's giving very specific instructions. Watch out, guard, be alert, be aware. We've got the wall built, we've got the gates up, but still we have to be on our guard.
The gates to a city were the key to its security. Can you imagine this tragedy: They've worked 52 days around the clock to build this beautiful wall, they've put up giant gates, and then they forget to have somebody watch by them and some enemy sneaks in and captures the town again in spite of all the work they've done. Wouldn't that be sad?
Why is this in the Bible? There's a spiritual principle here. It is a law of leadership: You must guard what you have gained. That's what this is teaching us. You must guard whatever you have gained so you don't lose it. Don't ever assume that because you've made a certain level of achievement in life it's going to be that way forever. You must guard what you have gained. Have you ever worked real hard to loose weight? Only to not guard and watch continually after that and gain back all that which you have lost and maybe at a faster rate and you've wasted all that effort. You've got to guard what you've gained (or lost!). How about in marriage? “We’re married now! I don’t need to date my wife any longer - it’s a done deal” All the subtle little hints given while courting somehow just fly right out the window after “I do”. (story of wife asking husband why don’t you say you love me?)
Just because you've achieved a certain goal is no guarantee you're going to have that same level of achievement next week. You spend years learning a foreign language and because you don't guard what you've gained, you lose it. If you don't use it, you lose it.
Spiritual application: We often make spiritual gains in our life in different areas only to loose those gains in a relatively short period of time because we were neglectful or forgetful. when people find themselves drifting away from God spiritually - it's not a matter of suddenly going from loving the Lord, to hating the Lord. They've went from loving the Lord to just forgetting the Lord, neglecting the Lord -- the Bible and church. It's not a matter of love turning to hate, it's a matter of love turning to neglect. That's why the Bible says in the sower of the seeds that you have to prune and garden and weed.
What does it take to grow weeds? Nothing! They grow automatically. Weeds are a sign of neglect. Spiritual weeds will grow up and chock out your life if you neglect the basics of the Christian life. Guard spiritual gains, guard physical gains, guard relational gains -- all those kinds of things. How many people have made a lot of money and then lost it in a short period of time? They didn't guard what they had gained.
I Peter 1:13 says we are to guard our minds, gird them up, cinch them up, get ready for battle. Many times in scripture, Jesus said, "Watch and pray." We need to watch our personal lives so we don't loose ground to the devil.
God chooses people -- leaders -- on the basis of two things: their personal life and their past performance.
2. RAISE THEM UP - investing in others
v. 4 & 5 "Now the city was large and spacious, but there were few people in it, and the houses had not yet been rebuilt. So my God put it into my heart to assemble the nobles, the officials and the common people for registration by families. This is the information that I found." Then he goes on and lists all the different people there. Nehemiah is starting a repopulation program. He's built the walls around the city. He's put up the gates and then realizes: nobody is living in the city. While the walls were down it was a very unsafe place to live. You could get attacked there very easily. The people are out in the countryside. Now we need to get some people in the city so it is fortified internally and so that God's town will be protected. He says, I'm going to take a census to find out how many there are of us and who we are and then he says we'll take a certain percentage (like 10%) and they'll move back into the city. He's saying we need to reinforce the internal structures. That's the second thing you need to do in consolidation. He's saying, for this city to succeed we've got to have enough people in the right places to be strong. It's kind of an urban renewal program.
Who's idea was this? v. 4&5. God's. He said, God inspired me to count all those people. The New International Version says, "God put it in my heart." A real leader stays in tune with God. It was God who told him to do that. What if he hadn't been in tune with God? He wouldn't have known what to do. But evidently, Nehemiah had a walk close enough with the Lord that he said, "God inspired me to gather the people." He was investing in the lives of others
Nehemiah had the responsibility for a city of about 50,000 people. Why would God put these names in the Bible?
Especially when you consider the fact that this list is listed exactly the same way in Ezra 2.
Ezra gives this list and then Nehemiah gives the list. Why would God list all of these names two times in the Bible? It seems like a waste of space. Why? I think God is driving home the fact that
HE remembers and recognizes every step of faith you take.
I think God wanted to have a little Hall of Fame here.
Thousands of years later we know the names of the people
who rebuilt the wall, who had enough faith to leave Persia and come back to their homeland to try to rebuild the temple. God
remembers and recognizes every step of faith we take. God considered these people important enough to put them in the Bible.
I wonder if my name is going to be on God's honor work role? That's a good question to ask yourself. If God made a list of people who are doing His will, would I make the list? Is there anything in my life that shows that's I've done something on faith? that I'm trying to live for the Lord and do what He wants me to do?
Am I living a life that is affecting and impacting the lives of
others?
When we Lead in Life others see that!
They want it - wouldn’t it be cool if your family members or friends or co-workers, school-mates could say, “you know I’m not real sure about this whole God thing, but I can’t explain you”
We are mirrors, reflecting God’s glory back to Him and His love out to others.
I’m reminded that in life, God is always more generous than me - So I don’t want to under-estimate what God is going to do, I just can’t allow myself do that.
So I’m going to love and care for as many people He leads my way - We are just to Love them til they say WHY?
then we tell them it’s Jesus.
Success is not in results, it’s in obedience.
We lead in life by example and others are impacted!
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Sunday, November 19, 2006
LEADING IN LIFE - Leading with Action
Today we're looking at Leading with Action. I want to start by first looking at v. 15 which is kind of the punch line. "So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth day of Elul in fifty two days.” We've been studying Nehemiah longer than it took him to build the wall. What is the secret of this? How was he able to build the wall in 52 days?
Don't quit! He kept at it until he finished.
There has been major opposition to the rebuilding of the wall. Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshum tried all different kinds of things. Division, discouragement, discord. They tried mockery, dread. Now they're getting desperate. The wall is almost finished. The only thing left to be done as we start chapter 6 is to hang the doors.
Let's look at how to complete a project in record time. v. 1 "When the word came to Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem, the Arab and the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left in it though up to that time I had not set the doors and the gates. Sanballat and Geshem sent this message to me. `Come let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono.' But they were scheming to harm me. So I sent my messengers to them with this reply. `I'm carrying out a great project. I can't go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you.' Four times they sent me the same message. Each time I gave them the same answer."
Today in this passage, they tried three more tricks to stop the wall from being built. If we want to Lead in Life we've got to do three things:
1. KEEP WORKING IN SPITE OF DISTRACTIONS.
At first they tried to sidetrack Nehemiah. They said, Nehemiah, let's have a peace conference(pipe-offer.). Let's get together and discuss. They mentioned the plain of Ono, twenty miles north of Jerusalem. What could be wrong with that? But Nehemiah said, I'm carrying on a great project and I can't go down. Why should I stop the work on the wall and go down to you? He's saying, I'm not coming down. He would not be distracted until the wall was finished.
The time for discussion is past. It's time for work. Plus, he knows their past - Have you known people that want to talk more than they want to work? They discuss to stop you from working? That's what's happening here. Many people never
accomplish anything because they get distracted.
More than that, it would delay the project. Distr. R delays - trip
"Why should I stop and come down to you when the work has not been finished?" You don't want to discuss, or debate. You have a hidden agenda and want to delay the thing. You want to keep it from being built. "Leadership Law: The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. The reason why Nehemiah finished it he wouldn't let anything distract him. He kept his eyes on his goal. They came to him four times. He said no each time.
2. YOU KEEP WORKING IN SPITE OF DEFAMATION.
They tried to slander him, discredit him. v. 5 "Then the fifth time Sanballat sent his aide to me with the same message and in his hand was an unsealed letter which was written. `It's reported among the nations and Geshem says it's true that you and the Jews are plotting to revolt. Therefore you're building the wall. Moreover, according to these reports you're about to become their king and appointed prophets to make this proclamation among you in Jerusalem. There is a king in Judah.' Now this report will get back to the King of Persia. So come, let us confer together. I sent them this reply, `Nothing of what you're saying is happening. You're making it up right out of your head.' They
were trying to frighten us into thinking their hands will get too weak for the work and it won't be completed.'"
They tried to slander Nehemiah. You're just trying to build an empire. We know what you're doing. They were challenging his motives. They said, you're going to try to rebel against the king. They said, You're setting yourself up as king and you're hiring prophets to promote yourself. They sent this letter unsealed. It was like a letter to the editor. They wanted everybody to read it. It's meant to stir up rumors.
Anybody that sets big goals is going to be criticized and slandered by people who set no goals. Failures hate successes. Who is the most falsely accused man in history? Jesus. Jesus said, "Blessed are you when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven."
First they tried to sidetrack Nehemiah and then they tried to slander him.
He denied the accusation and prayed for the strength. v. 9 "They were all trying to frighten us thinking, `Their hands will get too weak for the work and it won't be completed.'" He said, I'm not going to get involved in an argument. What you guys are saying is not true and I'm not coming down. No matter what you say. The wall is not finished. I'm not going to give in to sidetracking and get into a discussion with you. I'm going to keep on going."He discerned their motivations.He denied the accusation.
He prayed. "Now Lord strengthen my hands."
Alot of times opposition comes and we pray, ‘Lord get me out of this” - but Neh. says, “Lord give me strength” -
lead w/ action.
If you're going to be a leader you've got to realize first there's going to be things that distract you -- try to get you off course and there's going to be things that defame you -- people say things against you. You can spend your time fighting criticism or you can keep working on the wall. Nehemiah said, I'm going to keep working on the wall. That's why, in 52 days, they built it. He would not give in to distractions. He would not give in to defamation. He knew their motive was to try to frighten. He would not give in.
3. KEEP WORKING IN SPITE OF DANGER
If you want to be a leader, to lead with action, keep working in spite of danger. First they tried to side track him (come have a conference), then they tried to slander him (what you're doing is just for your own benefit), then they tried to scare him.
v. 10 "On one day I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah who was shut up in his home. He said `Let us meet in the house of God, inside the temple. Close the temple doors because men are coming to you to kill you.' But I said, `Should a man like me run away or should one like me go into the temple to save his life? I will not go.' I realized that God had not sent him but that he had prophesied against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. He had been hired to intimidate me that so I would commit a sin in doing this and they would give me a bad name and discredit me. Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, because of what they have done. Remember also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who have been trying to intimidate me."
Now they're trying to scare him by danger. Evidently this man, Shemaiah was a friend of Nehemiah's and he was a priest. But evidently the bad guy Sanballat got to him and bought him off. "Go tell your buddy Nehemiah there's an assignation plot on his life. We've put a hit man out on him. The only way he could be safe is to run and hide in the Holy of Holies in the Temple. The bad guys won't follow in there for fear of God."
Nehemiah's response, v. 11, "I said, `Should a man like me run into the temple to save his life? I will not go.'" He would keep on working in spite of danger. Why didn't he give into this?
1. It would make him look like a coward. "Should a man like me run away?" I'm the leader of this thing. I'm building the wall around Jerusalem. If I run and hide in the temple what's that going to do to the morale of the people? Their morale is going to go down. I'm not going to do it! Leaders don't run away. Other people are watching me. Lead n life by example.
2. v. 12 "I realized that God had not sent him" Underline "realized". Nehemiah was a very perceptive person. He realized that this wasn't advise from the Lord. This guy said he was from God, "I know! I have a word to you from the Lord. Run and hide in the Temple." Have you noticed that some people who say they're speaking for God, aren't? Some people say, "this is God's will for your life" and they have no idea at all. They may have a hidden agenda. Here this guy was one, a priest, and also, a friend of Nehemiah's and he's giving him bad advice because he had been bought off by the bad guys. Nehemiah is perceptive. v. 14 "These guys were trying to intimidate me." They're trying to tell me their advice is from God, but it's not from God.
You have to be aware of people saying, "God told me to tell you..." It's not always true. You don't always swallow it.
v. 13 "He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would commit a sin by doing this. Then they would give me a bad name to discredit me."
The real issue here is that for Nehemiah to run and hide in the Temple would compromise his integrity. It was against the law for anybody to go into the Holy of Holies except the priest. Numbers 18:7 says that nobody is to go into the Holy of Holies except the priest and if they do they are to be killed. They are guilty of the death penalty. For Nehemiah to play chicken after hearing of the assignation attempt and go hide in the Temple, he would be sinning out of fear.
Never break one of God's laws out of fear. If the opposition can't scare you into quitting, they are going to try to just get you to sin, to make you ineffective, compromise. Then the whole nation would say, "What's our leader doing sinning by running and hiding in the Temple?" These are the last desperate attempts of the opposition. They are the very things that will happen to all of us as we Lead in Life.
They will try to get you through discord, discouragement, defeat, mockery, distraction, defamation, then through danger.
Because Nehemiah refused to quit, "The wall was built in 52 days." That's amazing.
Archaeologists have unearthed part of Nehemiah's wall. It's about ten feet across and twelve feed deep.
The wall was built around Jerusalem. v. 16 "When all of our enemies heard about this and all the surrounding nations, they were afraid and they lost their confidence because they realized this work had been done with the help of our God." The tables have turned. For six chapters we've been seeing the Jews be discouraged. We've watched them be depressed, afraid. But the moment the wall is built, Jerusalem is a fortified city. Now who's afraid? the enemy. They've lost their confidence.
I want to apply this to your life. Four characteristics of Leading with Action
All of the points I made today have something in common. They are all personal attacks on the leader. All the opposition in the past had been to discourage the workers. First they told them, "We're going to come kill you at night." Previously they tried to stop the project by attacking the people. Now, as a last ditch attempt because the wall is almost finished, they're going directly after the leader.
In football, one of the primary goals of the defense is a sacked quarterback. If you can sack the quarterback, chances are, you'll win the game. Take him out! Everything rises or falls on leadership. No organization, no ministry, no church, no family, no school, no business can go any further than the leadership that's leading it. If everything rises or falls on leadership, then the quickest way for the opposition to halt any project, any family, any business is to neutralize the leadership. They are doing three things here to stop the leadership. The quickest way to stop a movement is to knock off the leader. Jesus talks about when the shepherd is removed, the flock scatters. How true is that today in our families. - Single parents trying to raise their children after a spouse has left them for another or out of just plain selfishness. We see that all around us -
How you handle those attacks, those personal attacks, determines what kind of leader you're going to be.
One of the basic lessons of Nehemiah is that leadership is essential for any project. With the right leadership they were able to accomplish in 52 days what for 80 years people had been saying, "It can't be done!" When you get the right catalyst, things go into action. What kind of person does it take to pull off a major project? What kind of person does it take to accomplish the impossible? How do we lead in life with Action? Four things.
What do you need, as a leader, to succeed in the face of distraction, defamations and danger?
1. A compelling purpose.
This is the very first element of leadership. A cause. A vision.
A dream. An objective. A goal. It's something that pulls you towards that goal. It doesn't just drive you, it draws you. You have to have a compelling purpose.
That's why, when they came back in v. 3, and said "Nehemiah, we want you to leave the wall and come out and have a little party with us. You've been working on the wall too long. Come talk to us, Nehemiah." Nehemiah said, "I am carrying on a great project." Circle "great". Nehemiah was very single minded. That was one of the characteristics why they were able to accomplish the impossible in 52 days. He said I'm going to do this. I'm going to stick with it. I'm going to keep the main thing the main thing. I'm carrying on a great project.
Is there any great project -- an overall compelling purpose -- in your life? What motivates you to get out of bed everyday? Besides making money. What motivates you to live the rest of your life? What motivates you to keep on going? 1 reason Y study Neh. - not here 2 E, B, Take spce, u have a purpose.
Until you have a compelling purpose for your life, you're just existing. Nehemiah said, I have a great project! What are you exchanging your life for? Jesus said, "What will a man give in exchange for his soul?" When you give your time for something, you're giving your life. That's what life is made up of -- your time. We tend to think that the most important thing we can give people is our money. But money can be replaced. But when you give people your time, that's irreplaceable. The mark of a great leader is first of all, to have a compelling purpose -- an over arching goal in life that motivates me to keep going. Paul says, "Love compels me to keep going."
Leadership Law: Great lives are produced by a commitment to a great cause. Great people are just ordinary people who have made a great commitment to a great cause. That cause draws them out of themselves and makes them more than they could be on their own. We need a compelling
purpose for life.
I submit to you, that the most compelling purpose in life, the greatest cause that you can give your life for is the kingdom of God. There's nothing greater that you can invest your life in. That's going to last for eternity. Most of what we invest our life in won't last 20 years much less for a thousand years. I challenge you to say, whether you have 5 years left or 50 years left, you'll invest it in the kingdom of God.
A statement to live by: "A Great Commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission will build a Great person".
Someone came to Jesus and said sum up the Bible. He said, "Love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself. On this lasts all the law and the prophets." Then His last words to the church as he went back to heaven was, "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always - Those two things -- the Great Commandment and the Great Commission -- summarize everything we are to do. When we do those five things -- love God with all our heart (worship), love our neighbor as ourselves (ministry),KBL, go
and make disciples (evangelism), baptize them (fellowship), BVH, and teach them to observe all things (discipleship)LBF -- those are the five purposes of the church. That produces a great church -- a great commitment to the great command and the great commission will build a great church.
