Feast on the Meat of God's Word!

Steak and Crab Legs

Sometimes you can read a biblical passage and it's like you're devouring a delicious steak at Applebee's; the meat (being the principles of the passage) is right there in front of you, and you can eat it up without much work involved. Other times, however, you can read a biblical passage and it's like you're feasting on crab legs; you have to work to get to the meat, but when you finally crack it open and pull the meat out, it's oh so delicious! (Pardon the analogy if you don't like crab legs, but I love them!) Perhaps Nehemiah chapter three is of the crab leg variety of biblical passages, because unlike chapter two (which basically exudes easy-to-spot principles that are just waiting to jump right off the page at you as you read), the meat of the third chapter is somewhat hidden under a layer of crust that needs to be cracked.

Nehemiah Chapter Three - A Crab Leg Delight

Nehemiah chapter three is entitled, "Builders of the Wall," wherein a long list of builders (including their names, their professions, and where they are from) is supplied. I believe most people might be quick to skip over this chapter in their reading of Nehemiah, or at best they skim over it quickly so they don't feel guilty later, when they're telling someone about how they have read the 'entire' Bible from cover to cover. Ha! However, believe it or not, passages like these are placed in the Bible for a purpose, including those long boring lists of genealogies and such, and often times the meat (principles) can be found once you've done a little 'digging'. Sometimes the 'digging' process doesn't even have to mean using commentaries, Hebrew/Greek word studies, and Bible dictionaries (although I highly recommend the use of these aids as often as you can, when necessary). Sometimes 'digging' simply means reading the passage, focusing on what it is revealing, and then asking, "Why is this piece of information included? What can I possibly take away from this?"

Spiritual Leaders
With that in mind, let's take a look at Nehemiah chapter three. Let's think about it, make a few cracks in the crust, and devour the delicious meat within! For instance, notice how the chapter begins by talking about the role of the priests. The priests are mentioned first; they "went to work and rebuilt the Sheep gate ... set its doors in place, building as far as the Tower of the Hundred ... and as far as the Tower of Hananel" (vs.1). If we think about this passage, we clearly see that the priests (the spiritual leaders of the time) did not consider themselves too 'spiritual' or too 'important' to put their hands to work along with those of whom they spiritually led. This is a principle that can certainly be applied today, where too often spiritual leaders have big egos, enormous pay checks, and absolutely no aptitude for doing things that they have come to feel is beneath their status as a spiritual leader. These same people may be quick to tell others what needs to be done, but then not so quick as to help do the very work they speak of. However, the priests in Nehemiah's time walked the talk! They were the first mentioned among those who labored in the building of the wall. They must have realized that spiritual leaders (like themselves) could not rightly lead anyone to do what they were not willing to do first. This is a principle that we should all adhere to, as we lead others. Every time we challenge our followers, whether we're their teacher, their deacon, their pastor, their youth pastor, their mentor, their parent, their friend, their role model, or simply their brother or sister in Christ, we should make sure that we are willing to put our own hands to work first so that our actions will confirm what we say, and then our actions will compel and inspire our followers more than words ever could.

A Few Other Principles

Chapter three contains other principles. Take for instance the fact that great effort is taken to list everyone involved in building the wall. (1) Just as 1 Corinthians 12 explains, "everyone" is useful and needed in the family of God; we should all be a part of what God is doing, and each of us should build our part of the wall. (2) Nehemiah reveals how people from all kinds of professions helped build the wall, including perfume makers, jewelers, merchants, and others! This principle reveals that no matter your profession, as glorified or as menial as you think it might be, there is a place for you to work alongside everyone else in the kingdom of God. Kingdom work is not reserved just for the priests and spiritual leaders! (3) Nehemiah mentions those few who refused to partake in building the wall (vs. 5). The nobles of Tekoa would not "put their shoulders to the work." This little fact reminds us that in every church, youth ministry, community, family, and situation in which God is using people to do a great work for his glory, there will always be those among us (even inside our own camp) who are at odds with the mission. For whatever reason, these nobles did not want to participate, possibly because they felt the work was beneath them (as elite members), or they didn't agree with the plans, or they wanted to be in charge (and yet, as the passage makes clear, they were not the supervisors). But no matter the reason, notice what didn't happen as a result of their lack of participation. - Nehemiah and the gang did NOT battle with them, take them to court, or try to force their hand in the situation. Having done so might have stirred up a mess and thwarted the mission altogether. Instead, these few were apparently overlooked and ignored as the mission went forward. This is a principle we can apply to our own situations. Instead of fighting it out and bickering with those who are not on the band wagon, concerning God's work in a particular situation, we would do well to overlook them (as far as their inactivity goes) and continue moving forward with those whom God has provided to carry out his mission.

