I have been working my way through the Bible on Wednesday nights for about 7 years and have made my way to the book of Nehemiah. The first 7 chapters of the book describe Nehemiah’s return to Jerusalem and his leadership in rebuilding the walls around the city. He was a remarkably effective leader for God’s people. Tonight, I identified twelve principles of effective leadership from his life and work. I thought some of you might find them interesting. I’m going to try to resist my temptation to make this a 3000 word post. I will list the principles with a few brief comments.
1) Operate on God’s agenda. (Nehemiah 2:12)
No great work of God ever originated in the human heart. God reveals his will and his plans to his people and calls them to be a part of what he has initiated. God is not obligated to bless my ideas, but calls me to submit my goals and ambitions to serve his agenda.
2) Bathe the work in prayer. (Nehemiah 1:4-11 and various others)
Not only does Nehemiah pray a beautiful prayer before he approaches Artaxerxes, but he continues to seek God’s power and presence in prayer throughout the work. Since God’s work can only be accomplished by his power, seeking him is essential.
3) Character is KEY! (Nehemiah 2:1-8)
When Nehemiah finally approached Artaxerxes, there was a level of trust and credibility that can only have been built through years of faithful service. And, as his work throughout the book reveals, he was a man of high integrity and character.
Everyone wants the big job, but without the character to match it, that big job becomes a curse. Character develops over time as we grow in Christ and weather hardships in his service. A big job plus a weak character usually equals big trouble.
4) Work inside the system. (Nehemiah 2:1-8)
The stories of the exilic era are instructive for us, living in an increasingly pagan and wicked culture. The heroes of this period were men who stood strong for what was right, but did so within the evil system. Daniel. His three friends. Esther (her story has some big questions, of course). Ezra. And of course, Nehemiah. He did not run away from Artaxerxes, but worked under his authority.
We are going to have to learn to work and minister in a pagan culture as they did.
5) Expect opposition; don’t be intimidated by it. (Nehemiah 2:9-10)
As soon as Nehemiah showed up to do his work, opposition came against him. If he was a typical Baptist preacher, he’d have probably started working his resume to find a new place where no one opposed him. And when opposition arose there, he’d move on again.
But in every episode of Scripture, when God was at work through someone that work would be opposed. There is always an enemy – generally a big and powerful one! Expect it. If you are doing God’s will, do not be intimidated or derailed by those who oppose you.
NOTE: It is important that we distinguish between opposition to God’s work and opinions that differ from our own. Just because someone disagrees with you does not mean that he opposes God. Too many preachers turn people with contrary opinions into enemies of the gospel.
6) Approach the work thoughtfully, carefully. Be prepared! (Nehemiah 2:11-16).
When Nehemiah first got to Jerusalem, he made a careful, private exploration of the problem – the broken down walls of the city. He took the time to carefully figure things out and formulate a plan. He was neither impetuous or impulsive.
7) Build consensus around the need and the plan (Nehemiah 2:17-18)
Nehemiah did not demand that the people of Jerusalem kneel before him and yield to his will. He did not bully or intimidate anyone to follow him. He laid out the need carefully, explaining the problem that needed to be fixed. He then proposed a solution which would fix the problem. And God motivated the people to get behind Nehemiah’s plan.
This is one of the most important principles I ever learned (from Henry Blackaby). If you operate on God’s agenda, he does the convicting and convincing. You do not have to manipulate, pressure, bully or intimidate anyone to agree with you. If you are on God’s agenda then God is behind it and will motivate and guide.
8) Share the work…and the credit. (Nehemiah 3)
There can be no glory hounds in the work of the Kingdom. We already have a King to whom all glory is due. And none of us is the Lone Ranger. None of us has superpowers. Successful leaders share the work with others and are careful to give credit to them for what they have done.
Nehemiah could have never done what Israel working together did.
9) Expect the power of God to overcome obstacles. (Nehemiah 4)
Sanballat, Tobiah and their allies did not give up after Nehemiah rebuffed them the first time. They continued to lay obstacle after obstacle against him and he continued to overcome those obstacles in the power of God.
We are not only surprised by obstacles, but often we fail to expect the power of God to overcome them. No Christian has the right to focus on his own resources and abilities when confronted by problems. We have the power of the Living God dwelling within us and working within our churches. His power is never even challenged by the obstacles we face.
10) Let God defend you. (Nehemiah 6)
Nehemiah’s opponents formulated a scheme to kill him, even enlisting a false prophet to aid them. By God’s grace, Nehemiah avoided the trap and went forward. Then he prayed that God would deal with his enemies. That is significant. He did not attempt to settle the score, but left room for God’s wrath.
“Vengeance is mine, I will repay.” That is what God says. Meting out justice is a divine right; one we have no right to usurp. We do not have to defend ourselves. Our Father in Heaven will watch over us and care for us when we are unfairly attacked.
11) The ends NEVER justify the means. (Nehemiah 5)
Ever!
Nehemiah was infuriated by the unjust treatment of people happening in Israel. He was involved in an important task, but the importance of that task did not justify injustice. People could not be sacrificed in the pursuit of the project.
12) Finish the work. (Nehemiah 6:15-7:4)
Perseverance is the key character quality of the great leaders of the Bible. They did not give up when things God hard. They continued to do what God had told them to do until the work was done.
Honestly, I wish I was more like Nehemiah!
Good study, Dave!