Unfortunately a lot of people give in to distractions. They get distracted from their compelling purpose. "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything."
2. You need a clear perspective.
Nehemiah had incredible discernment, spiritual radar. Every time a trap came up, he sensed it. He could smell it every time. v. 2 they had said come out and talk with us, he said, "They were scheming to harm me." How did he know? He was perceptive. He had discernment. v. 9 when they came and made the accusations of him setting himself up as king and eventually rebel against Artaxerxes, Nehemiah said "They were trying to frighten us." He looked and exposed their motives. v. 12 when the third guy said come hide in the temple, Nehemiah realized that God had not sent him. He has a very acute perception. He had the ability to anticipate a trap. If we're going to be a lead n life, we've got to have perception. Wisdom. How do you get that? James 1:5 "If any man lacks wisdom, ask God." That's what the Bible says. When you spend time in the word of God you begin to take on the mind of Christ and you'll be a more perceptive leader. You don't fall for every thing that comes.
Led by Holy Spirit
You need to have a compelling purpose and a clear perspective.
3. A continual prayer
Nehemiah was a prayer-addict. His first response to everything was pray. No matter what happened, he first prayed. That's the number one thing you do when you're slandered. Instead of taking it out on the person, you talk in out w/ God. Nehemiah did not get defensive and he did not retaliate when they started making all the false accusations. He just said, "It's not true" and went and prayed about it. That's all you need to do. If people are falsely accusing you as a leader, say "it's not true". You don't have to go into a long defense. Say "It's not true" and then go and talk to the Lord.
Luke 18:1 "Jesus told his disciples that they should always pray and not give up." Circle "pray" and "not give up". In your life you're always doing one or the other. You'll either pray or you'll give up. When the heat is on, when the pressure is on, you'll either pray or you'll panic. You need a continual prayer life.
4. A courageous persistence.
One of the great keys to success is the ability to hang in there! Keep on keeping on! Keep on doing what God wants us to do! If you were to study all the messages we've given at FOCUS*
We basically have two themes -- one for unbelievers and one for believers. The theme we have for unbelievers is "God cares about you. You matter to God." We say that in many different ways. We have one basic message for believers and that's "Don't give up!" You have a Purpose! We all get tired in the
battle, weary. God says "Don't give up!" You need a
courageous persistence.
How can you be fearful and courageous at the same time? Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is moving ahead in spite of your fear. If you're not afraid you're not courageous, you may just be dumb! You may not know how serious the matter is. Courage is when you move ahead in spite of your fear. That's what makes a courageous person. Notice v. 11 "Should a man like that run away." He says, "I'm not going to run away. I'm scared, I'm frightened. It's getting near the finish line. All we have to do is hang the doors and I know they probably want to kill me before the thing is finished, but I'm going to move ahead in spite of my fear. I'm not going to run away."
How do you know when you're afraid? You have the insatiable desire to run. Out of the job, out of the marriage, out of the relationship, out of the house -- because I'm afraid I can't handle it. Run! I've learned that it is never God's will for me to run from a difficult situation. If I do, God will just bring another one up later on so he can teach me a lesson. Just go ahead and face it.
Tuff season of life, desert -
Galatians 6:9 "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."
You need a compelling purpose that is so over arching in your life, that you're not distracted by the trivial. Often good things can keep you from the best. What is it that's taking up your time in life so that you don't have time for the things that are really important in life? What things are important? Loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself. Worship and ministry. If you're too busy to worship, too busy to have a quiet time -- you're too busy. If you're too busy to get involved in a ministry -- you're too busy. These other things aren't going to count years from now. Satan uses a subtle trap to substitute good things. You have limited amount of time. There may be some things you need to cut back so you can make time for ministry, make time for what God wants me to do.
Clear perspective. How's your spiritual sensitivity? Do you know the Word enough to spot a trap when it comes. How about your prayer life? Is it continual? Are you praying or are you giving up? Being led by the Spirit.
Courageous persistence. How persistent are you in doing God's will? Do you just do it when it's convenient? Have you ever made the decision in your life, "I'm going to follow Jesus 100% no matter what else happens, no matter what it costs, no matter what it takes, regardless of what people say about me, sidetracks, danger. I'm going to do the right thing." Those are the marks of the Leading w/ Action. That's how Nehemiah was able to do in 52 days what other people said can't be done for 80 years.
Don't quit! He kept at it until he finished.
There has been major opposition to the rebuilding of the wall. Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshum tried all different kinds of things. Division, discouragement, discord. They tried mockery, dread. Now they're getting desperate. The wall is almost finished. The only thing left to be done as we start chapter 6 is to hang the doors.
Let's look at how to complete a project in record time. v. 1 "When the word came to Sanballat, Tobiah, Geshem, the Arab and the rest of our enemies that I had rebuilt the wall and not a gap was left in it though up to that time I had not set the doors and the gates. Sanballat and Geshem sent this message to me. `Come let us meet together in one of the villages on the plain of Ono.' But they were scheming to harm me. So I sent my messengers to them with this reply. `I'm carrying out a great project. I can't go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you.' Four times they sent me the same message. Each time I gave them the same answer."
Today in this passage, they tried three more tricks to stop the wall from being built. If we want to Lead in Life we've got to do three things:
1. KEEP WORKING IN SPITE OF DISTRACTIONS.
At first they tried to sidetrack Nehemiah. They said, Nehemiah, let's have a peace conference(pipe-offer.). Let's get together and discuss. They mentioned the plain of Ono, twenty miles north of Jerusalem. What could be wrong with that? But Nehemiah said, I'm carrying on a great project and I can't go down. Why should I stop the work on the wall and go down to you? He's saying, I'm not coming down. He would not be distracted until the wall was finished.
The time for discussion is past. It's time for work. Plus, he knows their past - Have you known people that want to talk more than they want to work? They discuss to stop you from working? That's what's happening here. Many people never
accomplish anything because they get distracted.
More than that, it would delay the project. Distr. R delays - trip
"Why should I stop and come down to you when the work has not been finished?" You don't want to discuss, or debate. You have a hidden agenda and want to delay the thing. You want to keep it from being built. "Leadership Law: The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. The reason why Nehemiah finished it he wouldn't let anything distract him. He kept his eyes on his goal. They came to him four times. He said no each time.
2. YOU KEEP WORKING IN SPITE OF DEFAMATION.
They tried to slander him, discredit him. v. 5 "Then the fifth time Sanballat sent his aide to me with the same message and in his hand was an unsealed letter which was written. `It's reported among the nations and Geshem says it's true that you and the Jews are plotting to revolt. Therefore you're building the wall. Moreover, according to these reports you're about to become their king and appointed prophets to make this proclamation among you in Jerusalem. There is a king in Judah.' Now this report will get back to the King of Persia. So come, let us confer together. I sent them this reply, `Nothing of what you're saying is happening. You're making it up right out of your head.' They
were trying to frighten us into thinking their hands will get too weak for the work and it won't be completed.'"
They tried to slander Nehemiah. You're just trying to build an empire. We know what you're doing. They were challenging his motives. They said, you're going to try to rebel against the king. They said, You're setting yourself up as king and you're hiring prophets to promote yourself. They sent this letter unsealed. It was like a letter to the editor. They wanted everybody to read it. It's meant to stir up rumors.
Anybody that sets big goals is going to be criticized and slandered by people who set no goals. Failures hate successes. Who is the most falsely accused man in history? Jesus. Jesus said, "Blessed are you when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven."
First they tried to sidetrack Nehemiah and then they tried to slander him.
He denied the accusation and prayed for the strength. v. 9 "They were all trying to frighten us thinking, `Their hands will get too weak for the work and it won't be completed.'" He said, I'm not going to get involved in an argument. What you guys are saying is not true and I'm not coming down. No matter what you say. The wall is not finished. I'm not going to give in to sidetracking and get into a discussion with you. I'm going to keep on going."He discerned their motivations.He denied the accusation.
He prayed. "Now Lord strengthen my hands."
Alot of times opposition comes and we pray, ‘Lord get me out of this” - but Neh. says, “Lord give me strength” -
lead w/ action.
If you're going to be a leader you've got to realize first there's going to be things that distract you -- try to get you off course and there's going to be things that defame you -- people say things against you. You can spend your time fighting criticism or you can keep working on the wall. Nehemiah said, I'm going to keep working on the wall. That's why, in 52 days, they built it. He would not give in to distractions. He would not give in to defamation. He knew their motive was to try to frighten. He would not give in.
3. KEEP WORKING IN SPITE OF DANGER
If you want to be a leader, to lead with action, keep working in spite of danger. First they tried to side track him (come have a conference), then they tried to slander him (what you're doing is just for your own benefit), then they tried to scare him.
v. 10 "On one day I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah who was shut up in his home. He said `Let us meet in the house of God, inside the temple. Close the temple doors because men are coming to you to kill you.' But I said, `Should a man like me run away or should one like me go into the temple to save his life? I will not go.' I realized that God had not sent him but that he had prophesied against me because Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. He had been hired to intimidate me that so I would commit a sin in doing this and they would give me a bad name and discredit me. Remember Tobiah and Sanballat, O my God, because of what they have done. Remember also the prophetess Noadiah and the rest of the prophets who have been trying to intimidate me."
Now they're trying to scare him by danger. Evidently this man, Shemaiah was a friend of Nehemiah's and he was a priest. But evidently the bad guy Sanballat got to him and bought him off. "Go tell your buddy Nehemiah there's an assignation plot on his life. We've put a hit man out on him. The only way he could be safe is to run and hide in the Holy of Holies in the Temple. The bad guys won't follow in there for fear of God."
Nehemiah's response, v. 11, "I said, `Should a man like me run into the temple to save his life? I will not go.'" He would keep on working in spite of danger. Why didn't he give into this?
1. It would make him look like a coward. "Should a man like me run away?" I'm the leader of this thing. I'm building the wall around Jerusalem. If I run and hide in the temple what's that going to do to the morale of the people? Their morale is going to go down. I'm not going to do it! Leaders don't run away. Other people are watching me. Lead n life by example.
2. v. 12 "I realized that God had not sent him" Underline "realized". Nehemiah was a very perceptive person. He realized that this wasn't advise from the Lord. This guy said he was from God, "I know! I have a word to you from the Lord. Run and hide in the Temple." Have you noticed that some people who say they're speaking for God, aren't? Some people say, "this is God's will for your life" and they have no idea at all. They may have a hidden agenda. Here this guy was one, a priest, and also, a friend of Nehemiah's and he's giving him bad advice because he had been bought off by the bad guys. Nehemiah is perceptive. v. 14 "These guys were trying to intimidate me." They're trying to tell me their advice is from God, but it's not from God.
You have to be aware of people saying, "God told me to tell you..." It's not always true. You don't always swallow it.
v. 13 "He had been hired to intimidate me so that I would commit a sin by doing this. Then they would give me a bad name to discredit me."
The real issue here is that for Nehemiah to run and hide in the Temple would compromise his integrity. It was against the law for anybody to go into the Holy of Holies except the priest. Numbers 18:7 says that nobody is to go into the Holy of Holies except the priest and if they do they are to be killed. They are guilty of the death penalty. For Nehemiah to play chicken after hearing of the assignation attempt and go hide in the Temple, he would be sinning out of fear.
Never break one of God's laws out of fear. If the opposition can't scare you into quitting, they are going to try to just get you to sin, to make you ineffective, compromise. Then the whole nation would say, "What's our leader doing sinning by running and hiding in the Temple?" These are the last desperate attempts of the opposition. They are the very things that will happen to all of us as we Lead in Life.
They will try to get you through discord, discouragement, defeat, mockery, distraction, defamation, then through danger.
Because Nehemiah refused to quit, "The wall was built in 52 days." That's amazing.
Archaeologists have unearthed part of Nehemiah's wall. It's about ten feet across and twelve feed deep.
The wall was built around Jerusalem. v. 16 "When all of our enemies heard about this and all the surrounding nations, they were afraid and they lost their confidence because they realized this work had been done with the help of our God." The tables have turned. For six chapters we've been seeing the Jews be discouraged. We've watched them be depressed, afraid. But the moment the wall is built, Jerusalem is a fortified city. Now who's afraid? the enemy. They've lost their confidence.
I want to apply this to your life. Four characteristics of Leading with Action
All of the points I made today have something in common. They are all personal attacks on the leader. All the opposition in the past had been to discourage the workers. First they told them, "We're going to come kill you at night." Previously they tried to stop the project by attacking the people. Now, as a last ditch attempt because the wall is almost finished, they're going directly after the leader.
In football, one of the primary goals of the defense is a sacked quarterback. If you can sack the quarterback, chances are, you'll win the game. Take him out! Everything rises or falls on leadership. No organization, no ministry, no church, no family, no school, no business can go any further than the leadership that's leading it. If everything rises or falls on leadership, then the quickest way for the opposition to halt any project, any family, any business is to neutralize the leadership. They are doing three things here to stop the leadership. The quickest way to stop a movement is to knock off the leader. Jesus talks about when the shepherd is removed, the flock scatters. How true is that today in our families. - Single parents trying to raise their children after a spouse has left them for another or out of just plain selfishness. We see that all around us -
How you handle those attacks, those personal attacks, determines what kind of leader you're going to be.
One of the basic lessons of Nehemiah is that leadership is essential for any project. With the right leadership they were able to accomplish in 52 days what for 80 years people had been saying, "It can't be done!" When you get the right catalyst, things go into action. What kind of person does it take to pull off a major project? What kind of person does it take to accomplish the impossible? How do we lead in life with Action? Four things.
What do you need, as a leader, to succeed in the face of distraction, defamations and danger?
1. A compelling purpose.
This is the very first element of leadership. A cause. A vision.
A dream. An objective. A goal. It's something that pulls you towards that goal. It doesn't just drive you, it draws you. You have to have a compelling purpose.
That's why, when they came back in v. 3, and said "Nehemiah, we want you to leave the wall and come out and have a little party with us. You've been working on the wall too long. Come talk to us, Nehemiah." Nehemiah said, "I am carrying on a great project." Circle "great". Nehemiah was very single minded. That was one of the characteristics why they were able to accomplish the impossible in 52 days. He said I'm going to do this. I'm going to stick with it. I'm going to keep the main thing the main thing. I'm carrying on a great project.
Is there any great project -- an overall compelling purpose -- in your life? What motivates you to get out of bed everyday? Besides making money. What motivates you to live the rest of your life? What motivates you to keep on going? 1 reason Y study Neh. - not here 2 E, B, Take spce, u have a purpose.
Until you have a compelling purpose for your life, you're just existing. Nehemiah said, I have a great project! What are you exchanging your life for? Jesus said, "What will a man give in exchange for his soul?" When you give your time for something, you're giving your life. That's what life is made up of -- your time. We tend to think that the most important thing we can give people is our money. But money can be replaced. But when you give people your time, that's irreplaceable. The mark of a great leader is first of all, to have a compelling purpose -- an over arching goal in life that motivates me to keep going. Paul says, "Love compels me to keep going."
Leadership Law: Great lives are produced by a commitment to a great cause. Great people are just ordinary people who have made a great commitment to a great cause. That cause draws them out of themselves and makes them more than they could be on their own. We need a compelling
purpose for life.
I submit to you, that the most compelling purpose in life, the greatest cause that you can give your life for is the kingdom of God. There's nothing greater that you can invest your life in. That's going to last for eternity. Most of what we invest our life in won't last 20 years much less for a thousand years. I challenge you to say, whether you have 5 years left or 50 years left, you'll invest it in the kingdom of God.
A statement to live by: "A Great Commitment to the Great Commandment and the Great Commission will build a Great person".
Someone came to Jesus and said sum up the Bible. He said, "Love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself. On this lasts all the law and the prophets." Then His last words to the church as he went back to heaven was, "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always - Those two things -- the Great Commandment and the Great Commission -- summarize everything we are to do. When we do those five things -- love God with all our heart (worship), love our neighbor as ourselves (ministry),KBL, go
and make disciples (evangelism), baptize them (fellowship), BVH, and teach them to observe all things (discipleship)LBF -- those are the five purposes of the church. That produces a great church -- a great commitment to the great command and the great commission will build a great church.
Unfortunately a lot of people give in to distractions. They get distracted from their compelling purpose. "If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything."
