A Leader Must Overcome Fear of Man
As Nehemiah became more successful in his assignment, the opposition became more personal!! This is how the enemy works. First he starts out by discouraging your work, but ultimately if you keep moving in the right direction, the attacks will be against you and your character!! Nehemiah’s enemies, Sanballat, Tobiah, and Geshem tried to meet with him. This is what he did:
So I sent messengers to them, saying, “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down. Why should the work cease while I leave it and go down to you?” Nehemiah 6:3
When he refused four times, they sent a letter accusing him of rebellion and that his actions were going to be reported to the King. Nehemiah sent the following message:
Then I sent to him, saying, “No such things as you say are being done, but you invent them in your own heart.” Nehemiah 6:8
I love this man!! He knows who he is and what he is about. The enemies’ badgering or accusation wasn’t going to move him from doing what he needed to do. He didn’t even feel the need to defend himself. He could have at least sent a letter to the King making sure the king understood his intent and heart, but Nehemiah didn’t. He continued to do his work on the wall and ignoring his enemies. He did not give any weight to their false accusations and didn’t let them intimidate him.
Later on Shemaiah another enemy came in sheep clothing. He was acting like he was trying to help Nehemiah because of false accusation and suggested for them to hide in the temple. This was not only unlawful for Nehemiah to do but also it would look like he had done something wrong. Again Nehemiah refused to go along with that suggestion.
The fear of man will be tested in a leader’s life. A leader will have to learn not to succumb to man’s opinion of him/her. Daniel, Joseph, and Jesus had to face this. A leader cannot accomplish God’s assignment if he/she is distressed about false accusations, intimidation, or man’s acceptance. That doesn’t mean that as a leader we become insensitive to people’s needs, but we must differentiate between the different voices in our lives. Peter and Judas both criticized Jesus, but one was out of immaturity and presumption and the other one was out of rebellion!!
Enemies come in different forms. Sometimes, in the form of envy and jealousy discouraging you to finish the work. Sometimes, in the form of intimidation, accusation, or even help. A man or woman of God must be discerning of who is speaking in their lives and consider the source of the information.
A Good Leader Is a Good Delegator
As soon as the walls were built, Nehemiah started assigning people to various roles needed to restore life in this city. He assigned gatekeepers, singer and Levites to their posts. He placed his brother, Hannani to be in charge of Jerusalem. He explained Hannani was a “faithful man and he feared God more than many”. Those are good qualifications for leadership. He wasn’t just doing it because he was his brother, but because he was the right man for the job.
A Leader Is a Willing Reformer
A leader cannot be afraid of change and reformation when necessary. A leader is placed there as God’s representative. That means when someone or something is not effective anymore, then either correction or change needs to be made.
Over a period of time, Nehemiah found out that one of the priests had allied himself to Tobiah, an enemy. Nehemiah was not afraid of throwing out all of Tobiah’s belongings and cleaning everything out . He also brought back Levites whose portion was not given to them. He appointed treasurers over the storehouse who were faithful to care for the storehouse and the needs of the people.
Nehemiah performed other reforms where he had to rebuke people, contend with some, and pressure them to change. He was a relentless leader who had done much work to restore the city, and he wasn’t going to allow the compromise of some ruin what he and many others had worked so hard to accomplish.
Sometimes leaders are afraid of change because they know it can make one or more people unhappy with them. One of the difficult tasks of leadership is reformation because it produces new enemies and new friends!! A leader cannot be focused on the response of man to motivate or intimidate him to do the tough task regardless of the cost to the leader.
A Leader Is Performing to the Audience of One
Ultimately, everything a leader does must be done unto the Lord. There are many times that as a leader one can be alone in a situation and one may not even have a direct boss to report to. A leader must learn to encourage himself in the Lord. David was very good at that. Many of the Psalms is David’s communication with the Lord about his situation or his struggle. In the book of Nehemiah, he used the statement, “Remember me my God…” four times. It is clear that Nehemiah’s primary conversations were with the Lord. The Lord was his confidant. He desired to do what was right before the eyes of the Lord.
When Nehemiah was falsely accused of rebellion, he didn’t run back to the king to make sure the king still liked him or trusted him. He didn’t even seem concerned about losing his position as a cupbearer. Nehemiah honored the king and he was faithful to him, but I don’t believe he feared him. The only fear that Nehemiah speaks about having is the fear of the Lord. He knew that even the King was used as an instrument by God to give him favor. It wasn’t the king who ultimately had the power to save him or protect him or his position, it was the Lord.
Nehemiah’s type of leadership is hard to find. Many people look at leadership as a job or a position. Some try to find the formula for success or promotion. Leadership becomes about the person rather than a weighty assignment from the Lord. In order to do the weighty assignment, sacrifice and loneliness is part of the process. Nehemiah is a great example of a man who loved and feared God, and he loved people. God used this man in a mighty way because he was willing to endure hardship, accusation, and loneliness for the sake of the call.
Let’s pray for ourselves and our leaders that God would continue to shape us and enlarge our vision to be Nehemiah type leaders. Imagine how a church, a business, a city, a state, or a nation would look like if we had Nehemiah type of leaders leading the people!!