Today we're beginning a new series in the
book of Nehemiah called Where You Lead. It's
a series about -- you've probably already
guessed -- leadership. Specifically, your
area of leadership.
This series is about you. No matter who you
are, no matter where you are, no matter what
your circumstances, you are a leader. Some of
you are already actively engaged in leadership
at work, here at church, at home with your
family. Some here today are in the early stages
of leadership; God is preparing you to begin a
new phase of accomplishment. I'm also certain
that there are those here today who aren't
taking full advantage of your leadership
opportunities. You could be doing more, but
right now you're coasting just a bit. Regardless
of the current level of your involvement,
there's no question that you -- like all leaders
-- have room for growth and improvement.
Bill Hybels says that the greatest need in
the 21st century church -- not only in America,
but throughout the entire world -- is
leadership. That's true of this church: we
already have some great leaders in place, but
the fact is that we need more. We always need
more. This is also true of every business, every
volunteer organization, every sports franchise,
every political ideology, and every family.
The greatest need in this generation is for
gifted, well-trained, committed, competent
leaders. That's why we'll be spending the next
several weeks in Nehemiah -- because Nehemiah is
the ultimate leadership handbook. It's the story
of a man who came from humble beginnings to
accomplish great things for the glory of God --
and he was able to recruit thousands of others
to share his vision, and to risk their time,
their money, their personal comfort and even
their personal safety to help Nehemiah pursue
the dream God had laid on his heart. In Nehemiah
we see what it takes to be a great leader.
Here's the backstory. The events of Nehemiah
take place beginning in 446 B.C. About 140 years
earlier, Jerusalem had been attacked by the
Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar. The temple was
destroyed, the walls of the city were torn down,
and tens of thousands of Israelites were taken
to Babylon as slaves.
Over the years, as new kings came to power,
many of the Jewish slaves were allowed to return
to Jerusalem. Jerusalem, which had been left in
shambles after the invasion, slowly began to be
restored. People were returning, building
houses, making commerce. The temple was rebuilt
and rededicated, and people began to worship
there. But all was not well. The walls of the
city were still a pile of rubble. This wasn't
good; a city without walls was practically an
invitation to be raided -- like leaving your
keys in the car with the windows rolled down
when you go to the mall. With no city walls,
Jerusalem was in a vulnerable position.
At this time, Nehemiah was a slave in
Babylon. We'll talk more about his position in a
few minutes, but right now I'll say he had a
pretty good life. He was a slave, true, but he
lived in the king's palace. One day his brother,
who had been to Jerusalem, visited Nehemiah and
began to tell him about the developments there.
Even though Nehemiah had never been to
Jerusalem, he had a strong emotional connection
to this city because it was his heritage, the
land of his ancestors, and, in his dreams, his
future home. When his brother told him that the
walls of the city had yet to be restored,
Nehemiah felt something stir deep within him.
Now, I'm about to give away the ending: he went
back to Jerusalem and he rebuilt the walls of
the city. He started from scratch, as a mere
slave, traveled hundreds of miles to a place
he'd never been before, analyzed the problem,
developed a strategy, recruited a team to help
him, gave oversight to the project, faced
criticism and death threats, and got the job
done. The book of Nehemiah tells how he did it;
that's why this book is such a great resource
for leaders. No matter where you are on the
leadership spectrum at this moment, you can
learn a lot from this man about how to get to
the next level.
Today we'll look at how Nehemiah got started
on his mission of rebuilding the walls in
Jerusalem. The first chapter of Nehemiah shows
us what it takes to be a leader; it shows us the
kind of person that God is willing to place in a
position of responsibility. The key word is
"willingness." You have to be willing to do
three things in order to become an effective
leader. What are they? First of all ...
1. You must be willing to become more than
you are.
In the last verse of chapter one, Nehemiah
tells us ...
(v. 11) I was cupbearer to the king.
What is a cupbearer? He's a taste tester.
He's the guy who drinks the king's wine before
the king drinks it -- so that, in case the wine
is poisoned, the cupbearer drops dead, not the
king. This was a job typically given to a slave
who was considered to be trustworthy. Nehemiah
was such as a slave. As the cupbearer, he was
close to the king; he enjoyed a comfortable
standard of living. He had a relatively easy
life -- so long as no one dropped any strychnine
in the wine. Being a slave, he didn't have a lot
of responsibility and he was not in a position
of authority; his job was simply to serve the
king in this one capacity.