2. You need a clear perspective.
Nehemiah had incredible discernment, spiritual radar. Every time a trap came up, he sensed it. He could smell it every time. v. 2 they had said come out and talk with us, he said, "They were scheming to harm me." How did he know? He was perceptive. He had discernment. v. 9 when they came and made the accusations of him setting himself up as king and eventually rebel against Artaxerxes, Nehemiah said "They were trying to frighten us." He looked and exposed their motives. v. 12 when the third guy said come hide in the temple, Nehemiah realized that God had not sent him. He has a very acute perception. He had the ability to anticipate a trap. If we're going to be a lead n life, we've got to have perception. Wisdom. How do you get that? James 1:5 "If any man lacks wisdom, ask God." That's what the Bible says. When you spend time in the word of God you begin to take on the mind of Christ and you'll be a more perceptive leader. You don't fall for every thing that comes.
Led by Holy Spirit
You need to have a compelling purpose and a clear perspective.
3. A continual prayer
Nehemiah was a prayer-addict. His first response to everything was pray. No matter what happened, he first prayed. That's the number one thing you do when you're slandered. Instead of taking it out on the person, you talk in out w/ God. Nehemiah did not get defensive and he did not retaliate when they started making all the false accusations. He just said, "It's not true" and went and prayed about it. That's all you need to do. If people are falsely accusing you as a leader, say "it's not true". You don't have to go into a long defense. Say "It's not true" and then go and talk to the Lord.
Luke 18:1 "Jesus told his disciples that they should always pray and not give up." Circle "pray" and "not give up". In your life you're always doing one or the other. You'll either pray or you'll give up. When the heat is on, when the pressure is on, you'll either pray or you'll panic. You need a continual prayer life.
4. A courageous persistence.
One of the great keys to success is the ability to hang in there! Keep on keeping on! Keep on doing what God wants us to do! If you were to study all the messages we've given at FOCUS*
We basically have two themes -- one for unbelievers and one for believers. The theme we have for unbelievers is "God cares about you. You matter to God." We say that in many different ways. We have one basic message for believers and that's "Don't give up!" You have a Purpose! We all get tired in the
battle, weary. God says "Don't give up!" You need a
courageous persistence.
How can you be fearful and courageous at the same time? Courage is not the absence of fear. Courage is moving ahead in spite of your fear. If you're not afraid you're not courageous, you may just be dumb! You may not know how serious the matter is. Courage is when you move ahead in spite of your fear. That's what makes a courageous person. Notice v. 11 "Should a man like that run away." He says, "I'm not going to run away. I'm scared, I'm frightened. It's getting near the finish line. All we have to do is hang the doors and I know they probably want to kill me before the thing is finished, but I'm going to move ahead in spite of my fear. I'm not going to run away."
How do you know when you're afraid? You have the insatiable desire to run. Out of the job, out of the marriage, out of the relationship, out of the house -- because I'm afraid I can't handle it. Run! I've learned that it is never God's will for me to run from a difficult situation. If I do, God will just bring another one up later on so he can teach me a lesson. Just go ahead and face it.
Tuff season of life, desert -
Galatians 6:9 "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."
You need a compelling purpose that is so over arching in your life, that you're not distracted by the trivial. Often good things can keep you from the best. What is it that's taking up your time in life so that you don't have time for the things that are really important in life? What things are important? Loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself. Worship and ministry. If you're too busy to worship, too busy to have a quiet time -- you're too busy. If you're too busy to get involved in a ministry -- you're too busy. These other things aren't going to count years from now. Satan uses a subtle trap to substitute good things. You have limited amount of time. There may be some things you need to cut back so you can make time for ministry, make time for what God wants me to do.
Clear perspective. How's your spiritual sensitivity? Do you know the Word enough to spot a trap when it comes. How about your prayer life? Is it continual? Are you praying or are you giving up? Being led by the Spirit.
Courageous persistence. How persistent are you in doing God's will? Do you just do it when it's convenient? Have you ever made the decision in your life, "I'm going to follow Jesus 100% no matter what else happens, no matter what it costs, no matter what it takes, regardless of what people say about me, sidetracks, danger. I'm going to do the right thing." Those are the marks of the Leading w/ Action. That's how Nehemiah was able to do in 52 days what other people said can't be done for 80 years.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
LEADING IN LIFE - Leader's Resolve Conflict
Everything rises or falls on leadership. Nehemiah has been sent by God to lead in rebuilding this wall and the day they begin, opposition begins too.
Review about opposition and how Satan tries to stop a work:
In chapter 2 they first started w/ ridicule and mockery. They tried to laugh them out of doing the work. They made fun of them, ridiculed them, put them down. Nehemiah's response to that was to simply ignore it. When people ridicule you and put you down for what you're doing for the Lord, just ignore it.
The second thing they tried was discouragement. They came and said, You're tired, you're never going to be able to finish, it's hopeless, there's too much rubble. They got them all discouraged. Nehemiah's response to discouragement was simply to reorganize. "Remember the Lord is with us and don't give in to discouragement."
The next tactic that came along was danger. They started threatening their lives. They threatened them and tried to scare them into quitting. Nehemiah's response to that was to resist it. He said we're going to reinforce it: half will build the wall, half will carry swords. Then they would alternate on shifts.
All of that got them nowhere.
Chapter 4 was the opposition from the outside. Chapter 5 is internal opposition. That's much, much worse, the sabotaging from the inside. Satan tries to divide them. He uses money. Isn't that typical? More conflicts are caused by finances than anything else. The majority of divorces are because of financial problems. Satan is going to try to divide them over financial issues.
Question: Does the devil still use division today? Of course he does. Internal problems destroy more churches, homes, business’ than external problems. Satan would rather cause division in w/in than anything else.
Mark 3:25 "If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand." You ever see a football team defeat itself? A bunch of people with massive egos and, rather than fight the opposing team, they fight each other. Division can happen wherever you have two or more people. We tend to want our own way.
If you don't deal with conflict then it's going to stop the work of the Lord in your life. For us to Lead in Life we've got to learn how to resolve conflict. This chapter is very important. It teaches us conflict management, the skill of dealing with conflict. V. 1-5 gives us the causes of conflict; 6-13 the cure for conflict.
I. THE CAUSE OF CONFLICT
The background of this chapter is the people have been spending all their time working on the wall. They didn't have any time to cultivate their gardens and raise food.
V. 1-2 "Now the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their Jewish brothers. Some were saying, `We and our sons and daughters are numerous. In order for us to eat and stay alive we must get grain.'"
The first complaint was food shortages -- too many mouths to feed.
In the next verse, we find out there was a famine. Resources and goods were in short supply. There were more mouths to feed than they had food. Inflation and high prices. Food shortages.
It's interesting: they are doing the work of God, yet God allowed a famine. Why? Weren't they doing what He'd told them to do? I think that doing God's will does not exempt you from common problems of life. Just because you're doing the right thing doesn't mean your car isn't going to break down or have some major health problem or otherwise. So there was a food shortage in v. 2.
The second thing is that they were over mortgaged in their homes.
v. 3 "We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our homes to get grain during the famine." That's what you call financial bondage.
They were using their equity to feed their families. They were taking their equity out of their homes and mortgaging them deeper and deeper just to put food on the table.
v. 4 "Still others were saying, `We've had to borrow money to pay the king's taxes on our fields and vineyards.'"
High taxes are the third problem. They're having to borrow just to pay taxes. They're in deep debt here.
As a result of that, in v. 5, "Although we are the same flesh and blood as our countrymen, and though our sons are as good as theirs, yet we have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have already been enslaved but we are powerless because our fields and vineyards belong to others." Enslaved
They had to have food so first they mortgaged their homes then they started selling off their family to raise money. They are in that much debt! They are forced to place their kids into slave labor to pay debts. Circle "mortgaging" and "borrow" and "enslaved". I think those three words go together. The Bible is relevant! High taxes, high mortgage, high prices, forced to work overtime -- sounds like the business section of today's paper.
But these hard times were not the root problem.
v. 1 "Now the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their Jewish brothers."
(by the way, this sounds like trouble doesn’t it?)
They are complaining about each other.
The rich Jews were exploiting the poor Jews in a time of crisis. They were taking advantage and capitalizing on the misfortunes of the poor people. (ever seen or heard of that happening before?) Those who had money and had food were saying, "If you'll sell me your house I'll give you food. I'll lend you money but it will be at high interest rates. And if you can't pay the loan I'll take your children as collateral." They were exploiting each other. Rather than helping and giving to the poor they're charging high interest and repossessing their homes, taking their children as slaves -- total disregard for the misfortunes of other people, only thinking of themselves "How can I take advantage of this problem?"
This was clearly against God's law. Exodus 2:25 said that Jews could not charge interest to each other. God allowed the Jews to charge interest to other people, but they were not allowed to charge interest to each other. They could loan to each other but they could not charge any interest on it. The Bible also said that the Jew was not to enslave another Jew. If somebody was poor he could come and work for you but you were not to make him your slave. They were clearly violating God's will. The rich were blatantly violating these laws: profiteering, exploiting, capitalizing on the famine. We have a conflict between the haves and the have nots right in the middle of this building program.
Leadership Law: The root cause of internal conflict and discord is always selfishness.
Whether you have conflict in your family, with your boyfriend, in church, in your office, at school -- the bottom line in conflict is always selfishness. Always! James 4:1 "What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but you don't get it." What causes conflict? Selfishness. When my wants conflict with your wants, we've got a problem! We're going to have conflict, division.
The most fulfilling part of leadership is working with people. But the most frustrating part of leadership is working with people. People tend to be selfish, including me. We want our own way. We want to do our own thing. As a result we don't always want to do the thing that's best. They put themselves first and that can be very, very frustrating. We think of ourselves and that causes conflict. It's always selfishness.
II. THE CURE FOR CONFLICT
How does a leader resolve conflict? Nehemiah knew this whole thing could blow up in his face and the wall never get rebuilt. They were exploiting each other. They had Jews fighting against Jews, families fighting against families. v. 1, the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their own people. This is much worse than fighting an enemy out there. An external enemy often rallies the troop, it builds unity. When you're fighting each other, it's dividing you apart.
STEP 1 v. 6 -- "When I heard their outcry and these charges I was very angry." GET ANGRY (excuse me Joe what did say?)
Nehemiah did not ignore the problem, he took it seriously. If you're the leader of any kind of group and the harmony of your people is threatened, you better get angry. It's very, very important. You, as a leader, are to protect the harmony of your home, your group, your bussiness -- wherever.
Sometimes anger is very appropriate. Sometimes it's the right thing to do. This verse says Nehemiah was very angry. Anger is commanded by God. Ephesians 4:26 "Be ye angry and sin not." It is possible to be angry and not sin. If it wasn't possible then God sins. God got angry. Jesus got angry. You can get angry and not sin. One of the first things you need to do if there is disharmony caused by selfishness, you as a leader, better get angry. Take it seriously! There is the right kind of anger and the wrong kind of anger. Leadership is knowing the difference.
Nehemiah's anger is not a personal reaction. Nobody was hurting him. He is not getting angry and striking back because somebody bruised his ego. That's the wrong kind of anger. He's not striking back in revenge. That's the wrong kind of anger. But what he has is justifiable indignation. He was angry at the selfishness of these rich people. He's deeply disturbed by their exploitation. They could call a halt to the entire project just because of their own selfishness and greed. Nehemiah is thinking "What good is a wall if the people inside the wall are ripping each other off? What good is a wall if we're exploiting each other?"
A leader without some fire in his/her bones is not much of a leader. When you see something that is destroying the harmony in your family, your church, your nation, your business the first thing to do, as a leader, is to get upset. Nothing will upset a leader more than division.
The last thing they needed here was internal strife especially since there was plenty external strife anyway.
STEP 2- REFLECTION: THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK
If you only do step one and don't do step two you're going to get into a lot of trouble. V. 7 "I pondered them in my mind." Living Bible says, "So after thinking about it, I spoke out against these rich government officials." These were the people who were ripping everybody off. The Hebrew word is literally "I consulted with myself". Nehemiah's first reaction was to get angry. But before he did anything else he talked to himself about it. He got alone with God, prayed about it, thought about it to get the perspective right. He planned it out and said, "God, what do You want me to say?" He talked to himself. ‘Leaders make time for Think time’. You don't need to go talk to anybody else. You need to set down and say, "What's really going on here? I'm ticked off. I'm irritated. I'm upset. But what's really happening?" Set aside some time for reflection and to think. Because, when you get angry your first reaction is usually wrong. You ought to get angry. There are some things you ought to get upset about when you see selfishness preventing or harming the work of God. But before you do anything about it you do step two where you think before you speak. (sometime you may be part of problem)
James 1:19-20 "Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. For man's anger does not bring about the righteous life God desires." This is the antidote. It's not a contradiction. It's clarifying what Ephesians said, "Be angry and sin not." There is a difference between man's anger and God's anger. Man's anger is when we act in revenge. God's anger is when we act in righteousness. There is no personal vendetta involved: I'm going to get angry because you hurt me, you irritated me, you frustrated me, you disappointed me. That's the wrong kind of anger. You're angry out of your own selfishness. Somebody didn't live up to your expectations.
What he's saying, "Be quick to listen and slow to speak." If you do these first two the third one is automatic. If you're quick to listen and slow to speak you will be slow to anger. And the anger you have will be godly anger after you've thought it through, consulted with yourself. You haven't just spouted off whatever first came to mind. Impulsive anger always gets you in trouble.
Step two is reflection. It's a good antidote or qualifier of step one -- the reaction of getting angry.
STEP THREE -- REBUKE: YOU PRIVATELY CONFRONT THE OFFENDING PARTY
Go directly to the source. You don't deal with somebody else about it, talk with five or six different people to get everybody on your side. You don't say, "I've got a prayer request..." which is often sanctified gossip. You go directly to the person, directly to the source.
If somebody has offended you and you go to somebody else besides them first, you have already sinned. An example: Nehemiah 5:7 "I pondered them in my mind then I accused the nobles and officials. I told them...`He goes to them
directly. Directly to the problem -- the people who were sinning.
Matthew 18:15-17 this is what Jesus said about how to handle conflict, wherever you are: "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you've won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he still refuses to listen, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector." How did Jesus tell us to treat pagans and tax collectors? Love them. He just didn't treat them like brothers. That's the difference between acceptance and approval.
Only involve the people to the limit you have to involve others.
A Good saying is, “If they’re not a part of the problem or the solution they don’t need to be involved”
First go see the person. Try to resolve it with your boss or whoever. If that doesn't work, take another person along. If that doesn't work then you involve a larger group and bring the church in on it. But he doesn't say, first go tell the whole church and then the person.
Notice Nehemiah 5:7 "I pondered them in my mind and then accused..." [circle "accused"] Nehemiah is not making a polite social visit here. He's angry and he's not glossing over the fact that these guys were ripping off other people. He's not watering it down. He is confronting them.
How many of you like to confront people? If you like to confront people, you're weird! People who like to confront have a problem! How many of you like to be confronted?
I hate confronting people! It is not fun. I want everybody to like me! So do you! I don't want to be disliked and I don't want to cause hard feelings. But I've learned it is necessary to confront for the good of everybody. I have also learned that if I don't confront the problem it only gets worse. It does not get better. I've also learned that the longer I wait the more courage it takes to confront. I become more and more of a chicken the longer I wait.
Have you ever seen the morale in an office deteriorate because of one jerk who is making everybody miserable and yet is a trouble maker and his poisonous attitudes are being spread throughout the entire office because the manager is a wimp and would not deal with it. He kept putting it off. Maybe that person who is causing everyone's problem happened to be the top producer. So the manager was more interested in profits than he was in people. He didn't care that everybody else was sick of the person, because he was still bringing in all the sales.
Have you ever seen a family fall apart because the parents were afraid to discipline their kids? They were afraid that if they really disciplined them, they would loose them. That's tough love. Privately confront the offending party.
Leadership Law: Leaders must have the courage to confront.
If you're ever going to be a leader, this is a skill you have to develop. You must have the courage to confront. Speak the truth in love. Leadership requires courage. Leadership is not a popularity contest. For the greater good of the family, for the greater good of the business, for the greater good of the church -- I don't care if you don't like me, but the fact is this has to be dealt with." That's what Nehemiah's doing here. He said I'm going to deal with the issue.
Privately confront the offending party.
Do you imagine that Nehemiah was nervous here? This takes guts. He took on the city leaders. He is rebuking the wealthy owners of Jerusalem, the very people he must depend on to fund the rebuilding of the wall. Now who would pay for the wall, all the poor people? Who would pay for the doors, the people who didn't even have enough money for food? No. He goes to the moneybags, the very people who are funding the rebuilding of the wall and finally supporting the rebuilding. It's a real gamble.
The devil is probably saying, Nehemiah if you do this you loose their support, who's going to pay for the wall? You'll never finish the project.
But Nehemiah was committed to doing the right thing regardless. If it meant putting the wall on hold for a few days while they dealt with this sin, so be it! That shows the integrity of Nehemiah.
v. 9 "So I continued, `What you are doing is not right. Shouldn't you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies?'" He's appealing to their conscious. He's saying what you're doing is a bad testimony. All the unbelievers are laughing. "Those people are supposed to be godly people and they're buying and selling each other into slavery and ripping each other off."
v. 10 "Give back to them immediately... continue to help out, but stop charging interest!” He's saying he's challenging them to make restitution. Do it immediately.