The Dung Gate

While there are several other principles that can be extracted from Nehemiah chapter three, I don't want to belabor this posting by trying to list them all (as you can no doubt discover them for yourself as you study the passage, crack the crust, and pull out the meat). However, I feel as though I would be remiss if I did not conclude this posting with perhaps my favorite principle from this passage. It involves the construction of the Dung Gate, made by "Malkijah son of Recab, ruler of the district of Beth Hakkerem" (vs 14). Malkijah, to whom I will henceforth refer to as "The Man" (because he was "The Man," in the cool sense of that term, and because I won't even pretend I know how to pronounce his real name), constructed a gate that was used solely for taking trash and refuse out of the city to be burned. In the Hebrew, the word "Dung" literally means "ash heap". 'The Man' could not have had a less glorified task in the building of the wall, and yet he no doubt did his duty without complaint. Moreover, he was a district ruler's son, and yet he did not go about asking to construct the prestigious main entrance gate that was within proximity to a beautiful water fountain. He was content to build the gate near the trash, the ashes, and the rotten odors, and I'm sure he took pride in his work just like every one of the other builders. The principle we can pull from this passage is simply this: Let's not be too eager to serve in the glorified positions, as those of lesser glory are equally valuable and just as needed! Just imagine if 'The Man' had refused to rebuild the Dung Gate or failed to complete it because it wasn't the most special and glorified place to be building; no doubt the city would have been vulnerable to attack from enemies, and trash would probably have begun to make its way into the city with no clearly defined gate and walls marking where the burning was to take place. 'The Man' knew that the Dung Gate and portion of the wall was just as important as the other more glorified areas of the wall. Too often, we forget this is true today; we forget that stuffing pews with literature, handing out bulletins, making phone calls, cleaning the church, taking care of babies, greeting visitors, visiting the elderly in nursing homes, and a million other duties that are perceived to be menial are just as important and necessary as those tasks that are perceived to be more glorified, like preaching, singing in the praise band, and teaching a Bible study. Like 'The Man,' we need to do whatever the task God sets before us, whether glorified or not, and we should do it to the best of our ability, as unto the Lord. (Who's 'The Man?' Are you?)

Seven Traits of a Great Leader (2/2)

5. Leaders inspire people to do what they should do because they want to do it! (Neh 2:18B) I believe I stole this little saying (above) from someone like John Maxwell, although I can't remember - but it's true nevertheless, and Nehemiah was certainly a man who demonstrated this kind of leadership. After Nehemiah cast his vision, which included the full report, the people responded, "Let us start rebuilding!" The people responded in the affirmative because they "wanted" to do what they "should" do! Too often, vision casters try to guilt and bribe people to jump on their bandwagons! These tactics usually don't get people motivated to act, and (if they do) people who are motivated by guilt or bribery normally won't stick in there and finish the job. Nehemiah was the kind of leader who expected people to see his heart and join his cause because it was the right thing to do, and so he didn't find it necessary to guilt them or bribe them. Moreover, Nehemiah knew that God played the biggest role in motivating people to act according to His will, and so any efforts to guilt or bribe people would have only underminded God's divine plan. Let's stop placing people through guilt trips and/or bribing them with false hopes and rewards, and let's share our hearts with those we lead and trust God to produce good and solid motivation within them! That's what Nehemiah did!
6. Leaders will experience opposition! (Neh 2:19) Nehemiah, as with anyone who takes a stand and follows after God, faced opposition from the the very early stages of his missionary endeavor and all throughout! Those who think they are leading (in a godly fashion) and who do not occasionally have to weather opposition are actually not leading at all, because opposition is inevitable! How we respond and react to opposition is of paramount importance if we, like Nehemiah, are going to lead successfully! This leads us the next and final point:
7. Leaders know it is God (not themselves) who supplies the power to overcome opposition! (Neh 2:20) Nehemiah was no fool; he knew that God was the author, maintainer, and finisher of this whole rebuilding project that God was using him to head-up. Therefore, when opposition began to show its ugly head, Nehemiah immediately invoked the authority of God and declared that success would come from Him! Notice that Nehemiah didn't make the battle a personal one; he knew the opposition was a matter that wasn't so much about him as it was about God and His plans. Often times, leaders will make a mission and endeavor about them instead of God, and so opposition brings those leaders to get a big head and seek to defend themselves and their pride, ultimately hindering or crushing the mission altogether. Nehemiah wasn't about to let that happen! Instead, he proclaimed who was really in charge of the mission! This reminds me of David when he was ridiculed by Goliath; like Nehemiah, he didn't retaliate on a personal level, but instead he proclaimed that success would come from God rather than himself! Let us be like Nehemiah and David, and let us remember and proclaim who is the force behind the mission's success, lest we allow the opposition to get a foothold as we make the mission about ourselves!

