Rebuilding Home: 13 Days in NehemiahIsampula

Are you better at dealing with people or things?

A family is comprised of things and people. For example, a family must live in a physical home. In that home, the family members have relationships. One without the other is not a healthy or safe family. What is true of a family is true of God’s church family.

A good leader knows how to steward both things (e.g., finances, real estate, technology, equipment) and people (e.g., relationships, leadership culture, team dynamics, organizational health). In family systems, this would be the difference between the home, calendar, and budget that the family lives within and the interpersonal communication and relationships between family members. Both matter greatly.

Thus far in Nehemiah, we have seen him working mainly on things (like fundraising, legal documents, stone stacking, wall building, gate hanging, security, and public relations). With much of that work now complete, his focus shifts to people and how to welcome them to the city and church, care for them, teach them about God, and help them build healthy families and interpersonal relationships along with Ezra (to learn more, read the book of the Bible bearing his name). Simply stated, Nehemiah goes from working on the organization he leads to working in the organization.

As a leadership lesson, Nehemiah starts with leaders who will then build teams to pursue their part of the mission. These leaders and working teams include:

•Gatekeepers – overseeing parts of the city as geographical leaders to care for the people in the church when they scatter throughout the week

•Singers – leading God’s people in corporate worship when they gather together

•Levites – essentially pastors and ministry leaders with trustworthy assistants who care for people, helping them mature in their relationship with God and others.

Two primary leaders who oversaw these teams reported directly to Nehemiah – Hanani and Hananiah. Hananiah oversaw the security of the city and church. In a church, Hanani would be like an executive or campus pastor, and in the business world, he would be like the chief financial officer or vice president. This man was Nehemiah’s brother, who had been with him from the beginning of the project (1:1-2). He was chosen because he was a godly man who had proven himself through the entire project and could be trusted not to undermine Nehemiah or be turned negative by enemies. The leadership principle here is that the most empowered leaders must have long seasons of testing before they are given the authority to lead other leaders and teams or, in the words of the New Testament, be “tested and approved.”

In addition to leaders, Nehemiah also began leading through policies to govern the people and ensure their well-being. These policies included setting the times at which the doors to the city could be open, setting security guards on duty, and preparing the people for the growth of the city and church. As an organization grows, the leader begins to lead less through personal contact and more through appointed assistant leaders and policies so that things do not bottleneck relationally at the senior leader. For some people, these changes can be difficult because they feel displaced, no longer having direct access to the senior leader. Still, it’s the only way to lead a growing organization.

Having completed the wall and establishing leadership to care for people in the city and church, the stage was now set for an influx of people and their conversion to the God of the Bible. The leadership principle here is that a leader labors to establish a world of facilities, leaders, care, and systems that can then welcome, evangelize, and disciple people. The people God brought into the city and church are listed in this chapter of Nehemiah because everyone is known and cared for by God.

After finishing the wall surrounding the city of Jerusalem in just 52 days, people are finally allowed to inhabit the city, which had previously lay in ruins for 141 years. Most of Nehemiah 7 is a repetition of the same list of people mentioned in Ezra 2:1–64. While many commentators skip this section of inspired Scripture, it shows to us how much of ministry revolves around caring for multitudes of people and stewarding money and other assets.

While we are not well-informed of each of these leaders, Scripture does tell us that Zerubbabel was a prominent civic leader and that Jeshua (or Joshua) was a noted religious leader from whom descended 14 successive generations of high priests. Both men figure prominently in the minor prophets Haggai and Zechariah.

This lengthy list is of regular people who returned to the city to worship God. The equivalent of this list today is simply those who are Christians and living their faith at your church and the churches around you.

Nehemiah lists just over 4,000 priests who were descendants of Moses’ brother Aaron. Listed with them are the Levites, who descended from one of the 12 patriarchs in Genesis and assisted the priests in doing the pastoral work of caring for people.

The singers who lead worship in the city are referenced at least 18 times in Nehemiah. In this, we see the importance of musical worship and production, including singing among God’s people.

The gatekeepers were leaders chosen to oversee the various neighborhoods in the city where the gates were located. Through these gates, people would pass in and out of the city as these gates served in a very real way as a door into the Old Testament church where God could be met and worshipped.

While the priests ministered like pastors thanks to the help of the Levites, who were in some ways like supportive ministry leaders, the Levites were also assisted by the temple servants and sons of Solomon’s servants. These servants worked faithfully, much like the most fruitful members of a church.

There was also a list of people who arrived in Jerusalem claiming to be religious leaders and members of prominent families. However, their claims could not be proven, so they were not put into leadership without God’s confirmation. There are always going to be people who position themselves as spiritual leaders, but unless their claims can be verified, they should not be empowered to lead. Just because someone led in another place does not mean they are ready to lead somewhere new until they are known, proven, and invited.

The city and church quickly grew very large. To fund all the ministries, God's people generously gave a great deal of money. Thankfully, the people not only gave generously but so did the wealthiest people who were able to underwrite a great deal of the urban ministry expenses with gifts as large as what would be millions of dollars in today’s terms. Everyone gave, and those who made more gave more.

Lastly, in this chapter, we learn many principles about God and people, including the following:

1. God made people and saved people because, in His mercy, He cares for us.

2. God knows us by name and keeps a record of His people (see also Jesus’ words in Luke 10:20).

3. God cares for His people through leaders and systems.

4. God appoints all of His people to serve the well-being of their church and city in some way.

5. It is good for a church/ministry to seek to grow by welcoming and serving more people.

6. A growing organization must mature and change to remain healthy and effective.

7. God being worshipped by His people in all things is the reason we were created and the source of our joy.

8. God being worshipped includes us generously contributing to funding ministry.

Question:

Are you better at stewarding things or people?