The result was they repented. v. 12 "And they said, `We will give it back,' they said. `And we will not demand anything more from them. We will do as you say.'" Nehemiah must have breathed a sigh of relief at that point. That was quite a gamble to challenge the people -- those wealthy owners.
(confronting usually turns out real good)
STEP FOUR - REINFORCEMENT. Set an example of unselfishness.
We see this on down in v. 14. We're going to cover it in more detail next week from a different angle on the example of leadership. But the foundation of all of Nehemiah's leadership is he led by example. When he asked them to rebuild the wall, he was out on the wall rebuilding it. When he asked them to pray he had already been praying. When he asked them to stay up all night and work night and day to get it built, he stayed up night and day to get it built. When he asked them to help the poor, he'd already been doing it. That's what these next verses say.
v. 14 is a little biographical statement about himself and what happened when he was twelve years as governor. "When I was appointed governor in the land of Judah neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor. But the earlier governors, those preceding me, placed a heavy burden on the people and took forty shekels of silver in addition to food and wine. Their assistants also lorded it over the people. But out of reverence for God I didn't act like that. I devoted myself to the work on the wall. All my men were assembled there for the work. We didn't acquire any land. Furthermore, 150 Jews and officials ate at my table as those who came to us from surrounding nations. Each day one ox, six sheep, and some poultry were prepared for me. And ten days an abundant supply of wine of all kinds. In spite of all this I never demanded the food allotment to the governor, because the demands were heavy on these people."
As the appointed governor there was a certain amount of food he could receive from people and he never took it. He realized the people were hard up. He could have exploited the people. His servants could have exploited the people like the servants of the governors in the past but he didn't.
In fact he set the example. He was feeding the poor. He was helping them. He was doing all he could out of his own
personal wealth. He's setting the example.
Nehemiah says, as a leader I have modeled unselfishness. Why does he say that right at the end of all this stuff about conflict? Because the source of all conflict is selfishness. Nehemiah said I haven't exploited the people, taken advantage of their misfortune. He's contrasting his approach to the people with the wealthy rulers and owners' approach, which was to exploit the people. Nehemiah never asked anyone to do what he himself wasn't willing to do or wasn't already doing. He could say with a clear conscious, "Follow my example". That's a mark of leadership.
Paul was a leader like this. 1 Cor. 11:1 Paul said, "Follow my example as I have followed the example of Christ."
You say, "I'd never say that!" Why not? If not, you'd better change whatever you need to change in your life. People follow models. Paul wasn't being arrogant. He was saying, "At least I'm making the attempt. At least I'm making the effort." - What’s holding you back from saying that? You need to start working on the areas where you could say, Follow my example as I follow Christ.
Leadership Law: Leaders only ask others to do what they are already doing.
That was the secret of Nehemiah's boldness. I'm in awe how this guy stood up to these people and challenged them and confronted them. He was a person of integrity. He was already feeding the poor. He had every right to stand up and say, "How come you guys aren't helping the poor instead of hurting them?" If you cannot challenge someone to follow your example, whatever you say to them is going to loose its impact. In challenging our children, I can't say "Do as I say, not as I do". That's ineffective. If I can't say, "Do as I do, " then the impact of me saying "Do as I say" is worthless. Organizations, homes, families, office, wherever... will have fewer conflicts when we
live unselfishly and model that.
The fact is internal differences, wherever you've got a group of people, are inevitable. When two people agree on everything, one of them isn't necessary. There's going to be differences. There's no such thing as a perfect church. There's no perfect family. There's no perfect business, office... There's going to be conflict. But God wants us to minimize them for His glory and especially in the family.
God has called us in every arena of life to be people who are know by love.
That's the mark of a Christian.
Jesus said, "By this shall all men know that you're My disciples, that you love one another."
Review about opposition and how Satan tries to stop a work:
In chapter 2 they first started w/ ridicule and mockery. They tried to laugh them out of doing the work. They made fun of them, ridiculed them, put them down. Nehemiah's response to that was to simply ignore it. When people ridicule you and put you down for what you're doing for the Lord, just ignore it.
The second thing they tried was discouragement. They came and said, You're tired, you're never going to be able to finish, it's hopeless, there's too much rubble. They got them all discouraged. Nehemiah's response to discouragement was simply to reorganize. "Remember the Lord is with us and don't give in to discouragement."
The next tactic that came along was danger. They started threatening their lives. They threatened them and tried to scare them into quitting. Nehemiah's response to that was to resist it. He said we're going to reinforce it: half will build the wall, half will carry swords. Then they would alternate on shifts.
All of that got them nowhere.
Chapter 4 was the opposition from the outside. Chapter 5 is internal opposition. That's much, much worse, the sabotaging from the inside. Satan tries to divide them. He uses money. Isn't that typical? More conflicts are caused by finances than anything else. The majority of divorces are because of financial problems. Satan is going to try to divide them over financial issues.
Question: Does the devil still use division today? Of course he does. Internal problems destroy more churches, homes, business’ than external problems. Satan would rather cause division in w/in than anything else.
Mark 3:25 "If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand." You ever see a football team defeat itself? A bunch of people with massive egos and, rather than fight the opposing team, they fight each other. Division can happen wherever you have two or more people. We tend to want our own way.
If you don't deal with conflict then it's going to stop the work of the Lord in your life. For us to Lead in Life we've got to learn how to resolve conflict. This chapter is very important. It teaches us conflict management, the skill of dealing with conflict. V. 1-5 gives us the causes of conflict; 6-13 the cure for conflict.
I. THE CAUSE OF CONFLICT
The background of this chapter is the people have been spending all their time working on the wall. They didn't have any time to cultivate their gardens and raise food.
V. 1-2 "Now the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their Jewish brothers. Some were saying, `We and our sons and daughters are numerous. In order for us to eat and stay alive we must get grain.'"
The first complaint was food shortages -- too many mouths to feed.
In the next verse, we find out there was a famine. Resources and goods were in short supply. There were more mouths to feed than they had food. Inflation and high prices. Food shortages.
It's interesting: they are doing the work of God, yet God allowed a famine. Why? Weren't they doing what He'd told them to do? I think that doing God's will does not exempt you from common problems of life. Just because you're doing the right thing doesn't mean your car isn't going to break down or have some major health problem or otherwise. So there was a food shortage in v. 2.
The second thing is that they were over mortgaged in their homes.
v. 3 "We are mortgaging our fields, our vineyards and our homes to get grain during the famine." That's what you call financial bondage.
They were using their equity to feed their families. They were taking their equity out of their homes and mortgaging them deeper and deeper just to put food on the table.
v. 4 "Still others were saying, `We've had to borrow money to pay the king's taxes on our fields and vineyards.'"
High taxes are the third problem. They're having to borrow just to pay taxes. They're in deep debt here.
As a result of that, in v. 5, "Although we are the same flesh and blood as our countrymen, and though our sons are as good as theirs, yet we have to subject our sons and daughters to slavery. Some of our daughters have already been enslaved but we are powerless because our fields and vineyards belong to others." Enslaved
They had to have food so first they mortgaged their homes then they started selling off their family to raise money. They are in that much debt! They are forced to place their kids into slave labor to pay debts. Circle "mortgaging" and "borrow" and "enslaved". I think those three words go together. The Bible is relevant! High taxes, high mortgage, high prices, forced to work overtime -- sounds like the business section of today's paper.
But these hard times were not the root problem.
v. 1 "Now the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their Jewish brothers."
(by the way, this sounds like trouble doesn’t it?)
They are complaining about each other.
The rich Jews were exploiting the poor Jews in a time of crisis. They were taking advantage and capitalizing on the misfortunes of the poor people. (ever seen or heard of that happening before?) Those who had money and had food were saying, "If you'll sell me your house I'll give you food. I'll lend you money but it will be at high interest rates. And if you can't pay the loan I'll take your children as collateral." They were exploiting each other. Rather than helping and giving to the poor they're charging high interest and repossessing their homes, taking their children as slaves -- total disregard for the misfortunes of other people, only thinking of themselves "How can I take advantage of this problem?"
This was clearly against God's law. Exodus 2:25 said that Jews could not charge interest to each other. God allowed the Jews to charge interest to other people, but they were not allowed to charge interest to each other. They could loan to each other but they could not charge any interest on it. The Bible also said that the Jew was not to enslave another Jew. If somebody was poor he could come and work for you but you were not to make him your slave. They were clearly violating God's will. The rich were blatantly violating these laws: profiteering, exploiting, capitalizing on the famine. We have a conflict between the haves and the have nots right in the middle of this building program.
Leadership Law: The root cause of internal conflict and discord is always selfishness.
Whether you have conflict in your family, with your boyfriend, in church, in your office, at school -- the bottom line in conflict is always selfishness. Always! James 4:1 "What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but you don't get it." What causes conflict? Selfishness. When my wants conflict with your wants, we've got a problem! We're going to have conflict, division.
The most fulfilling part of leadership is working with people. But the most frustrating part of leadership is working with people. People tend to be selfish, including me. We want our own way. We want to do our own thing. As a result we don't always want to do the thing that's best. They put themselves first and that can be very, very frustrating. We think of ourselves and that causes conflict. It's always selfishness.
II. THE CURE FOR CONFLICT
How does a leader resolve conflict? Nehemiah knew this whole thing could blow up in his face and the wall never get rebuilt. They were exploiting each other. They had Jews fighting against Jews, families fighting against families. v. 1, the men and their wives raised a great outcry against their own people. This is much worse than fighting an enemy out there. An external enemy often rallies the troop, it builds unity. When you're fighting each other, it's dividing you apart.
STEP 1 v. 6 -- "When I heard their outcry and these charges I was very angry." GET ANGRY (excuse me Joe what did say?)
Nehemiah did not ignore the problem, he took it seriously. If you're the leader of any kind of group and the harmony of your people is threatened, you better get angry. It's very, very important. You, as a leader, are to protect the harmony of your home, your group, your bussiness -- wherever.
Sometimes anger is very appropriate. Sometimes it's the right thing to do. This verse says Nehemiah was very angry. Anger is commanded by God. Ephesians 4:26 "Be ye angry and sin not." It is possible to be angry and not sin. If it wasn't possible then God sins. God got angry. Jesus got angry. You can get angry and not sin. One of the first things you need to do if there is disharmony caused by selfishness, you as a leader, better get angry. Take it seriously! There is the right kind of anger and the wrong kind of anger. Leadership is knowing the difference.
Nehemiah's anger is not a personal reaction. Nobody was hurting him. He is not getting angry and striking back because somebody bruised his ego. That's the wrong kind of anger. He's not striking back in revenge. That's the wrong kind of anger. But what he has is justifiable indignation. He was angry at the selfishness of these rich people. He's deeply disturbed by their exploitation. They could call a halt to the entire project just because of their own selfishness and greed. Nehemiah is thinking "What good is a wall if the people inside the wall are ripping each other off? What good is a wall if we're exploiting each other?"
A leader without some fire in his/her bones is not much of a leader. When you see something that is destroying the harmony in your family, your church, your nation, your business the first thing to do, as a leader, is to get upset. Nothing will upset a leader more than division.
The last thing they needed here was internal strife especially since there was plenty external strife anyway.
STEP 2- REFLECTION: THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK
If you only do step one and don't do step two you're going to get into a lot of trouble. V. 7 "I pondered them in my mind." Living Bible says, "So after thinking about it, I spoke out against these rich government officials." These were the people who were ripping everybody off. The Hebrew word is literally "I consulted with myself". Nehemiah's first reaction was to get angry. But before he did anything else he talked to himself about it. He got alone with God, prayed about it, thought about it to get the perspective right. He planned it out and said, "God, what do You want me to say?" He talked to himself. ‘Leaders make time for Think time’. You don't need to go talk to anybody else. You need to set down and say, "What's really going on here? I'm ticked off. I'm irritated. I'm upset. But what's really happening?" Set aside some time for reflection and to think. Because, when you get angry your first reaction is usually wrong. You ought to get angry. There are some things you ought to get upset about when you see selfishness preventing or harming the work of God. But before you do anything about it you do step two where you think before you speak. (sometime you may be part of problem)
James 1:19-20 "Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. For man's anger does not bring about the righteous life God desires." This is the antidote. It's not a contradiction. It's clarifying what Ephesians said, "Be angry and sin not." There is a difference between man's anger and God's anger. Man's anger is when we act in revenge. God's anger is when we act in righteousness. There is no personal vendetta involved: I'm going to get angry because you hurt me, you irritated me, you frustrated me, you disappointed me. That's the wrong kind of anger. You're angry out of your own selfishness. Somebody didn't live up to your expectations.
What he's saying, "Be quick to listen and slow to speak." If you do these first two the third one is automatic. If you're quick to listen and slow to speak you will be slow to anger. And the anger you have will be godly anger after you've thought it through, consulted with yourself. You haven't just spouted off whatever first came to mind. Impulsive anger always gets you in trouble.
Step two is reflection. It's a good antidote or qualifier of step one -- the reaction of getting angry.
STEP THREE -- REBUKE: YOU PRIVATELY CONFRONT THE OFFENDING PARTY
Go directly to the source. You don't deal with somebody else about it, talk with five or six different people to get everybody on your side. You don't say, "I've got a prayer request..." which is often sanctified gossip. You go directly to the person, directly to the source.
If somebody has offended you and you go to somebody else besides them first, you have already sinned. An example: Nehemiah 5:7 "I pondered them in my mind then I accused the nobles and officials. I told them...`He goes to them
directly. Directly to the problem -- the people who were sinning.
Matthew 18:15-17 this is what Jesus said about how to handle conflict, wherever you are: "If your brother sins against you, go and show him his fault just between the two of you. If he listens to you, you've won your brother over. But if he will not listen, take one or two others along so that every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses. If he still refuses to listen, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, treat him as you would a pagan or a tax collector." How did Jesus tell us to treat pagans and tax collectors? Love them. He just didn't treat them like brothers. That's the difference between acceptance and approval.
Only involve the people to the limit you have to involve others.
A Good saying is, “If they’re not a part of the problem or the solution they don’t need to be involved”
First go see the person. Try to resolve it with your boss or whoever. If that doesn't work, take another person along. If that doesn't work then you involve a larger group and bring the church in on it. But he doesn't say, first go tell the whole church and then the person.
Notice Nehemiah 5:7 "I pondered them in my mind and then accused..." [circle "accused"] Nehemiah is not making a polite social visit here. He's angry and he's not glossing over the fact that these guys were ripping off other people. He's not watering it down. He is confronting them.
How many of you like to confront people? If you like to confront people, you're weird! People who like to confront have a problem! How many of you like to be confronted?
I hate confronting people! It is not fun. I want everybody to like me! So do you! I don't want to be disliked and I don't want to cause hard feelings. But I've learned it is necessary to confront for the good of everybody. I have also learned that if I don't confront the problem it only gets worse. It does not get better. I've also learned that the longer I wait the more courage it takes to confront. I become more and more of a chicken the longer I wait.
Have you ever seen the morale in an office deteriorate because of one jerk who is making everybody miserable and yet is a trouble maker and his poisonous attitudes are being spread throughout the entire office because the manager is a wimp and would not deal with it. He kept putting it off. Maybe that person who is causing everyone's problem happened to be the top producer. So the manager was more interested in profits than he was in people. He didn't care that everybody else was sick of the person, because he was still bringing in all the sales.
Have you ever seen a family fall apart because the parents were afraid to discipline their kids? They were afraid that if they really disciplined them, they would loose them. That's tough love. Privately confront the offending party.
Leadership Law: Leaders must have the courage to confront.
If you're ever going to be a leader, this is a skill you have to develop. You must have the courage to confront. Speak the truth in love. Leadership requires courage. Leadership is not a popularity contest. For the greater good of the family, for the greater good of the business, for the greater good of the church -- I don't care if you don't like me, but the fact is this has to be dealt with." That's what Nehemiah's doing here. He said I'm going to deal with the issue.
Privately confront the offending party.
Do you imagine that Nehemiah was nervous here? This takes guts. He took on the city leaders. He is rebuking the wealthy owners of Jerusalem, the very people he must depend on to fund the rebuilding of the wall. Now who would pay for the wall, all the poor people? Who would pay for the doors, the people who didn't even have enough money for food? No. He goes to the moneybags, the very people who are funding the rebuilding of the wall and finally supporting the rebuilding. It's a real gamble.
The devil is probably saying, Nehemiah if you do this you loose their support, who's going to pay for the wall? You'll never finish the project.
