Upon finishing the wall for the city in just 52 days, Nehemiah wisely considers how best to populate the city in order to prevent other peoples from laying siege. We may learn three key principles of leadership from today's passage, which dovetail well with Pastor Scott's teaching from this morning.
1. Select leaders based on their character.
"After the wall had been rebuilt and I had set the doors in place, the gatekeepers and the singers and the Levites were appointed. I put in charge of Jerusalem my brother Hanani, along with Hananiah the commander of the citadel, because he was a man of integrity and feared God more than most men do." (Nehemiah 7:1,2)
Paul mentioned a similar streak in Timothy (Philippians 2:19-23), stating: "I have no one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ." Integrity is one key facet of a broader quality, character.
Finding and teaming with men and women of character is challenging. As the body of Christ, we have responsibility for building and nurturing others in the faith and in their ministry -- through family, work, the neighborhoods, softball teams, or wherever God would lead us. As Pastor Scott mentioned this morning, Jesus's call to His followers is to "make disciples," and this discipleship clearly involves building strong character.
We can build integrity into our lives and those of others in several ways. We must believe that God's directives are indeed good and useful, stemming from His loving concern for His children. We must become "alert and self-controlled" in light of God's call on our lives (1 Thessalonians 5:5-8). In this alertness, we then gain a hunger for God's Word and truth and will find ourselves like "a tree planted by streams of water,/ which yields its fruit in season/ and whose leaf does not wither./ Whatever he does prospers." (Psalm 1:1-3) Finally, the transformational work of the Holy Spirit and His revelation of truth causes renewal: "Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator." (Colossians 3:9,10)
In order to continue making progress in character growth, we must be willing to make and solicit honest assessments of where we stand. Whom can you seek out for character training? We may have confidence in this character growth, recognizing that God Himself desires our holiness (1 Peter 1:17).
2. Take great care to observe before jumping to conclusions. Nehemiah's recommendations for the people came through his intimate knowledge for and love of Jerusalem. He understood the city's vulnerabilities and wanted to take steps to secure the city. He didn't celebrate the people's accomplishment of building the wall by dropping his guard, but rather redirected their efforts towards long-term security.
3. Remain open-hearted and sensitive to God's leading. Nehemiah receives guidance from the Father because of his ongoing connection with Him. The same heart that had prayed before addressing the King remained in Nehemiah through the success of building the wall. May we all be sensitive to God's leading and be able to join Nehemiah in stating: "So God put it into my heart to... " (Nehemiah 7:5a)
QUESTIONS
1. Have you recently taken inventory of your character? What did you find?
2. How can you become more observant in this coming week?
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