Nehemiah could have lived the duration of his
life in this manner: living in the king's
palace, dining at the king's table. But it
wasn't enough for him. When he heard about the
disgrace of Jerusalem, his heart was stirred and
he decided to do something about it -- even
though he was just a slave ... even though he
had an easy life ... even though he had never
been to Jerusalem and the problems of this
ancient and far-off city didn't affect him
personally, he decided to get involved.
I want you to understand that anyone
can be a leader. Anyone can make a difference.
It doesn't matter how low you are right now on
the socio-economic scale, it doesn't matter how
limited you are in experience, education and
resources. You may be a slave whose primary
responsibility on the job is to die before your
boss does -- and yet, you can become a great
leader. If you are willing to become more than
you are right now, you are the kind of person
God can use.
J.C. Penny once said, "Give me a stock clerk
with a goal and I'll give you a man who will
make history. Give me a man with no goals and
I'll give you a stock clerk." Are you ready to
stretch yourself? Are you ready to become more
than you are today? This is a requirement for
greatness. It's not who you are today that
counts, it's who you're willing to become.
You remember the story of David and Goliath
-- how God used a simple shepherd boy to defeat
an enemy of the nation of Israel. That shepherd
boy eventually became the greatest king in
Israel's history and proved himself to be a man
after God's own heart. Even though everything
about his background and upbringing should have
prepared him for a life as a simple farmer,
David wanted so much more. And God wanted so
much more for David.
He wants so much more for you, too. If you're
willing to become more than you are today,
willing to prepare your heart in devotion to
God, willing to study, to learn what needs to be
learned, willing to save, willing to sacrifice,
willing to take chances ... willing to change
yourself ... if you are willing to become more
than you are today, God can use you.
Secondly, in order to be an effective
leader...
2. You must be willing to have a broken
heart.
Nehemiah's brother, Hanani, came to visit him
at the king's palace. He explained to Nehemiah
that the city of Jerusalem was in great trouble.
He said, "The wall is broken down, and its gates
have been burned with fire." Nehemiah cared
deeply about the city of Jerusalem, and about
his kinsmen living there. He didn't want
Jerusalem to fall into disgrace. In recent
decades some improvements had been made in the
Holy City, and it broke Nehemiah's heart to
think that those achievements could be undone by
an invading army. It broke his heart that no one
in the city had taken it on themselves to
oversee the rebuilding of the wall. It broke his
heart that thousands of people were living in
Jerusalem, oblivious to the danger, apathetic
towards their responsibilities as citizens,
helpless to get anything done. The Bible says...
(v. 4) When I heard these things, I sat
down and wept.
That's the broken heart I'm talking about.
Nehemiah cared so much about his people and so
much about his home, that the bad conditions
caused him to cry.
What makes you cry? What makes you sad? What
breaks your heart? When your team loses the
game? When your golf game gets rained out? When
you miss your favorite show? I want to encourage
you to think beyond that. Leaders are able to
identify some type of injustice -- some kind of
wrong that needs to be made right -- and it
tends to keep them up at night.
There are thousands and thousands of good
causes out there, but there is one that
especially touches your heart. It causes you to
say, "This isn't right. I can't ignore this any
longer." Bill Hybels says that leaders have
something called "Holy Spirit discontent." He
says, "There's something in their spirit that
they're unsettled about, something that really
bothers them." And they just can't seem to let
go of it.
About 50 years ago David Wilkerson was a
pastor in rural Pennsylvania. One night he came
across an article in Time Magazine about some
teen-aged gang members on trial for murder in
New York City. As he looked at sketches made by
the court-room, he was overwhelmed by the hate
in these young men's eyes. He couldn't ignore
it. He couldn't get it out of his mind. It broke
his heart.
David Wilkerson was a nobody. He was just a
country preacher from a tiny church, living in a
roach infested parsonage. He had no influence,
no resources at his disposal, he didn't even
have a decent car. But he couldn't stop thinking
about those kids. His heart was broken for them.