But Nehemiah was committed to doing the right thing regardless. If it meant putting the wall on hold for a few days while they dealt with this sin, so be it! That shows the integrity of Nehemiah.
v. 9 "So I continued, `What you are doing is not right. Shouldn't you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach of our Gentile enemies?'" He's appealing to their conscious. He's saying what you're doing is a bad testimony. All the unbelievers are laughing. "Those people are supposed to be godly people and they're buying and selling each other into slavery and ripping each other off."
v. 10 "Give back to them immediately... continue to help out, but stop charging interest!” He's saying he's challenging them to make restitution. Do it immediately.
The result was they repented. v. 12 "And they said, `We will give it back,' they said. `And we will not demand anything more from them. We will do as you say.'" Nehemiah must have breathed a sigh of relief at that point. That was quite a gamble to challenge the people -- those wealthy owners.
(confronting usually turns out real good)
STEP FOUR - REINFORCEMENT. Set an example of unselfishness.
We see this on down in v. 14. We're going to cover it in more detail next week from a different angle on the example of leadership. But the foundation of all of Nehemiah's leadership is he led by example. When he asked them to rebuild the wall, he was out on the wall rebuilding it. When he asked them to pray he had already been praying. When he asked them to stay up all night and work night and day to get it built, he stayed up night and day to get it built. When he asked them to help the poor, he'd already been doing it. That's what these next verses say.
v. 14 is a little biographical statement about himself and what happened when he was twelve years as governor. "When I was appointed governor in the land of Judah neither I nor my brothers ate the food allotted to the governor. But the earlier governors, those preceding me, placed a heavy burden on the people and took forty shekels of silver in addition to food and wine. Their assistants also lorded it over the people. But out of reverence for God I didn't act like that. I devoted myself to the work on the wall. All my men were assembled there for the work. We didn't acquire any land. Furthermore, 150 Jews and officials ate at my table as those who came to us from surrounding nations. Each day one ox, six sheep, and some poultry were prepared for me. And ten days an abundant supply of wine of all kinds. In spite of all this I never demanded the food allotment to the governor, because the demands were heavy on these people."
As the appointed governor there was a certain amount of food he could receive from people and he never took it. He realized the people were hard up. He could have exploited the people. His servants could have exploited the people like the servants of the governors in the past but he didn't.
In fact he set the example. He was feeding the poor. He was helping them. He was doing all he could out of his own
personal wealth. He's setting the example.
Nehemiah says, as a leader I have modeled unselfishness. Why does he say that right at the end of all this stuff about conflict? Because the source of all conflict is selfishness. Nehemiah said I haven't exploited the people, taken advantage of their misfortune. He's contrasting his approach to the people with the wealthy rulers and owners' approach, which was to exploit the people. Nehemiah never asked anyone to do what he himself wasn't willing to do or wasn't already doing. He could say with a clear conscious, "Follow my example". That's a mark of leadership.
Paul was a leader like this. 1 Cor. 11:1 Paul said, "Follow my example as I have followed the example of Christ."
You say, "I'd never say that!" Why not? If not, you'd better change whatever you need to change in your life. People follow models. Paul wasn't being arrogant. He was saying, "At least I'm making the attempt. At least I'm making the effort." - What’s holding you back from saying that? You need to start working on the areas where you could say, Follow my example as I follow Christ.
Leadership Law: Leaders only ask others to do what they are already doing.
That was the secret of Nehemiah's boldness. I'm in awe how this guy stood up to these people and challenged them and confronted them. He was a person of integrity. He was already feeding the poor. He had every right to stand up and say, "How come you guys aren't helping the poor instead of hurting them?" If you cannot challenge someone to follow your example, whatever you say to them is going to loose its impact. In challenging our children, I can't say "Do as I say, not as I do". That's ineffective. If I can't say, "Do as I do, " then the impact of me saying "Do as I say" is worthless. Organizations, homes, families, office, wherever... will have fewer conflicts when we
live unselfishly and model that.
The fact is internal differences, wherever you've got a group of people, are inevitable. When two people agree on everything, one of them isn't necessary. There's going to be differences. There's no such thing as a perfect church. There's no perfect family. There's no perfect business, office... There's going to be conflict. But God wants us to minimize them for His glory and especially in the family.
God has called us in every arena of life to be people who are know by love.
That's the mark of a Christian.
Jesus said, "By this shall all men know that you're My disciples, that you love one another."
Sunday, October 22, 2006
LEADING IN LIFE - Leader's Handle Opposition
A couple of weeks ago I said there is no such thing as opportunity without opposition. One of the great tests of leadership is how do you handle opposition? Do you panic under pressure? Do you get uptight, loose your temper, blow up, become discouraged, give up? What do you do? In order to ‘Lead in Life’ part of the job description includes putting up with attacks and when things aren’t going as you plan. We're going to look at how a leader handles opposition in Nehemiah 4.
Three things: the tactics of opposition, the effects of opposition, how a leader handles it or the right response.
I. THE TACTICS OF OPPOSITION
I'm going to mention three of them. There are many more but these three are mentioned in the text and people will use these to stop or stall a project. They're still used today.
1. 4:1-3 "When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall he became angry and was greatly incensed and he ridiculed the Jews in the presence of the associates and the army of Samaria and he said `What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring stones back to life from those heaps of rubble burned as they are?' Tobia the Ammonite who was by his side said, `What are they building? Even if a fox climbed upon it, he would break down their wall of stones.'"
The first tactic the opposition usually uses is ridicule.
We have a clear example of this here. Circle that. That's a powerful, effective tool. It's still used today. How many of you have ever been mocked or mad fun of w/ cruel intent?
It happens to us personally, in the work place. Why is it so effective? It's because it attacks our sense of self worth. A lot of times we can handle just about anything except ridcule.
The motive. "He became very angry and greatly incensed..” Ridicule is always the substitute for reason. Laughter is always the substitute for logic. If people can't reason you out of a position they'll just try to ridicule you.
People who ridicule you are usually just afraid. Afraid that you're going to succeed. He uses name calling, "...those feeble Jews". He implies that they have a selfish motive. He makes fun of their beliefs. He overstates the case. All of these are typical tools of ridicule. He says "Are they going to rebuild it in one day?" No where is there any place they say they're going to rebuild it in one day. That's typical ridicule. They overstate their case, (like charactiers)
v. 3. Ridicule is contagious. When Sanballat makes the initial ridicule Tobia, his side kick, chimes in and starts. There's always people who will ridicule you if somebody else will take the lead. They are cowards and won't do it on their own.
2. Resistance. Organized resistance.
v. 6-8"We rebuilt the wall until it reached half of its height and the people worked with all their heart. But Sanballat, Tobia, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the men of Ashdod heard that the repairs to the wall of Jerusalem had gone ahead and the gaps were being closed they were very angry. They all plotted together [circle this] to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it." The opposition is getting organized. Instead of just a couple of critics we have a conspiracy. Sanballat has gathered all the disgruntled parties to resist the rebuilding of the wall. Sanballat and the Samaritans were in the North, the Arabs were in the south, Tobiah and the Ammonites were in the east, the men of Ashdod were in the west. The Jews were surrounded by these people who were conspiring against them. Have you noticed that negative people tend to gravitate together?
The purpose was to fight and stir up trouble. These folks are all around. Some people, their whole purpose in life, seems to be against stuff.
3. Rumor.
v. 11-12. "Also our enemies said, `Before they know it or see us we will be right there among them and we will work to kill them and put an end to their work.'" The quickest way to spread a rumor is to feed on people's fears. The gist of the rumor is, We're going to get you from allsides. We're going to attack you and you're not even going to know what hit you. The fact is, they didn't have enough power to do this. But the rumor of an attack was enough to incite panic. Rumor is often used by opposition.
Two characteristics of rumors:
1)They are always spread by those closest to the enemy. v. 12 "Those Jews who lived near them." The Jews outside the city of Jerusalem, who lived near the enemy, they were the ones most negative. What happens when you're around negative people all the time? You get negative. You become infected. (eagles-turkeys)
2) They are exaggerated when they are repeated.
v. 12"Then they told us ten times over." Circle that. What happens when a rumor is exaggerated ten times over? People start to believe it. (thank you tabloids) I think it was Hitler that discovered if you tell a lie long enough people are going to start believing it. The point is: the negative always gets exaggerated in a project. Law of Leadership: Leaders don't swallow rumors. They may listen to them, chew on them, but they never swallow them. Because they are always exaggerations.
II. THE EFFECT OF OPPOSITION
v. 10-11 "Meanwhile the people in Judah said, `The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall. Also our enemies will attack." When you're working hard and you're bombarded by ridicule, rumor and resistance you're going to get discouraged. That's the effect of opposition: discouragement. (texans
When is discouragement most likely to occur? v. 6 "So we rebuilt the wall until all of it reached half of its height."
Discouragement comes at the half way point. How many of you have half finished projects around your house? work?
Four causes of discouragement: v.10-11
1. Fatigue -- "the strength of the laborers is giving out"
2. Frustration -- "there was so much rubble" Frustration is usually a matter of perception. Actually the piles are getting smaller.
3. Failure -- "we cannot rebuild the wall" When you're tired, everything looks impossible. Vince Lombardi said, "Fatigue makes cowards of all of us."
4. Fear -- "the enemies will attack us"
The opposition always has two goals. One of them is to
hinder God's word and one is to stop God's work.
III. WHAT IS THE RIGHT RESPONSE TO OPPOSITION?
What do you do when you're under attack?
1. RELY ON GOD
v. 4-5 Nehemiah's prayer. "Here O God for we're despised. Turn their insults back over their heads and give them over as plunder in the land of captivity. Do not cover their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight? They have thrown insults in the face of the builders."
Nehemiah is hot here. He's letting off steam! When you're being ridiculed you don't suppress it, you confess it. Rely on God. Admit it all to God. He says, "God, we're trusting in You to defend us." He doesn't get caught up in a name calling game. Instead of calling names, he relies on God.
Proverbs 26:4 "Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself." If you're getting ridiculed for your faith, or whatever, don't answer back. That's dumb! Then you're no better than the person who's ridiculing you. (Pres. at UN-Ven. comm.-pic) If you've got a project and people are taking pot shots at you, just rely on God. Pray.
The greater the opposition the more you need to pray, to depend on God. Leadership Law: When you're ridiculed don't take it out on people, talk it out with God. We want to crack back! That's not what Nehemiah does. He hears this initial ridicule but basically he ignores it and goes to God. The best response to ridicule is don't respond. Instead, you go and you pray and you keep on doing what you should be doing in the first place. The first verses says -- they ridiculed, they prayed, they rebuilt the wall. Ridicule can never stop you from doing what you're doing. Not unless you let it.
If you're a leader and you're under attack, the first thing you do is pray. You take it to God. Sometimes if you ignore the opposition the criticism dissipates, vanishes. Sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it intensifies. When they realized that ridicule wasn't working then in v. 8 it says they plotted together to fight against Jerusalem.
2. RESPECT THE OPPOSITION
How do we know that Nehemiah respected the opposition? v. 9 "But we prayed to our God and we posted a guard day and night to meet this threat." They did the prayerful thing and then the practical thing. Both. It's fine to lay in bed at night and pray, "Protect me from the burglars." But you also need to get up and lock your door! (God’s part - our part)
‘Petition without Precaution is Presumption.’ Rely on God when you're being opposed. But also respect the opposition. And the stronger the opposition, the stronger the response.
v. 9 "We prayed." Up to this time, Nehemiah has been doing the praying. Now all of the people are praying. Where did they get that idea? They've been watching their leader. Leaders lead by showing, not just telling. Nehemiah has been praying constantly for four chapters. The people are getting the idea that it must work. They start praying too. If you're a leader in your business and if you want other Christians to follow your lead, start praying. Nehemiah's constant prayer life had affected these people. Now the whole people of God are praying. They prayed and they posted a guard. Nehemiah sets up an alarm system. He sets up 24-hour guards. He posts a watch. He knows his opposition. Some leaders have lost because they've underestimated the opposition. Don't just pray. Be aware. Know your opposition and don't be ignorant about what's happening.
In the Bible the phrase that is used over and over again is "Watch and pray". Jesus said it. Paul said it. John said it. Peter said it. Watch is the human part -- post a guard. Pray is the divine part -- trust God. Watch is lock the door; pray is "God, I'm trusting You." You do both of these things.
Rely on God and respect the opposition.
3. REINFORCE YOUR WEAK POINTS
v. 13 Nehemiah had prayed and he had relied and respected the opposition. He had posted the guard. Then "Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families with their swords, spears and bows." He is reinforcing his weak points, the lower points. This is where the wall was maybe only a couple of feet high. Where it's ten feet high you don't have to worry so much. The weak points, the exposed places, he's making a strategic placement. He's reinforcing his weak points.
Do you know the weak points in your business? Do you know the weak points in your family? Do you know where you're most open to attack? That's the principle he's teaching us. Leadership Law: Good leaders know where they are vulnerable and they reinforce that area.
If you have to make a sales presentation. Know your weaknesses and anticipate the objections and be ready to counter those objections when you make the proposal.
(have to know in our lives)
v. 16-18 "From that day on, half of my men did the work while the other half were equipped with spears and bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did the work with one hand and held a weapon in the other. Each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me. I said to the nobles and officials, `The work is extensive and spread out and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. Whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet join us there and our God will fight for us."
They are working all around the whole city. They couldn't fortify the whole city. They had no army. This is just a bunch of amateurs here building the wall. So Nehemiah said, Whenever you hear the trumpet blowing, everybody run to that side and we'll know the enemy is there and we'll fight them all together. I think the principle here is,
Keep your lines of communication open during times of attack, times of opposition. Nehemiah turned the entire city into an armed camp. Everybody did two things.
They worked and they carried a weapon.
Principle: Every time you start building for God, you're asking for a battle. If you start trying to build your marriage, you're asking for a battle. If you start trying to build up your own personal spiritual life you're asking for a battle. If you start trying to build a church, that's a battle. Everytime a church starts building there is a battle. Why? Because Satan doesn't want churches built. He gets people to oppose you.
Law: Leaders must build and battle at the same time. If you start doing anything of significance in this world, somebody is going to oppose you. What do you do?
Nehemiah had three alternatives. When every body started opposing him with rumors, resistance and ridicule he could
a. Give up
b. Leave the wall and go fight -- do a preemptive strike
c. Build the wall and arm himself defensively.
Leaders must build and battle at the same time. You never leave the wall to fight the enemy. You could spend all your time putting out fires and never get your job done. You could spend all your time greasing the squeaking wheel (the critic, the complainer, the kook) and never get your dream or whatever God's called you to do, done. You've got to learn to build and battle at the same time.
Notice Nehemiah's building plan and battle plan in v. 13 "I stationed some of the people at the lowest points of the wall posting them by families." Why by families? When you are under attack, more than any other time, you need support. That's one of the benefits of a small group. When you're in a small group, you're less vulnerable to an attack of Satan. God never meant us to be Rambo Christians.
There is support and encouragement in small groups.
Nehemiah posted by families.
Principle: Never fight a fight alone. When you're facing opposition, get some support. That is one of the purposes of the church. Every Sunday I preach to our folks and I know that on Monday morning they're going back to work and get beat up! To get beat up by the world. They come in bandaged and bloody at the end of the week to get patched up again. We need support. It's tough in the business world. It's tough being a Christian at school. It's tough having Christian attitudes in a society where everything says
"No, don't live for Christ; live for yourself!"
Which is why we must reinforce our weak points.
4. REASSURE THE PEOPLE
v. 14 "After I looked things over I stood up and I said to the nobles and the officials the rest of the people, `Don't be afraid! Remember the Lord is great and awesome. Fight for your brothers and your daughters and your homes." He's rallying the troops. He's relieving their fears. He's reinforcing their confidence. He's raising their morale. That's the task of leadership. When your business/family/church is under attack, the task of leadership is to reinforce the people, raise their morale. Don't be afraid! We can do this!
(kids scared at night)
What did he say that renewed their confidence? "Remember the Lord." That's where our confidence comes from.
Remember the Lord!
It's interesting that a lot of wars have been fought with slogans that started "Remember..." The Spanish-American War was "Remember the Maine." World War I was "Remember the Lusitania". In Texas it was "Remember the Alamo". World War II was "Remember Pearl Harbor".
All of those battle cries were based on defeats -- Remember that defeat back there, now let's go get them!
Nehemiah does the exact opposite. He doesn't say, Remember our defeat! Remember when we got exiled to Babylon! He says, "Remember the Lord!" He's saying, "Let's look at the future. Get our eyes off the opposition and get our eyes on the Lord." When you're under attack, if the devil can get you to focus on the opposition he's won a major victory. You either focus on the opposition or you focus on the Lord. You can focus on the financial statement or you can focus on the Lord. You can either focus on the rising
interest rates or you focus on the Lord. You either focus on the economy and it's jitters or you focus on the Lord. What are you going to focus on? "Remember the Lord!"
Remember what the Lord is like. "Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord who is great and awesome."
Circle "awesome".
