Open your eyes. Name what’s broken. 

Younger generations are increasingly skeptical about church, religion, and spiritual matters. They hear us talking a lot about Jesus, but they don’t see us doing very much. Or they see us acting contrary to what we say we believe. And that dissonance furthers their disbelief. But that’s the thing about Nehemiah. His actions were a direct result of his faith. He walked out what he believed. And the truth is that our world is in desperate need of more Nehemiahs–men and women who believe strongly and who do justly. The world needs to see those people because it’ll inspire them to pursue that kind of living for themselves. 

The news of the city’s condition probably wasn’t an easy thing for Nehemiah to hear. But problems and issues won’t go away if we ignore them, and if we can’t name what’s broken, we can’t fix it. Nehemiah learned that his hometown was in trouble. The city was in such a poor condition that the people were vulnerable. Their security and safety were threatened. They were living every day in fear of how they would survive. Their belief in God was at stake.

As the Church, it’s necessary for us to experience wake-up calls every once in a while. It’s easy to get so comfortable in our own context and community that we don’t realize what’s going on outside of it. We forget what’s happening to other people when it’s not happening to us. Bad news can be paralyzing. And our defense mechanisms may kick in and compel us to look away. But if the Church ignores the problems that are happening in our communities, then we will forfeit the right to have influence in those communities. 

After he appealed to the King, and gathered resources for the people in Jerusalem, Nehemiah left his comfort zone and went to Jerusalem in person. He wanted to see it for himself. He had to ride around the walls at night. He had to examine the situation up close and personal. He had to meet and dialogue with leaders before he could actually lead them to do anything. You know why? Proximity always changes your perspective.

If we don’t see and understand what’s really going on in the lives of kids, teenagers, families, and communities as a whole, then we’ll never develop the empathy required to lead and it will limit our effectiveness. That wasn’t Jesus’ way. He was more than willing to step into another person’s context. That’s why He stepped out of heaven, put on flesh, and lived as a man. His eyes were opened to the problem. He was naming what was broken. And He fixed it. Our job as believers is to do like Jesus did. That’s what Nehemiah was doing.