I read a small book many years ago on pastoring the small church. The author said, “Most pastors are not overworked, they are under-organized.” Maybe that is the way you feel about your life: “I am overworked because I am under-organized.” Nehemiah’s leadership in chapter three could help remedy that problem.
Nehemiah Three is not a Hebrew Phone Book of hard-to-pronounce names. It is what OT scholar Howard F. Vos calls “an incredible feat of organization” (Bible Study Commentary: Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. Grand Rapids: Zondervan Publishing House, 1987, p. 96).
Nehemiah puts on his hard hat and gives us a guided tour of his work site: The reconstruction of 2 miles of the broken-down walls of Jerusalem. He focuses on the ten gates that were under construction. The gates would be the first place enemies would enter the city.
Rebuilding the Walls of Jerusalem was not just a material building project; it was a spiritual accomplishment for the glory of God. Listen again to Nehemiah challenge God’s people just before the rebuilding began in 2:17. Jerusalem was the City of God. The walls down around God’s city were a reproach to God’s name.
Nehemiah starts at the North Wall at the Sheep Gate and the Fish Gate in 3:1-5 and moves counterclockwise describing the 41 workstations. You can see a picture of the wall of Jerusalem at preceptaustin.org. (click to view).
Thomas Constable at netbible.org discusses two views on the size of the wall:
According to the maximalist view, the two-and-one-half-mile wall would have enclosed about 220 acres. According to the minimalist view, the wall would have been two miles long and enclosed about 90 acres. I think there is better support for the minimalist position. The hill of Ophel (lit. swelling or bulge) was the site between the temple area and the City of David (cf. 2 Chron. 27:3; 33:14). (Yamauchi, “Ezra-Nehemiah,” p. 692.)
Next, he describes the West Wall in 3:6-13 with the Old Gate and the Valley Gate
The South Wall is next talked about in 3:14-27 and the Dung Gate and Fountain Gate.
Finally, Nehemiah completes his tour in 3:28-32 of the East Wall and the Water Gate, Horse Gate, East Gate, the Inspection Gate, and then ending where he began with the Sheep Gate.
Here are the Six Marks of Leadership:
1. He/she shows concern for God’s Work (Nehemiah 1:1-4)
2. He/she prays for God’s people (Nehemiah 1:5-11)
3. He/she follows his leader (Nehemiah 1:11-2:8)
4. He/she motivates his followers (Nehemiah 2:9-20)
5. He/she organizes his work (Nehemiah 3:1-32)
I went to an AWANA Conference in Charlotte, NC, and there were 800 AWANA workers in attendance and only 10 pastors. Was that good or bad that there were only 10 pastors there? It was neither good nor bad. What would have been bad had there been 800 pastors in attendance and only 10 AWANA workers. AWANA is a lay workers’ ministry. Nehemiah is a layperson leading laypersons to God’s will.
How do laypeople lead laypeople?
1) The Leader Divides the Work into Manageable Section
The two-mile wall was divided among 41 teams making what would have been a humanly impossible task for a few people workable.
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.
When you do start researching for your research paper? Now!
How do you read through Scripture in one year? You don’t procrastinate until December.
Who can you train to help you with your ministry or even to take over your ministry starting now?
2) The Leader Delegates Responsibility and Authority
D. L. Moody is credited with saying, “I’d rather get ten men to do the job than to do the job of ten men.”
Nehemiah delegated responsibility to those with a vested interest (3:1).
Nehemiah set leaders repairing the wall closest to their families or their ministries. He set the priests near the sheep which they offered up for sacrifices. John Maxwell advocates: Put people in their comfort and gift zone.
He also delegated to secure unity (3:2-5) “next unto him built.” That statement or its equivalent is mentioned 28 times. There was a 2-mile unbroken circle of unity. Of course, some did not help (3:5). The nobles from Tekoa “put not their necks to the work of their Lord.” This expression is like Jeremiah 27:12 of oxen that refuse to pull together in the yoke. Therefore, others had to do double duty (3:4, 21, 27, 30). As great a leader as Nehemiah was, not everyone followed him. This is a reality all leaders must face.
I have a pastor friend, who is a great leader and pastors one of the largest churches in his area. He made a candid admission. He said, “Over the past ten years I have had more people leave our ministry than who joined.”
James Montgomery Boice said “churches more than anything else resemble a football game played in a large stadium. There are eighty thousand spectators in the stands who badly need some exercise, and there are twenty-two men on the field who badly need a rest” (Nehemiah. Old Tappen: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1990, p. 68).
Nehemiah delegated according to nobler interest (3:7). These workers from Tekoa, Gibeon, and Mizpah did what was good for others more than themselves. If Jerusalem the capital falls to the enemies their cities will also go down. Tekoa was twelve miles south of Jerusalem. Gibeon and Mizpah were just a few miles northwest of Jerusalem.