Then Nehemiah challenges them. "Fight for your brothers and your sons and your daughters and your wives and your homes." He challenges them to fight for their lives.
Everything is on the line here.
V. 19 "I said to the nobles and officials, `The work is extensive and spread out and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. Whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet join us there and our God will fight for us." He's got a trumpet as a rallying point. That's a point of reassuring the people
5. REFUSE TO QUIT
v. 15 "When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work." We know there is opposition out there. There are critics. They are ridiculing, rumoring. But that doesn't matter. We're going to keep on keeping on. We refuse to be distracted. They all returned to the wall. When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
v. 8 "They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it." That's the first goal of opposition: to stir up trouble.
The second goal is in v. 11 "We will kill them and put an end to the work."
When you're being opposed there are always two oppositions. They want to hinder your work and they want to stop your work. When you know that the opposition's goal is to get you to quit what do you do? Don't quit! You keep on working no matter what!
Calvin Coolidge said, "Press on. Nothing can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. Nothing is more common that unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not. Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not. The world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are the overwhelming power."
In spite of the opposition we've looked at, v. 21,22 "So we continued to work..." Underline that. They refused to quit. "...with half of the men holding spears from the first light of dawn till the stars came out at night. At that time I also said to the people, `Have every man and his helper stay in Jerusalem at night so they can serve us as guards by night and workmen by day.' Neither I nor my brothers nor my men nor the guards with me took off our clothes. Each had his weapon even when he went for water."
They worked through the night. He told all the people who lived outside of Jerusalem who were commuting in to work on the wall, "You stay here". When you're under opposition, when you're under attack, it's time to stick together. They even slept in their clothes, that's how committed they were. Nehemiah led the way. He sets the work pace. He's showing endurance, being the prototype. He's enduring the same hardships the people are enduring, facing the same dangers.
Leadership Law: Leaders model persistence.
They are the last to give up. They are the last to jump ship.
They refuse to quit.
(let me ask you)
What does the devil want you to give up? What has he been tempting you to give up on? Reading through the Bible in a year? A career? A dream? A marriage? An idea? A ministry at church? What does he want you to give up? Your small group? If you know that that is what he wants you to give up what should you do? Keep going!
There is an old legend that one day Satan had a garage sale. He was selling all of his tools that he had used over the centuries. Lying, hatred, malice, lust, greed, envy, jealousy, pride, all of these different things. Over in the corner there was one tool that was priced more than all the other tools put together. It was so priceless that nobody bought it. Why? Because it was "Discouragement" That's Satan's most important tool.
Satan may not get you to commit an immoral sin, but he can get you discouraged! A discouraged believer is an ineffective believer. That means that we've taken our eyes off the Lord and put them on the circumstance. Since Satan never sold it, he's still using it today.
Whenever we give up, the devil wins. One of the fundamental principles of the Christian life is Don't give up!
Persistence is the ultimate test of leadership. This is the acid test. How do you handle it when the going gets tough? When somebody laughs at you or criticizes you for being a Christian that may hurt but it cannot stop you. The secret of success is you simply outlast your critics. How do you get to be an oak tree? An oak tree is just a little nut that refused to give his ground. It doesn't take a lot of intelligence but if you just hang on you'll outlast the critics. There is nothing the devil would rather do than stall us and stop us and move us into neutral so resist discouragement and keep on.
Three things: the tactics of opposition, the effects of opposition, how a leader handles it or the right response.
I. THE TACTICS OF OPPOSITION
I'm going to mention three of them. There are many more but these three are mentioned in the text and people will use these to stop or stall a project. They're still used today.
1. 4:1-3 "When Sanballat heard that we were rebuilding the wall he became angry and was greatly incensed and he ridiculed the Jews in the presence of the associates and the army of Samaria and he said `What are those feeble Jews doing? Will they restore their wall? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they finish in a day? Can they bring stones back to life from those heaps of rubble burned as they are?' Tobia the Ammonite who was by his side said, `What are they building? Even if a fox climbed upon it, he would break down their wall of stones.'"
The first tactic the opposition usually uses is ridicule.
We have a clear example of this here. Circle that. That's a powerful, effective tool. It's still used today. How many of you have ever been mocked or mad fun of w/ cruel intent?
It happens to us personally, in the work place. Why is it so effective? It's because it attacks our sense of self worth. A lot of times we can handle just about anything except ridcule.
The motive. "He became very angry and greatly incensed..” Ridicule is always the substitute for reason. Laughter is always the substitute for logic. If people can't reason you out of a position they'll just try to ridicule you.
People who ridicule you are usually just afraid. Afraid that you're going to succeed. He uses name calling, "...those feeble Jews". He implies that they have a selfish motive. He makes fun of their beliefs. He overstates the case. All of these are typical tools of ridicule. He says "Are they going to rebuild it in one day?" No where is there any place they say they're going to rebuild it in one day. That's typical ridicule. They overstate their case, (like charactiers)
v. 3. Ridicule is contagious. When Sanballat makes the initial ridicule Tobia, his side kick, chimes in and starts. There's always people who will ridicule you if somebody else will take the lead. They are cowards and won't do it on their own.
2. Resistance. Organized resistance.
v. 6-8"We rebuilt the wall until it reached half of its height and the people worked with all their heart. But Sanballat, Tobia, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the men of Ashdod heard that the repairs to the wall of Jerusalem had gone ahead and the gaps were being closed they were very angry. They all plotted together [circle this] to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it." The opposition is getting organized. Instead of just a couple of critics we have a conspiracy. Sanballat has gathered all the disgruntled parties to resist the rebuilding of the wall. Sanballat and the Samaritans were in the North, the Arabs were in the south, Tobiah and the Ammonites were in the east, the men of Ashdod were in the west. The Jews were surrounded by these people who were conspiring against them. Have you noticed that negative people tend to gravitate together?
The purpose was to fight and stir up trouble. These folks are all around. Some people, their whole purpose in life, seems to be against stuff.
3. Rumor.
v. 11-12. "Also our enemies said, `Before they know it or see us we will be right there among them and we will work to kill them and put an end to their work.'" The quickest way to spread a rumor is to feed on people's fears. The gist of the rumor is, We're going to get you from allsides. We're going to attack you and you're not even going to know what hit you. The fact is, they didn't have enough power to do this. But the rumor of an attack was enough to incite panic. Rumor is often used by opposition.
Two characteristics of rumors:
1)They are always spread by those closest to the enemy. v. 12 "Those Jews who lived near them." The Jews outside the city of Jerusalem, who lived near the enemy, they were the ones most negative. What happens when you're around negative people all the time? You get negative. You become infected. (eagles-turkeys)
2) They are exaggerated when they are repeated.
v. 12"Then they told us ten times over." Circle that. What happens when a rumor is exaggerated ten times over? People start to believe it. (thank you tabloids) I think it was Hitler that discovered if you tell a lie long enough people are going to start believing it. The point is: the negative always gets exaggerated in a project. Law of Leadership: Leaders don't swallow rumors. They may listen to them, chew on them, but they never swallow them. Because they are always exaggerations.
II. THE EFFECT OF OPPOSITION
v. 10-11 "Meanwhile the people in Judah said, `The strength of the laborers is giving out, and there is so much rubble that we cannot rebuild the wall. Also our enemies will attack." When you're working hard and you're bombarded by ridicule, rumor and resistance you're going to get discouraged. That's the effect of opposition: discouragement. (texans
When is discouragement most likely to occur? v. 6 "So we rebuilt the wall until all of it reached half of its height."
Discouragement comes at the half way point. How many of you have half finished projects around your house? work?
Four causes of discouragement: v.10-11
1. Fatigue -- "the strength of the laborers is giving out"
2. Frustration -- "there was so much rubble" Frustration is usually a matter of perception. Actually the piles are getting smaller.
3. Failure -- "we cannot rebuild the wall" When you're tired, everything looks impossible. Vince Lombardi said, "Fatigue makes cowards of all of us."
4. Fear -- "the enemies will attack us"
The opposition always has two goals. One of them is to
hinder God's word and one is to stop God's work.
III. WHAT IS THE RIGHT RESPONSE TO OPPOSITION?
What do you do when you're under attack?
1. RELY ON GOD
v. 4-5 Nehemiah's prayer. "Here O God for we're despised. Turn their insults back over their heads and give them over as plunder in the land of captivity. Do not cover their guilt or blot out their sins from your sight? They have thrown insults in the face of the builders."
Nehemiah is hot here. He's letting off steam! When you're being ridiculed you don't suppress it, you confess it. Rely on God. Admit it all to God. He says, "God, we're trusting in You to defend us." He doesn't get caught up in a name calling game. Instead of calling names, he relies on God.
Proverbs 26:4 "Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you will be like him yourself." If you're getting ridiculed for your faith, or whatever, don't answer back. That's dumb! Then you're no better than the person who's ridiculing you. (Pres. at UN-Ven. comm.-pic) If you've got a project and people are taking pot shots at you, just rely on God. Pray.
The greater the opposition the more you need to pray, to depend on God. Leadership Law: When you're ridiculed don't take it out on people, talk it out with God. We want to crack back! That's not what Nehemiah does. He hears this initial ridicule but basically he ignores it and goes to God. The best response to ridicule is don't respond. Instead, you go and you pray and you keep on doing what you should be doing in the first place. The first verses says -- they ridiculed, they prayed, they rebuilt the wall. Ridicule can never stop you from doing what you're doing. Not unless you let it.
If you're a leader and you're under attack, the first thing you do is pray. You take it to God. Sometimes if you ignore the opposition the criticism dissipates, vanishes. Sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes it intensifies. When they realized that ridicule wasn't working then in v. 8 it says they plotted together to fight against Jerusalem.
2. RESPECT THE OPPOSITION
How do we know that Nehemiah respected the opposition? v. 9 "But we prayed to our God and we posted a guard day and night to meet this threat." They did the prayerful thing and then the practical thing. Both. It's fine to lay in bed at night and pray, "Protect me from the burglars." But you also need to get up and lock your door! (God’s part - our part)
‘Petition without Precaution is Presumption.’ Rely on God when you're being opposed. But also respect the opposition. And the stronger the opposition, the stronger the response.
v. 9 "We prayed." Up to this time, Nehemiah has been doing the praying. Now all of the people are praying. Where did they get that idea? They've been watching their leader. Leaders lead by showing, not just telling. Nehemiah has been praying constantly for four chapters. The people are getting the idea that it must work. They start praying too. If you're a leader in your business and if you want other Christians to follow your lead, start praying. Nehemiah's constant prayer life had affected these people. Now the whole people of God are praying. They prayed and they posted a guard. Nehemiah sets up an alarm system. He sets up 24-hour guards. He posts a watch. He knows his opposition. Some leaders have lost because they've underestimated the opposition. Don't just pray. Be aware. Know your opposition and don't be ignorant about what's happening.
In the Bible the phrase that is used over and over again is "Watch and pray". Jesus said it. Paul said it. John said it. Peter said it. Watch is the human part -- post a guard. Pray is the divine part -- trust God. Watch is lock the door; pray is "God, I'm trusting You." You do both of these things.
Rely on God and respect the opposition.
3. REINFORCE YOUR WEAK POINTS
v. 13 Nehemiah had prayed and he had relied and respected the opposition. He had posted the guard. Then "Therefore I stationed some of the people behind the lowest points of the wall at the exposed places, posting them by families with their swords, spears and bows." He is reinforcing his weak points, the lower points. This is where the wall was maybe only a couple of feet high. Where it's ten feet high you don't have to worry so much. The weak points, the exposed places, he's making a strategic placement. He's reinforcing his weak points.
Do you know the weak points in your business? Do you know the weak points in your family? Do you know where you're most open to attack? That's the principle he's teaching us. Leadership Law: Good leaders know where they are vulnerable and they reinforce that area.
If you have to make a sales presentation. Know your weaknesses and anticipate the objections and be ready to counter those objections when you make the proposal.
(have to know in our lives)
v. 16-18 "From that day on, half of my men did the work while the other half were equipped with spears and bows and armor. The officers posted themselves behind all the people of Judah who were building the wall. Those who carried materials did the work with one hand and held a weapon in the other. Each of the builders wore his sword at his side as he worked. But the man who sounded the trumpet stayed with me. I said to the nobles and officials, `The work is extensive and spread out and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. Whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet join us there and our God will fight for us."
They are working all around the whole city. They couldn't fortify the whole city. They had no army. This is just a bunch of amateurs here building the wall. So Nehemiah said, Whenever you hear the trumpet blowing, everybody run to that side and we'll know the enemy is there and we'll fight them all together. I think the principle here is,
Keep your lines of communication open during times of attack, times of opposition. Nehemiah turned the entire city into an armed camp. Everybody did two things.
They worked and they carried a weapon.
Principle: Every time you start building for God, you're asking for a battle. If you start trying to build your marriage, you're asking for a battle. If you start trying to build up your own personal spiritual life you're asking for a battle. If you start trying to build a church, that's a battle. Everytime a church starts building there is a battle. Why? Because Satan doesn't want churches built. He gets people to oppose you.
Law: Leaders must build and battle at the same time. If you start doing anything of significance in this world, somebody is going to oppose you. What do you do?
Nehemiah had three alternatives. When every body started opposing him with rumors, resistance and ridicule he could
a. Give up
b. Leave the wall and go fight -- do a preemptive strike
c. Build the wall and arm himself defensively.
Leaders must build and battle at the same time. You never leave the wall to fight the enemy. You could spend all your time putting out fires and never get your job done. You could spend all your time greasing the squeaking wheel (the critic, the complainer, the kook) and never get your dream or whatever God's called you to do, done. You've got to learn to build and battle at the same time.
Notice Nehemiah's building plan and battle plan in v. 13 "I stationed some of the people at the lowest points of the wall posting them by families." Why by families? When you are under attack, more than any other time, you need support. That's one of the benefits of a small group. When you're in a small group, you're less vulnerable to an attack of Satan. God never meant us to be Rambo Christians.
There is support and encouragement in small groups.
Nehemiah posted by families.
Principle: Never fight a fight alone. When you're facing opposition, get some support. That is one of the purposes of the church. Every Sunday I preach to our folks and I know that on Monday morning they're going back to work and get beat up! To get beat up by the world. They come in bandaged and bloody at the end of the week to get patched up again. We need support. It's tough in the business world. It's tough being a Christian at school. It's tough having Christian attitudes in a society where everything says
"No, don't live for Christ; live for yourself!"
Which is why we must reinforce our weak points.
4. REASSURE THE PEOPLE
v. 14 "After I looked things over I stood up and I said to the nobles and the officials the rest of the people, `Don't be afraid! Remember the Lord is great and awesome. Fight for your brothers and your daughters and your homes." He's rallying the troops. He's relieving their fears. He's reinforcing their confidence. He's raising their morale. That's the task of leadership. When your business/family/church is under attack, the task of leadership is to reinforce the people, raise their morale. Don't be afraid! We can do this!
(kids scared at night)
What did he say that renewed their confidence? "Remember the Lord." That's where our confidence comes from.
Remember the Lord!
It's interesting that a lot of wars have been fought with slogans that started "Remember..." The Spanish-American War was "Remember the Maine." World War I was "Remember the Lusitania". In Texas it was "Remember the Alamo". World War II was "Remember Pearl Harbor".
All of those battle cries were based on defeats -- Remember that defeat back there, now let's go get them!
Nehemiah does the exact opposite. He doesn't say, Remember our defeat! Remember when we got exiled to Babylon! He says, "Remember the Lord!" He's saying, "Let's look at the future. Get our eyes off the opposition and get our eyes on the Lord." When you're under attack, if the devil can get you to focus on the opposition he's won a major victory. You either focus on the opposition or you focus on the Lord. You can focus on the financial statement or you can focus on the Lord. You can either focus on the rising
interest rates or you focus on the Lord. You either focus on the economy and it's jitters or you focus on the Lord. What are you going to focus on? "Remember the Lord!"
Remember what the Lord is like. "Don't be afraid of them. Remember the Lord who is great and awesome."
Circle "awesome".
Then Nehemiah challenges them. "Fight for your brothers and your sons and your daughters and your wives and your homes." He challenges them to fight for their lives.
Everything is on the line here.
V. 19 "I said to the nobles and officials, `The work is extensive and spread out and we are widely separated from each other along the wall. Whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet join us there and our God will fight for us." He's got a trumpet as a rallying point. That's a point of reassuring the people
5. REFUSE TO QUIT
v. 15 "When our enemies heard that we were aware of their plot and that God had frustrated it, we all returned to the wall, each to his own work." We know there is opposition out there. There are critics. They are ridiculing, rumoring. But that doesn't matter. We're going to keep on keeping on. We refuse to be distracted. They all returned to the wall. When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
v. 8 "They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it." That's the first goal of opposition: to stir up trouble.
The second goal is in v. 11 "We will kill them and put an end to the work."