Mehemiah is a great book to follow for any leader. Dan Southerland wrote a good book called “Transitioning: Leading your church thru change” based on Nehemiah.
Dave,
I recently read a short article about using Nehemiah to teach lessons on leadership. I think it’s worth reading the whole article (it is rather short), but just in case you don’t, here’s the main argument:
“In the end, however, there is no indication that the author of Nehemiah was preserving and presenting his material so that readers could be instructed in leadership. Because of this, the authority of Scripture is not being tapped when leadership is taught from the book and life of Nehemiah.”
http://bbhchurchconnection.wordpress.com/2013/02/15/the-book-of-nehemiah-is-not-teaching-lessons-in-leadership/
Sorry, I didn’t finish my thought. My question to you is, “How would you respond to this argument?”
Perhaps it was not the intent. But Nehemiah was an effective leader and there were some reasons for that.
Was Nehemiah written as a leadership manual. No.
Did he do things as a leader that are worth emulating? Yes.
I guess the line I found most challenging was “Leadership is an important quality, one worth learning about, but one may just as well learn about it from the lives of Abraham Lincoln or John Calvin. There is no special merit in learning it from Nehemiah simply because his story is in the Bible whereas others are not.” I think there’s a lot of validity to what he says, especially when I consider the vast array of books out there that identify leadership and life principles from the Bible without delving into the the purpose of the passage or its… Read more »
I would not agree with that assertion. I look for patterns in leadership – in those who did great things for God in Scripture. I see certain patterns in Biblical leadership. These patterns may not be the primary point in any single passage, but that makes them nonetheless biblical patterns.
I don’t think that “principlizing” is an invalid way of applying a text, but I would argue against it being considered a way of interpreting a text, and I think that’s what the author was trying to get at.
The problem I see with the way “principlizing” is typically done is that it is typically presented as the main point of the passage and little to no effort is made to understand the passage in its larger context or purpose.
What you call “principlizing” is really just a form of application, is it not?
We do our exegesis, then our interpretation. Then we apply it. If you ignore exegesis to jump to “principles” you might get some messed up principles.
I consider this a form of application and presentation. If the underlying exegesis is accurate, so will the principles be.
Did I catch you not reading carefully? 😉
“I don’t think that “principlizing” is an invalid way of applying a text.“
Not sure what you mean.
You asked, “What you call “principlizing” is really just a form of application, is it not?”
I had already said that it was with, ““I don’t think that “principlizing” is an invalid way of applying a text.“
I wasn’t intending to disagree, just amplify.
Great word! Needed to read it today! Thank you.
Dave,
Great post. In point 6, I saw Nehemiah going through his evaluation of the situation and foreseeing its completion before saying anything to anyone. To me, that is wisdom in action. Once you see the outline from start to finish you can develop your plan and execute it in phases to accurately accomplish what you had envisioned. We must pray for wisdom for our leaders.
Great post, It amazes me how the greatest leader is also the greatest servant.
That could have been another point, Jess. Nehemiah served the interests of the people he led, not his own interests.
Great leadership principles, Dave. Thanks for the helpful post.
I think that if you see the Church as ‘the New Israel’ which has to maintain itself so that it can be a strong ‘sign to the nations’, that connects up to the stories of Ezra and Nehemiah. Ezra and Nehemiah restored to the people the information they had lost so that they knew who they were as a people. . . . we call this their ‘identity’ as a people. So it is that the Church must have a strong sense of its own identity in order to accomplish its mission to ‘Christify’ the world. To be open to… Read more »
I’ve always enjoyed John C. Maxwell on Leadership. I saved many of his articles that I receive via email monthly. Here is a summation of one called, “Principle-Centered Planning. Putting a plan on paper is easy; putting a plan into practice takes leadership. I trust these seven principles will aid your efforts to translate written plans into reality. Let’s review them: 1) The Principle of Passion 2) The Principle of Creativity 3) The Principle of Influence 4) The Principle of Priorities 5) The Principle of Flexibility 6) The Principle of Timing 7) The Principle of Teamwork Do you see these… Read more »
I’m less of a fan of Maxwell’s approach. Much more a fan a Henry Blackaby’s “Spiritual Leadership” principles. That book was one of my all-time favorites.
Didn’t Blackaby write one on Joshua? I’ve heard it was pretty good.
Didn’t read that. So far, I haven’t read something Blackaby wrote and not liked it.
I know Maxwell has commercialized Leadership, but he is gifted in that area. I think we can use his points to develop and hone our steps in leadership. I like Blackaby but have been influenced by others. I went through Henry Blackaby’s “Experiencing God” after I have heard John MacArthur’s and R.C. Sproul’s Attribute’s of God and didn’t have the same response. I guess it depends on who we hear first.
Identity is very important. A leader needs to instill identity in people. I can think of no worse doctrine to undercut the identity of Christians than Premillennialism of the Dispensational variety. Every Christian needs to know they stand on equal footing with all others who find reconciliation with God through Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile. The wall is gone, and God is no respector of persons.
This is a great list. My primary observation is that these qualities make a good leader, but simply following these principles doesn’t make one a good leader. In fact, at least two of the principles demonstrate a reliance on God to establish the leader. Two do for sure: #1 and #9. For #1, if God doesn’t want one to be a leader, it’s a mistake to exert oneself as a leader where God has not provided. Of course, God wants his leaders to exert themselves in the face of opposition (#5), but take Absalom as an example of someone who… Read more »