You probably know what happened. David
Wilkerson went to New York to share the gospel
with those boys. What eventually happened is
that he developed Teen Challenge, which later
became World Challenge, which is devoted to
reaching kids-at-risk throughout the world. He
also founded Times Square Church in New York
City, where more 8,000 people worship each week.
It started because his heart was broken over the
broken lives of some kids living in a ghetto in
another city, in another state.
God uses people who are willing to have a
broken heart. What breaks your heart? Do you
know yet? What's your cause? I'll tell you what
happens. It has a tendency to find you, much
more so than you finding it. There is a need out
there that God is calling you to devote your
time and energy to. It will stir your spirit, it
will ignite your soul, it will break your heart.
W. Clement Stone said, "When you discover your
mission, you will feel its demand." It gets
ahold of you and it doesn't let go.
In response to the news about Jerusalem,
Nehemiah said ...
(v. 4) For some days I mourned and fasted
and prayed before the God of heaven.
He just couldn't forget about it. He just
couldn't ignore it. He prayed, he fasted, he
cried. The more time he spent thinking about it
and praying about it, the stronger became his
resolve to do something. This brings us to the
next point. God uses those who are willing to
have a broken heart, but a broken heart --
intense feelings of compassion and concern --
are not enough.
3. You must be willing to be a catalyst.
John Maxwell uses this term, and I really
like it. He says that catalysts are people who
know how to get things done, and then some. He
also makes a great statement: "Catalysts are not
consultants. They don't recommend a course of
action. They take responsibility for making it
happen."
It's easy to identify problems. It's also
easy to propose a solution. "Someone needs to go
to these poor people and teach them how to make
more money and manage it a little better ...
someone needs to talk to these dropouts and tell
them to stay in school ... someone needs to
approach the lost people in our city and tell
them about Jesus Christ." It's easy to propose a
solution or to recommend a course of action.
Anyone can do it. But only a handful of people
are willing to make it happen themselves.
Catalysts are people who take responsibility.
They are people who say, "If not me, then who?
If not now, then when?" They're not content just
saying, "Ain't it awful." They say, "I've got to
do something. I'll take responsibility for
making this happen." That's what catalysts do:
they take responsibility.
It's what Nehemiah did. After days of fasting
and mourning and praying, he said ...
(v. 6) I confess the sins we Israelites,
including myself and my father's house, have
committed against you. We have acted very
wickedly toward you...
He's saying, "I'll take responsibility for my
actions, for my negligence, for the role I
played in this disaster..." He also said, "God
I'm asking you to make this situation right, and
use me to do it." He prayed...
(v. 11) "Give your servant success today
by granting him favor in the presence of this
man [the King]."
And from there, Nehemiah took action. He
poured his heart out to God, he approached the
king, he traveled hundreds of miles, he endured
opposition, he put in the long hours, he paid
the price ... and he made it happen. He got the
job done, and then some.
John Maxwell tells a story about a
businessman named Eugene Lang, was giving a
speech in 1981 to a group of 61 middle-schoolers
in New York city. He knew that, statistically,
75% of them would never graduate, so he gave
them the typical rah-rah stay in school speech.
But on the spur of the moment he decided to move
from being a consultant to being a catalyst. He
promised the students if they would finish high
school, he would pay their way to college. Six
years later, well over half the students were
able to take him up on that offer. Lang's idea
developed into the *I Have A Dream foundation,
sponsoring 160 projects in 57 cities. That's
what happens when you decide to be a catalyst.
You make things happen. You see results.
CONCLUSION
God uses people who are willing to be used.
That's the bottom line. That's where leadership
starts. It doesn't matter who you are right now;
it only matters who you're willing to become. It
only matters how much you're willing to care,
how much of your heart you're willing to give.
And it only matters how much you're willing to
do, to what extent you're willing to take
responsibility, and how far you'll go to make
things happen.
You can be the next Nehemiah -- in this
church, in this community, in your neighborhood,
in your family. You can lead in such a way that
you make things happen, that you restore what
was once destroyed, that you bring dignity back
to what has been devalued. God can use you to do
great things, if you're willing. Are you ready
to start?
_______________________________________
Unless otherwise noted, all scripture references in this message are
from The New International Version
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