When you're being opposed there are always two oppositions. They want to hinder your work and they want to stop your work. When you know that the opposition's goal is to get you to quit what do you do? Don't quit! You keep on working no matter what!
Calvin Coolidge said, "Press on. Nothing can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. Nothing is more common that unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not. Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not. The world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are the overwhelming power."
In spite of the opposition we've looked at, v. 21,22 "So we continued to work..." Underline that. They refused to quit. "...with half of the men holding spears from the first light of dawn till the stars came out at night. At that time I also said to the people, `Have every man and his helper stay in Jerusalem at night so they can serve us as guards by night and workmen by day.' Neither I nor my brothers nor my men nor the guards with me took off our clothes. Each had his weapon even when he went for water."
They worked through the night. He told all the people who lived outside of Jerusalem who were commuting in to work on the wall, "You stay here". When you're under opposition, when you're under attack, it's time to stick together. They even slept in their clothes, that's how committed they were. Nehemiah led the way. He sets the work pace. He's showing endurance, being the prototype. He's enduring the same hardships the people are enduring, facing the same dangers.
Leadership Law: Leaders model persistence.
They are the last to give up. They are the last to jump ship.
They refuse to quit.
(let me ask you)
What does the devil want you to give up? What has he been tempting you to give up on? Reading through the Bible in a year? A career? A dream? A marriage? An idea? A ministry at church? What does he want you to give up? Your small group? If you know that that is what he wants you to give up what should you do? Keep going!
There is an old legend that one day Satan had a garage sale. He was selling all of his tools that he had used over the centuries. Lying, hatred, malice, lust, greed, envy, jealousy, pride, all of these different things. Over in the corner there was one tool that was priced more than all the other tools put together. It was so priceless that nobody bought it. Why? Because it was "Discouragement" That's Satan's most important tool.
Satan may not get you to commit an immoral sin, but he can get you discouraged! A discouraged believer is an ineffective believer. That means that we've taken our eyes off the Lord and put them on the circumstance. Since Satan never sold it, he's still using it today.
Whenever we give up, the devil wins. One of the fundamental principles of the Christian life is Don't give up!
Persistence is the ultimate test of leadership. This is the acid test. How do you handle it when the going gets tough? When somebody laughs at you or criticizes you for being a Christian that may hurt but it cannot stop you. The secret of success is you simply outlast your critics. How do you get to be an oak tree? An oak tree is just a little nut that refused to give his ground. It doesn't take a lot of intelligence but if you just hang on you'll outlast the critics. There is nothing the devil would rather do than stall us and stop us and move us into neutral so resist discouragement and keep on.
Sunday, October 15, 2006
LEADING IN LIFE - Leader's Organize
We've been in this series for five weeks. As we look at today's passage it looks just like a list of Hebrew names. A lot of times we want to just skip this passage altogether. I probably could have done that myself. The Bible says in 1 Cor. 14:40 "Everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way." We're looking at principles of leadership - LEADING in LIFE - We said first a leader prays, then he plans, then he present the plan and motivates people. But motivation without organization leads to frustration. Today I want to give you a few principles of successful organizing.
1. PRINCIPLE OF SIMPLIFICATION(simplify)
Keep it simple. (KISS) For such an enormous project
Nehemiah had a simple plan of organizing it. He didn't assign any jobs by lottery and didn't create a whole new organization and didn't force any complex charts. His plan was very simple. He organized around natural groupings. The priests in verse 1, the men of Jericho in verse 2, sons of Hassenaah in verse 3, the men of Tekoa in verse 5. These are natural groups that are already associating together. He doesn’t complicate - He doesn't need to do that. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
What is the most natural grouping of organization? The
family - Nehemiah 4:13 -- He posted them by families -- for support. The strongest organizations are the simplest. It's like toys. Blocks are unbreakable. More complex toys break. (metro) The more complex something is the more it breaks. The simpler it is, the stronger it is. The simplest organizations are strong organizations.
2. THE PRINCIPLE OF PARTICIPATION(participate)
Work with those who want to work. A lot of leaders never learn this. They spend all their time trying to corral the lazy and the apathetic instead of working with those who want to work. in ch.3
Almost everybody got involved. All available help was put to work. the religious leaders led the way. Men and women, city and country people, white collar, blue collar. There were perfume makers, goldsmiths -- everybody got involved.
Government leaders, business leaders. Everybody was moving bricks. Everybody was making mortar.
Except one little group. V. 5. "The next section was repaired by the men of Tekoa, but their nobles would not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors." These guys think they're too hot, too good. They thought the work was beneath them -- moving bricks. It doesn't say what excuse they gave, but in every church you have these kinds of people. In every community, every business you have these kinds of people. Hot shots that don't want to work.
Nehemiah's response to those not working was to ignore them. He did not focus on those who were not willing to work. He focused on those who were willing to work. He didn't lose sleep, get bitter, waste time trying to corral them. If you're a leader, you must not worry about people who don't want to get involved. Connect with those who do want to get involved.
There is a school of thought in the church leadership community that says you should always be asking those in your church family to be helping out in various things going on in the church. One reason for this is because having people involved increases their level of commitment which leads to a higher level of community. There is the feeling that ‘we are all in this together – we are a team!’ and if people are involved, they feel a part of the team. The beauty that flows out of this type of thinking is that the church becomes OUR church and not just an entity. Another reason for asking is that people don’t always see the great potential in themselves that others are able to see so clearly. Therefore, if you ask them for their help, it builds confidence and helps them to grow in their area of giftedness. I very much agree with this school of thought. Furthermore, I think it applies not just to the church community, but also the community in your office, home, etc. However, I’ve learned over the years that there is a difficult balance to walk when attempting to identify if some just needs a little encouragement to take their job or ministry (or whatever) to a higher level or if they aren’t stepping up because they really don’t want to. Cathleen used to be a front end manager at Randall’s, simply put, that means she managed the ‘front end’. Everything the checkers and sackers were doing was based in her decision of what she felt like needed to be done. Her experience there had examples of the principle of participation, literally, on a daily basis. During a regular shift there were times that were busy and everyone was challenged to ‘keep up’ during the rush. But between the rushes was when you really saw the principle most displayed. Those who wanted to participate in running a quality business spent down times asking what needed to be done or identifying things on their own. One of the first things Cathleen learned is that if you wanted to be ready when the rush hit- you had to use your down time wisely. There was a huge difference in her employees that responded to her with a ‘what do you need’ attitude and those that responded with a ‘I am here because I have to be and I don’t want to do anything more than absolutely necessary’ attitude. Those that wanted to participate – and I think this is true in the business world period – received reward. They got the most and best hours, they got the needed time off, they got the raises and the promotions. Those that did not want to participate, and this is why it is so important to work with those that want to work, brought the whole shift down. Their attitude was destructive to the ‘team’, everyone else had to pitch in a little more to make up for their lack of effort, they caused frustration, anger, and resentment to set in. One person could alter the tone for the entire shift. In the principle of participation, you have to look at the good of the whole, and choose to work with those that want to work, in order to see positive, God honoring results.
Leaders love everybody, but they move with the movers. In every organization, family, church there are some people who say, "I want to go. I want to be involved." Focus on these. Don't focus on those people who make excuses.
3. PRINCIPLE OF DELEGATION(delegate)
When you're organizing you make specific assignments, divide up the project in specific tasks, assign specific people to those specific tasks. What if, after Nehemiah's pep rally when he got everybody excited and they jumped up ready to go build, what if he said, "Just go start working wherever you want to work." That wouldn't have worked. What if he said, "Let's go to one part of the wall and work on the same part at once." There would have been confusion, chaos, everybody bumping into each other.
The key word in this passage is the word "section". It's used 13 times. He walks around the entire wall and divides it all up almost counter clockwise
Obviously Nehemiah thought this out. He probably divided up the wall into sections when he was doing that midnight ride. In organization, keep it simple, work with those who want to work and then make specific assignments.
Delegate.
Tasks to do in delegation:
1. Break down major goals into smaller tasks. This is the capacity to cut problems down to size. Nehemiah attacks this huge problem of building the wall by breaking it down into bite size pieces.
2. Develop clear job descriptions. Every one deserves to know what's expected.
3. Match the right person with the right task. The wrong person in the wrong task causes chaos. It causes all kinds of motivational problems. In good delegating you've got to understand what the task is all about and you've got to understand what the person is good at and get them together.
4. PRINCIPLE OF MOTIVATION.(motivate)
In organizing any project allow for ownership. Help people feel it's their project. v. 10 says a guy made repairs opposite his house. v. 23 another fellow repaired in front of his house, v. 28 another beside his house. The priest repaired each in front of his own house. v. 29, repaired in front of his house. v. 30 a guy built his in front of his living quarters.
When you build a project you let people do the things they're interested in. Where would you most likely want to be building the wall? By your house.
What is the result when you allow ownership in a project? High motivation. If I'm building the part of the wall that's going to protect my house, I'll do a good job. It also saves time; there's no commuting. Walk out in the morning and start to work! Go back home for lunch!
Nehemiah is simply saying that in the project make it as convenient as possible. It's easier to protect their family at the same time.
When you assign a project – get out of the way! It is human nature to want to look over the other guys shoulder and make sure he is doing things exactly as you would or as you would want them done, but resist that urge. (supervise) Remember that people learn by experience. They learn from their mistakes and their successes. These mistakes and successes motivate us. (‘I have to remember not to do ___ next time’ or ‘That was the exact result I wanted, I need to right down what I did so I don’t forget and I do the same thing next time’) One of the number one places we can use this principle is with our kids. Assign a task, teach your expectations, and then take a deep breath and get out of the way. Remember……….your kids will not get it right the first time, or maybe even the 2nd or 3rd. But they will get it. The child who is just learning to wipe down the table after dinner may need you to explain (patiently) how you want that table wipe, preferably not smearing the mashed potatoes is always good. But explaining something does not mean you take over. You may take the rag out of his/her hand to do a tiny section so that they can see what your talking about but if you do the whole thing because they weren’t doing it RIGHT, you didn’t teach them anything and, even worse, you made them feel incapable of doing what you asked – therefore taking away motivation. They won’t want to try it again next time. What’s the point of trying when every time you try you get in trouble? Working with adults is the same.
How many times do we say to ourselves, ‘well when it comes to ________, I just do it myself because the other person in my office or my husband/wife just cannot seem to do it right.’ We will never motivate others if we don’t allow them some ownership - realizing with ownership will come failure and success and that BOTH our failures and successes will ultimately result in higher levels of motivation and long as we have a positive attitude and are encouraging those we’ve assigned a task to.
Nehemiah allowed people to work in their area of interest. That's a principle of organization.
5. PRINCIPLE OF COOPERATION(cooperate)
Encouraged teamwork. Whenever you've got a project of any size and you need to organize it, realize that we accomplish so much more together than we do as individuals.
The key phrase is "next to him" or "next to them". This is used twenty times in this passage. Nehemiah works clockwise around the entire wall. They helped each other. They encouraged each other.
Next week we're going to see that the whole time they were building the wall they were under attack. They needed help, support. They needed people to encourage them. B.C. Forbes, the guy who founded Forbes magazine said, "You spell success, T-E-A-M-W-O-R-K." Cooperation is a key principle that's built into good organization.
"Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, thinking together is unity, working together is success." Together we can do things we can't do as individuals. Geese can fly 71% farther when they're in formation than when they fly off by themselves. who taught them that? God did. When we cooperate together, when there is teamwork there is great growth. Eccl. 4:9-10 "Two can accomplish more than twice as much as one. The results can be much better. If one falls the other pulls him up. If a man falls when he's alone, he's in trouble." Who's going to pull him up.
When you're building an organization, a business, your home, you follow these principles: keep it simple, work with those who want to work, make specific assignments, allow for ownership, encourage teamwork.
In the Bible, when referring to Christians in the church, the phrase "one another" is used 58 times. It's as if God's saying, "Get the message! Help each other!" "Snow is a beautiful demonstration of what God can do with a bunch of flakes." Individually, I can't do much and you can't do much, snowflakes are pretty frail. But if enough of them stick together they can stop traffic. I can't do much. I can't make an impact on this city. You can't make an impact on the city. But together, we're making an impact. That's teamwork.
6. ADMINISTRATION(administrate)
This principle is implied all the way through the passage. You must supervise the work when you have any kind of a project. It's interesting in Nehemiah 3 that his name is never mentioned. Not once in the chapter. Where was he? He was out on the line administering. Supervising. He was doing -- Management By Walking Around. He was walking around checking up on people, finding out what's going on. How did he know which part each guy built? He was continually inspecting, supervising.
I wrote down three examples of supervision: He uses the phrase "under their supervisors." v. 17 says certain repairs were made "under Rehum", v. 18 certain repairs were made "under Bavvai". There were appointed supervisors who were helping control the work, manage it, administer it and make sure it was going. Something to note here:
People do what you inspect not what you expect. Those of you who are bosses, have you figured that out yet?
But supervise with RESPECT - “do all things in love”
7. PRINCIPLE OF APPRECIATION(appreciate)
In good organizations they give recognition. I believe that is the primary purpose of this chapter. We have a great honor role of faith. Nehemiah is giving credit where it is due. Two thousand years later on the opposite side of the world, you have a pastor here mispronouncing their names but we still remember them. If they hadn't done their part and Nehemiah hadn't appreciated what they'd done, we wouldn't have known who they were.
Notice several things about this principle of appreciation:
Obviously, Nehemiah knew their names. That's a mark of a good leader. In this passage, there are 38 individual names of guys he said did a good job on the wall.
Do you know who's doing a good job in your home or office? If you do, are you telling them they're doing a good job? That's a principle of good organization.
I think it's important that you develop ways to let people know they're doing a good job.
V. 20 has the name of one man in this list of entire names that gets honorable mention. It says everybody did a good job, "Next to him, Baruch, son of Zabbai zealously repaired another section from the Angle to the entrance of the house of Eliashib, the high priest." Circle "zealously". That's the only descriptive term in the entire chapter. Everybody else did their work. Some people didn't do any work. But one guy enthusiastically did his work. Three thousand years later we know it, we know the name of that guy. We don't know what he did. Maybe he worked extra fast. Maybe he worked extra long hours, had an especially positive attitude. The point is if you want to be recognized in your work, just do what everybody else does but do it with enthusiasm. God notices enthusiasm. It's in the Bible. God notices whether I'm working and serving enthusiastically or not. Enthusiasm is the Greek word, that means "God possessed". That's what enthusiasm means. When you're possessed by God you're going to be enthusiastic.
Another interesting thing. Verse 12 "Shallum son of Hallohesh, ruler of the half district of Jerusalem, repaired the next section with the help of his daughters." I think that's special. In those days, women did not do men's work. They didn't carry bricks and mortar around. Women did certain things and men did certain things. Even if they did, women were never recognized in that culture. But Nehemiah recognized them. Credit to whom credit is due. He wasn't any chauvinist. He said, these girls were doing a good job. So he points them out for special recognition. Probably Shallum was a pretty smart man. He probably got all the help he wanted since his daughters were working on the wall... likely the young men on either side were more than happy to come help Shallum with his section of the wall.
Nehemiah is giving appreciation and recognition. I think this is the purpose of this chapter.
v. 5 "The next section was repaired by the men of Tekoa. [Tekoa was a hick town, a wide spot in the road. Nothing there.] but their nobles would not put their shoulder to the work under their supervision." It's interesting to me that three thousand years later everybody else is honored for what they did, but these guys are remembered for what they didn't do. What an epitaph! When these executives started making their excuses why they couldn't move brick and mortar do you think they had any idea how many people were going to know about it? Billions of Christians and believers over 3000 years knew that these guys coped out and did not do their job. Those guys blew it.
Nehemiah did not get up tight about these people. He did not worry about them. He said I'm going to focus on those that are working not on those that aren't working. The Bible shows Nehemiah had a list, but the most important thing is are you on God's list? One day when you get to heaven God's going to look at your list and see whether you were involved in His work or not.
Romans 14:12 "So that each one of us will give an account of himself to God." This verse scares me to death! The Bible says one day I'm going to give an account of my life to God for the direction of this church, how I served Him. All of us are. In Luke 16:2 it says God's going to call you into account for what you did with what you had. He is making a list -- just like Nehemiah had his appreciation list. God is keeping a record of my service and my stewardship. It really doesn't matter what anybody else thinks. Or who knows or who doesn't know. What matters is God knows. What will God say about me and my service for Him? Will he say, "Well done, good and faithful servant." Or "Why didn't you do more? What is your excuse?" What is God going to say about me or you?
1 Cor. 15:58 "Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." God has not asked any of us to go build a wall. But He has asked every one of us to be involved in ministry for
Him. To be a Christian means to be called into the mission field. That doesn't mean everybody goes into a foreign land, or is a pastor, quits their job and works full time. But every Christian is called to serve, to minister. Your mission field is those in your realm of influence. A non serving Christian is a contradiction. He expects us to be involved in service.