I have heard church members say, “Why should I support the youth when I don’t have any young people participating?” We support the youth to train the next generation of leaders at your church! Also, to practice 2 Timothy 2:2.
Nehemiah delegated according to abilities (3:8-9).
Goldsmiths had soft hands for intricate work. Maybe they helped with the locks which were necessary to keep the enemies out (Enemies had already verbally attacked in 2:19).
Apothecaries or perfume makers, perhaps, about 2:00 in the afternoon when BO was at a peak, the apothecaries sprayed some cologne around to freshen the air. They served in their area of giftedness.
Rulers were not too good to get their hands dirty and rub shoulders with the hired help. I was on my way to chapel at BJU, and I saw the president, Dr. Bob, III, pick up off the sidewalk someone’s nasty Kleenex.
Nehemiah delegated to all, including women and children (3:12) and servants (3:13-14). He delegated to those who were willing to serve in less than glamorous ministries and unnoticed by man (3:13-14). I don’t want to ride on the back of the Garage Truck but I’m glad somebody does. Thank God for those members who clean the bathrooms so they don’t smell like a Porta-Potty on Sunday morning.
He delegated to those willing to do mundane tasks (3:26). The Nethinims from Joshua nine were water haulers. So Nehemiah put them next to the watergate. The people who make the first impression on our quests are our ushers and greeters. Not the choir, worship team, or the pastor.
Nehemiah delegated responsibility and authority. These 41 teams had 41 leaders. Apparently, Nehemiah did not micromanage. Becky and I once took a Concealed Weapons Class. When I am out of town or state, I want her to be able to protect herself in case of a home invasion. If we start packing heat we will let you know. Our instructor was really good. He did not demand we hold the pistol just like he held his. He also allowed us to make mistakes in the learning process. You shot at five, seven, and ten yards sometimes standing still, bending down and moving toward the invader, and backing away stepping over objects. At our first practice at 5 yards, one guy missed the entire target. Our instructor did not panic. By the end of the day, that guy improved and passed.
John Maxwell advocated a delegation principle: Decisions should be made at the lowest level. That is the leader should only be making the most difficult decision. The leader should delegate decision-making to those under him. This is the lesson Moses learned from Jethro in Exodus 18:22. Otherwise, Moses would have burned out (18:18). This is the decision the apostles made in Acts 6:1-6. The apostles saved their ministry which was the important ministry of preaching and praying. The result of this decision was “the word of God increased and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem” (6:7).
3) The Leader Recognizes His/her Workers
There are three kinds of material in Nehemiah:
Narrative makes up 36%
Prayers make up 11%
Lists of names make up 53%. Nehemiah listed the names of those who helped him in his task.
Leaders give credit to others
Nehemiah named and recorded 75 individuals listed forever in God’s Word. Nehemiah would have agreed with this statement, “Compliments by their very nature are highly biodegradable and tend to dissolve hours or days after we receive them---which is why we can always use another” (The Top Ten Mistakes Leaders Make, p. 63).
A Workers’ Apprechesion Banquet is very successful and biblical where the church can give honor to whom honor is due. My wife loves to write thank you notes. I think we have people in our church who do stuff for us just so they can receive a thank you note from my wife.
Leaders do not take credit for themselves. Whose name is conspicuously absent in chapter three? Nehemiah. Luke wrote both the Gospel of Luke to win Theophilus to the Lord and Acts as follow-up material on how to serve in the local church. Luke never mentioned his name.
Jim Collins in Good to Great analyzed eleven companies that went from good to great companies. Walgreens was a mediocre company for 40 years but took off in 1975 and outperformed all its competitors. There was no one reason but a combination. They stopped doing what was hindering growth. Ten out of the eleven grew their own leaders to take over as the next leader. They did not bring in outside CEOs. They had CEOs who were humble. There was no Lee Iacocca with big egos and personalities. Iacocca saved Chrysler from the brink of catastrophe “but in the second half of his tenure, Chrysler’s stock fell 31 percent behind the general market” (p. 29) because he became distracted serving on boards, writing books, etc. Collins’ Level 5 leaders were “quiet, humble, modest, reserved, shy, gracious, mild-mannered, self-effacing” (p. 27) and willing to take the blame for mistakes and take no credit for successes.
Leaders give ultimate glory to God (6:16). Contrast this to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4:30. After Nebuchadnezzar had completed one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the city of Babylon with its hanging gardens, he boasted, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for the house of the kingdom by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty?” Nebuchadnezzar shortly after that boast suffered a fall from leadership. The exact opposite of Nebuchadnezzar is Nehemiah and every God-honoring leader.