Seven Traits of a Great Leader (1/2)

Nehemiah was an exceptional leader! My students are learning all about him on Wednesday nights as we look at the book of Nehemiah in a chapter-by chapter and verse-by-verse expository fashion. (By the way, if you want to be a part of this intense Bible study, you can find us in the youth suite upstairs from 6:30-7:30PM every Wednesday - The Village Baptist Church). We just finished studying the second half of Nehemiah chapter two last night. As I had been preparing for my lesson regarding this section, seven distinct leadership traits jumped right out at me. Listed below are these seven leadership traits that Nehemiah exhibited; they are traits that we all would do well to learn from and emulate.
1. Leaders take care of the small things! (Neh 2:11) - Notice that Nehemiah didn't begin casting his vision from the very moment he arrived in Jerusalem. He didn't immediately start pointing and barking orders to those who would ultimately help rebuild the city. Instead, when he reached Jerusalem, Nehemiah stayed there three days before making what we would consider a "big" move towards his ultimate mission. No doubt he was visiting with his family, forming necessary relationships with important people, and getting his feet on the ground before stepping out to take care of the "big" stuff. Moreover, notice that Nehemiah had already begun taking care of the smaller things even before he left for Jerusalem. He secured safe travel and building supplies from King Artaxerxes before his trip was even underway. Nehemiah, unlike many of us sometimes, must have surmised that "taking care of the little things" was a very needed and important step in the process of accomplishing some pretty big goals. Too often, we tend to want to overlook the small details and jump right into a ministry task head over heals, and then we learn what a terrible mistake we made later. Let's learn to be like Nehemiah and take care of the small things!
2. Leaders know who they can trust! (Neh 2:12) When Nehemiah set out to observe the destruction of the city, notice that he was accompanied by only a "few men." The text doesn't even tell us that any of these men were members of his own family. Apparently, Nehemiah understood that "trust" is of utmost importance, especially when you're about to lead a large group of people to do something incredibly huge and important in the eyes of God. Nehemiah didn't involve a lot of people (and maybe not his own family) in the earlier stages of his mission, and he knew that only a "few" trustworthy companions could know (and protect) the time-sensitive nitty-gritty details of his plan. More than that, the text seems to reveal that Nehemiah had even held-back much of the details from even those "few" that were with him. Far too often, we tend to jump the gun and spew details to everyone and their mama long before it's wise to do so. Unlike Nehemiah, we are sometimes willing to let our excitement and eagerness get the best of us, and our mouth's get us in trouble (pertaining to the details that we should have held close). We need to be like Nehemiah and learn who we can trust, and (at times) we need to keep some things just between us and God - until the right time to share with others has been made obvious.
3. Leaders take inventory before they take action! (Neh 2:12-16) Nehemiah knew what he wanted to do in Jerusalem. It was what he had prayed about. It was what he had been called to do. It was to rebuild the wall and restore the city! And yet, before casting his vision and getting his people to jump on the bandwagon, he took a personal inventory of the situation. He knew the walls had been destroyed and the city was in ruins; his brother had already told him that before he left the service of King Artaxerxes - but he nevertheless wanted to see the evidences first hand so he would know exactly what he was dealing with. Often times, we fail to show this kind of wisdom in our leadership endeavors. We sometimes begin to craft plans and recruit people before having our own complete understanding of what the situation will require. Like Nehemiah, we need to make every effort to gain a personal and full understanding of situations that we seek to change before we begin casting a vision and leading others where we have not been ourselves.
4. Leaders cast a vision - telling the full report! (Neh 2:17-18) Nehemiah had taken care of the small things. He had kept those close who he could trust. He had taken a personal inventory of the situation. And now came the time for him to cast a vision to God's people and release information that had been hitherto undisclosed. And so he did just that - and he included the bad information with the good! He started by telling the people the bad news: "You see the trouble and disgrace we are in! Jerusalem lies in ruins! It's destroyed! Everything has been burned up!" and then he began to solicit their action! But Nehemiah didn't stop there! After requesting that God's people join him on his mission to rebuild Jerusalem, he threw in the good news when it needed to be heard the most, as he explained how God had already been working on their behalf to get the building plans started! He even told them about how God had impressed the King give his blessings to the whole deal! Nehemiah didn't hold back the good news or the bad; he gave God's people the full report and requested that they join him! Sometimes, we're known to water down the report and tell people what they want to hear. We tend to leave out the bad news out of fear it might turn people away, and sometimes we leave out the good news out of fear people will jump on the bandwagon for the wrong reasons. Let's start leading like Nehemiah; let's give the full report when we cast the vision!