Rom 12:4-8 "Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not have all the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We all have different gifts ... use them!"
What is my function in the body of Christ? Ask yourself that.
We all have different gifts that God has given us to function differently. Sometimes people use spiritual gifts as a cop out. "That's not my gift." So they won't do this or that. You ought to work in your area of interest. You ought to work where your spiritual gifts lie that is a fact. That ought to be your primary area of service. But God calls you to also work beyond your area of spiritual gifts. If you were to go back and read this list of guys -- men and women -- who built the wall, there is not one professional builder listed. None of these people were "gifted" to do it. There are pharmacists, jewelers, goldsmiths. These are people who work with their hands but they weren't afraid to go out there and get their hands calloused moving bricks and mortar. There were business men, merchants, white collar people who were not afraid to get out and help on the wall.
Every weekend here we have to set up and take down. Somebody has to do that. Chairs, tables, media, sound...
I commend you, I appreciate you
Notice there are three kinds of work in Nehemiah 3. There were those who did no work, there were those who did some work, and we know that there was one guy who did enthusiastic work. God notices all three kinds. He noticed those who weren't doing zip! He noticed those who were doing their share. He noticed those who were going above and beyond their call of duty and doing it enthusiastically.
Which three describes your involvement in God's work? Where is my part "on the wall" of God’s Kingdom?
Everybody needs encouragement. Everybody needs to feel appreciated and needed.
This is the primary purpose of this chapter - encourage and appreciate
1. PRINCIPLE OF SIMPLIFICATION(simplify)
Keep it simple. (KISS) For such an enormous project
Nehemiah had a simple plan of organizing it. He didn't assign any jobs by lottery and didn't create a whole new organization and didn't force any complex charts. His plan was very simple. He organized around natural groupings. The priests in verse 1, the men of Jericho in verse 2, sons of Hassenaah in verse 3, the men of Tekoa in verse 5. These are natural groups that are already associating together. He doesn’t complicate - He doesn't need to do that. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
What is the most natural grouping of organization? The
family - Nehemiah 4:13 -- He posted them by families -- for support. The strongest organizations are the simplest. It's like toys. Blocks are unbreakable. More complex toys break. (metro) The more complex something is the more it breaks. The simpler it is, the stronger it is. The simplest organizations are strong organizations.
2. THE PRINCIPLE OF PARTICIPATION(participate)
Work with those who want to work. A lot of leaders never learn this. They spend all their time trying to corral the lazy and the apathetic instead of working with those who want to work. in ch.3
Almost everybody got involved. All available help was put to work. the religious leaders led the way. Men and women, city and country people, white collar, blue collar. There were perfume makers, goldsmiths -- everybody got involved.
Government leaders, business leaders. Everybody was moving bricks. Everybody was making mortar.
Except one little group. V. 5. "The next section was repaired by the men of Tekoa, but their nobles would not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors." These guys think they're too hot, too good. They thought the work was beneath them -- moving bricks. It doesn't say what excuse they gave, but in every church you have these kinds of people. In every community, every business you have these kinds of people. Hot shots that don't want to work.
Nehemiah's response to those not working was to ignore them. He did not focus on those who were not willing to work. He focused on those who were willing to work. He didn't lose sleep, get bitter, waste time trying to corral them. If you're a leader, you must not worry about people who don't want to get involved. Connect with those who do want to get involved.
There is a school of thought in the church leadership community that says you should always be asking those in your church family to be helping out in various things going on in the church. One reason for this is because having people involved increases their level of commitment which leads to a higher level of community. There is the feeling that ‘we are all in this together – we are a team!’ and if people are involved, they feel a part of the team. The beauty that flows out of this type of thinking is that the church becomes OUR church and not just an entity. Another reason for asking is that people don’t always see the great potential in themselves that others are able to see so clearly. Therefore, if you ask them for their help, it builds confidence and helps them to grow in their area of giftedness. I very much agree with this school of thought. Furthermore, I think it applies not just to the church community, but also the community in your office, home, etc. However, I’ve learned over the years that there is a difficult balance to walk when attempting to identify if some just needs a little encouragement to take their job or ministry (or whatever) to a higher level or if they aren’t stepping up because they really don’t want to. Cathleen used to be a front end manager at Randall’s, simply put, that means she managed the ‘front end’. Everything the checkers and sackers were doing was based in her decision of what she felt like needed to be done. Her experience there had examples of the principle of participation, literally, on a daily basis. During a regular shift there were times that were busy and everyone was challenged to ‘keep up’ during the rush. But between the rushes was when you really saw the principle most displayed. Those who wanted to participate in running a quality business spent down times asking what needed to be done or identifying things on their own. One of the first things Cathleen learned is that if you wanted to be ready when the rush hit- you had to use your down time wisely. There was a huge difference in her employees that responded to her with a ‘what do you need’ attitude and those that responded with a ‘I am here because I have to be and I don’t want to do anything more than absolutely necessary’ attitude. Those that wanted to participate – and I think this is true in the business world period – received reward. They got the most and best hours, they got the needed time off, they got the raises and the promotions. Those that did not want to participate, and this is why it is so important to work with those that want to work, brought the whole shift down. Their attitude was destructive to the ‘team’, everyone else had to pitch in a little more to make up for their lack of effort, they caused frustration, anger, and resentment to set in. One person could alter the tone for the entire shift. In the principle of participation, you have to look at the good of the whole, and choose to work with those that want to work, in order to see positive, God honoring results.
Leaders love everybody, but they move with the movers. In every organization, family, church there are some people who say, "I want to go. I want to be involved." Focus on these. Don't focus on those people who make excuses.
3. PRINCIPLE OF DELEGATION(delegate)
When you're organizing you make specific assignments, divide up the project in specific tasks, assign specific people to those specific tasks. What if, after Nehemiah's pep rally when he got everybody excited and they jumped up ready to go build, what if he said, "Just go start working wherever you want to work." That wouldn't have worked. What if he said, "Let's go to one part of the wall and work on the same part at once." There would have been confusion, chaos, everybody bumping into each other.
The key word in this passage is the word "section". It's used 13 times. He walks around the entire wall and divides it all up almost counter clockwise
Obviously Nehemiah thought this out. He probably divided up the wall into sections when he was doing that midnight ride. In organization, keep it simple, work with those who want to work and then make specific assignments.
Delegate.
Tasks to do in delegation:
1. Break down major goals into smaller tasks. This is the capacity to cut problems down to size. Nehemiah attacks this huge problem of building the wall by breaking it down into bite size pieces.
2. Develop clear job descriptions. Every one deserves to know what's expected.
3. Match the right person with the right task. The wrong person in the wrong task causes chaos. It causes all kinds of motivational problems. In good delegating you've got to understand what the task is all about and you've got to understand what the person is good at and get them together.
4. PRINCIPLE OF MOTIVATION.(motivate)
In organizing any project allow for ownership. Help people feel it's their project. v. 10 says a guy made repairs opposite his house. v. 23 another fellow repaired in front of his house, v. 28 another beside his house. The priest repaired each in front of his own house. v. 29, repaired in front of his house. v. 30 a guy built his in front of his living quarters.
When you build a project you let people do the things they're interested in. Where would you most likely want to be building the wall? By your house.
What is the result when you allow ownership in a project? High motivation. If I'm building the part of the wall that's going to protect my house, I'll do a good job. It also saves time; there's no commuting. Walk out in the morning and start to work! Go back home for lunch!
Nehemiah is simply saying that in the project make it as convenient as possible. It's easier to protect their family at the same time.
When you assign a project – get out of the way! It is human nature to want to look over the other guys shoulder and make sure he is doing things exactly as you would or as you would want them done, but resist that urge. (supervise) Remember that people learn by experience. They learn from their mistakes and their successes. These mistakes and successes motivate us. (‘I have to remember not to do ___ next time’ or ‘That was the exact result I wanted, I need to right down what I did so I don’t forget and I do the same thing next time’) One of the number one places we can use this principle is with our kids. Assign a task, teach your expectations, and then take a deep breath and get out of the way. Remember……….your kids will not get it right the first time, or maybe even the 2nd or 3rd. But they will get it. The child who is just learning to wipe down the table after dinner may need you to explain (patiently) how you want that table wipe, preferably not smearing the mashed potatoes is always good. But explaining something does not mean you take over. You may take the rag out of his/her hand to do a tiny section so that they can see what your talking about but if you do the whole thing because they weren’t doing it RIGHT, you didn’t teach them anything and, even worse, you made them feel incapable of doing what you asked – therefore taking away motivation. They won’t want to try it again next time. What’s the point of trying when every time you try you get in trouble? Working with adults is the same.
How many times do we say to ourselves, ‘well when it comes to ________, I just do it myself because the other person in my office or my husband/wife just cannot seem to do it right.’ We will never motivate others if we don’t allow them some ownership - realizing with ownership will come failure and success and that BOTH our failures and successes will ultimately result in higher levels of motivation and long as we have a positive attitude and are encouraging those we’ve assigned a task to.
Nehemiah allowed people to work in their area of interest. That's a principle of organization.
5. PRINCIPLE OF COOPERATION(cooperate)
Encouraged teamwork. Whenever you've got a project of any size and you need to organize it, realize that we accomplish so much more together than we do as individuals.
The key phrase is "next to him" or "next to them". This is used twenty times in this passage. Nehemiah works clockwise around the entire wall. They helped each other. They encouraged each other.
Next week we're going to see that the whole time they were building the wall they were under attack. They needed help, support. They needed people to encourage them. B.C. Forbes, the guy who founded Forbes magazine said, "You spell success, T-E-A-M-W-O-R-K." Cooperation is a key principle that's built into good organization.
"Coming together is a beginning, keeping together is progress, thinking together is unity, working together is success." Together we can do things we can't do as individuals. Geese can fly 71% farther when they're in formation than when they fly off by themselves. who taught them that? God did. When we cooperate together, when there is teamwork there is great growth. Eccl. 4:9-10 "Two can accomplish more than twice as much as one. The results can be much better. If one falls the other pulls him up. If a man falls when he's alone, he's in trouble." Who's going to pull him up.
When you're building an organization, a business, your home, you follow these principles: keep it simple, work with those who want to work, make specific assignments, allow for ownership, encourage teamwork.
In the Bible, when referring to Christians in the church, the phrase "one another" is used 58 times. It's as if God's saying, "Get the message! Help each other!" "Snow is a beautiful demonstration of what God can do with a bunch of flakes." Individually, I can't do much and you can't do much, snowflakes are pretty frail. But if enough of them stick together they can stop traffic. I can't do much. I can't make an impact on this city. You can't make an impact on the city. But together, we're making an impact. That's teamwork.
6. ADMINISTRATION(administrate)
This principle is implied all the way through the passage. You must supervise the work when you have any kind of a project. It's interesting in Nehemiah 3 that his name is never mentioned. Not once in the chapter. Where was he? He was out on the line administering. Supervising. He was doing -- Management By Walking Around. He was walking around checking up on people, finding out what's going on. How did he know which part each guy built? He was continually inspecting, supervising.
I wrote down three examples of supervision: He uses the phrase "under their supervisors." v. 17 says certain repairs were made "under Rehum", v. 18 certain repairs were made "under Bavvai". There were appointed supervisors who were helping control the work, manage it, administer it and make sure it was going. Something to note here:
People do what you inspect not what you expect. Those of you who are bosses, have you figured that out yet?
But supervise with RESPECT - “do all things in love”
7. PRINCIPLE OF APPRECIATION(appreciate)
In good organizations they give recognition. I believe that is the primary purpose of this chapter. We have a great honor role of faith. Nehemiah is giving credit where it is due. Two thousand years later on the opposite side of the world, you have a pastor here mispronouncing their names but we still remember them. If they hadn't done their part and Nehemiah hadn't appreciated what they'd done, we wouldn't have known who they were.
Notice several things about this principle of appreciation:
Obviously, Nehemiah knew their names. That's a mark of a good leader. In this passage, there are 38 individual names of guys he said did a good job on the wall.
Do you know who's doing a good job in your home or office? If you do, are you telling them they're doing a good job? That's a principle of good organization.
I think it's important that you develop ways to let people know they're doing a good job.
V. 20 has the name of one man in this list of entire names that gets honorable mention. It says everybody did a good job, "Next to him, Baruch, son of Zabbai zealously repaired another section from the Angle to the entrance of the house of Eliashib, the high priest." Circle "zealously". That's the only descriptive term in the entire chapter. Everybody else did their work. Some people didn't do any work. But one guy enthusiastically did his work. Three thousand years later we know it, we know the name of that guy. We don't know what he did. Maybe he worked extra fast. Maybe he worked extra long hours, had an especially positive attitude. The point is if you want to be recognized in your work, just do what everybody else does but do it with enthusiasm. God notices enthusiasm. It's in the Bible. God notices whether I'm working and serving enthusiastically or not. Enthusiasm is the Greek word, that means "God possessed". That's what enthusiasm means. When you're possessed by God you're going to be enthusiastic.
Another interesting thing. Verse 12 "Shallum son of Hallohesh, ruler of the half district of Jerusalem, repaired the next section with the help of his daughters." I think that's special. In those days, women did not do men's work. They didn't carry bricks and mortar around. Women did certain things and men did certain things. Even if they did, women were never recognized in that culture. But Nehemiah recognized them. Credit to whom credit is due. He wasn't any chauvinist. He said, these girls were doing a good job. So he points them out for special recognition. Probably Shallum was a pretty smart man. He probably got all the help he wanted since his daughters were working on the wall... likely the young men on either side were more than happy to come help Shallum with his section of the wall.
Nehemiah is giving appreciation and recognition. I think this is the purpose of this chapter.
v. 5 "The next section was repaired by the men of Tekoa. [Tekoa was a hick town, a wide spot in the road. Nothing there.] but their nobles would not put their shoulder to the work under their supervision." It's interesting to me that three thousand years later everybody else is honored for what they did, but these guys are remembered for what they didn't do. What an epitaph! When these executives started making their excuses why they couldn't move brick and mortar do you think they had any idea how many people were going to know about it? Billions of Christians and believers over 3000 years knew that these guys coped out and did not do their job. Those guys blew it.
Nehemiah did not get up tight about these people. He did not worry about them. He said I'm going to focus on those that are working not on those that aren't working. The Bible shows Nehemiah had a list, but the most important thing is are you on God's list? One day when you get to heaven God's going to look at your list and see whether you were involved in His work or not.
Romans 14:12 "So that each one of us will give an account of himself to God." This verse scares me to death! The Bible says one day I'm going to give an account of my life to God for the direction of this church, how I served Him. All of us are. In Luke 16:2 it says God's going to call you into account for what you did with what you had. He is making a list -- just like Nehemiah had his appreciation list. God is keeping a record of my service and my stewardship. It really doesn't matter what anybody else thinks. Or who knows or who doesn't know. What matters is God knows. What will God say about me and my service for Him? Will he say, "Well done, good and faithful servant." Or "Why didn't you do more? What is your excuse?" What is God going to say about me or you?
1 Cor. 15:58 "Always give yourself fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain." God has not asked any of us to go build a wall. But He has asked every one of us to be involved in ministry for
Him. To be a Christian means to be called into the mission field. That doesn't mean everybody goes into a foreign land, or is a pastor, quits their job and works full time. But every Christian is called to serve, to minister. Your mission field is those in your realm of influence. A non serving Christian is a contradiction. He expects us to be involved in service.
Rom 12:4-8 "Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not have all the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We all have different gifts ... use them!"
What is my function in the body of Christ? Ask yourself that.
We all have different gifts that God has given us to function differently. Sometimes people use spiritual gifts as a cop out. "That's not my gift." So they won't do this or that. You ought to work in your area of interest. You ought to work where your spiritual gifts lie that is a fact. That ought to be your primary area of service. But God calls you to also work beyond your area of spiritual gifts. If you were to go back and read this list of guys -- men and women -- who built the wall, there is not one professional builder listed. None of these people were "gifted" to do it. There are pharmacists, jewelers, goldsmiths. These are people who work with their hands but they weren't afraid to go out there and get their hands calloused moving bricks and mortar. There were business men, merchants, white collar people who were not afraid to get out and help on the wall.
Every weekend here we have to set up and take down. Somebody has to do that. Chairs, tables, media, sound...
I commend you, I appreciate you
Notice there are three kinds of work in Nehemiah 3. There were those who did no work, there were those who did some work, and we know that there was one guy who did enthusiastic work. God notices all three kinds. He noticed those who weren't doing zip! He noticed those who were doing their share. He noticed those who were going above and beyond their call of duty and doing it enthusiastically.
Which three describes your involvement in God's work? Where is my part "on the wall" of God’s Kingdom?
Everybody needs encouragement. Everybody needs to feel appreciated and needed.
This is the primary purpose of this chapter - encourage and appreciate
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