Rally the troops.

There is a turning point in the story of Nehemiah that happens at the most critical stage of the rebuilding of Jerusalem. They’re half-way through with the construction when everything begins to pile up at once—verbal attacks, threats, skepticism, complaints, and rumors. The morale and attitude of the people began to shift. With an enemy right outside the gates intimidating them, the people began to panic. And fear, as we all know, is contagious. 

That’s when Nehemiah did a genius thing. He rallied families and parents to assume a new level of responsibility. He posted whole families to the guard, armed them, and encouraged them to fight hard for the people standing with them. Suddenly their resolve shifted. They weren’t just working for neighbors and strangers. It was on them to protect Jerusalem because protecting Jerusalem meant protecting their husbands, wives, sons, daughters, brothers, and sisters.

In that one move, Nehemiah re-casted the vision in a way that became personal to everyone. It was no longer about rebuilding the community or demonstrating who God is for a faceless generation. It was about their sons and daughters. When Nehemiah rallied the parents, it was game-changer.

The enemy decided not to attack because parents stood in the gap, and when you are protecting your family, you face the enemy with a different kind of passion. If we can craft our vision as a church in a way that inspires every parent to understand what’s really at stake for their children, it will change the momentum of our churches. It will change the momentum of our communities. 

The condition of the city was related to the condition of the people’s faith. Nehemiah was fighting for so much more than a building project. This is true for us today—maybe even more true when our kids and students are facing the kinds of threats that people in Nehemiah’s day might not have been able to imagine. What they see with their eyes has a direct correlation to what they believe in their hearts. They need to see a better story. They need to learn how to trust from their parents and guardians, how to trust in God and walk in that truth.

But we can't change how parents see our church unless we are willing to change how we see parents. It’s our job to rally them in the fight for their children. This is the mission of God—to reconcile the lost back to Him. If parents understand that, they’ll join in that fight. And an informed, engaged, willing-to-battle kind of parent is one that the enemy is afraid of.