Lessons From Nehemiah

I just finished a podcast from Mark Driscoll's church Mars Hill. He covered Nehemiah 6:1-14. I sat here taking notes and listening to him speak and I want to process these things with you. So bare with me if they seem to get scattered or incomplete. I will try to make as coherent as possible but we all know that my mind moves in directions that others don't. So here we go and I will try to quote sources as much as possible but no guarantees...


The major them of Nehemiah 6:1-14 is the idea that others will try to dis swayed you from doing what God has called you to do. Nehemiah is completing the Wall of Jerusalem and there are a few characters that are trying to keep Nehemiah from completing the wall. The wall was a mission from God to Nehemiah. So we find Nehemiah dealing with the fact that these men want to distract him from doing what God has called him to do.

It is apparent that they have been at odds with each other, Nehemiah and his enemies, and they seemed to say that they wanted to meet some where outside the city to talk things out. This seems to be a good thing at the first glance, but Nehemiah says something that catches me off guard. He says, No. That's right. He said no. He said, and I am quoting, "I am doing a great work and cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I come down to you?" rev. Driscoll said something that got my attention. He used this to say that Nehemiah's priorities were God's priorities and though mending relationships is a good thing, it wasn't what God's priority for Nehemiah. We are to live a life to which there is no reason, outside of just being a christian, to be at odds with one another. Nehemiah answered in a way that a real leader would answer. He said no, God's work in more important than our issues. Which was the right response. They just wanted to get him to stop building, it had nothing to do with their relationship.

Driscoll then equated this problem in regards to people within the church. He said that many people are not really that well intentioned when they require your attention. They may not know that they aren't, but they aren't. They want you to do whatever it is to please them. The don't see what you have to do is as important as to what they want you to do. The response should always be, "is this God's priority right now?" I find myself having very poor discernment skills when it comes to these things within the Body. (Body is capitalized because it speaks of the Body of Christ) I yield to far to either side. I have not found a medium. I find myself erring to far on each end to say that I will do too much or I will do too little. this bothers me because I want to be apart of the Body and not stifle the spirit while at the same time I find myself not wanting to be distracted.

I get easily distracted from my goals when it comes to helping others. I have a hard time focusing on one thing or another. But it seems to be a matter of priorities. i need to realize that it is good to say no, but also only if it is what God is calling me to do. So how do I know? that's my question now. How do I know what is God's priority if they both fall into His scriptural will?

Drisoll said later that there is a priority list that he has for himself.
1. Christian- his personal walk with God
2. His wife- He is called to be a good Husband and to be the best husband he can be and to put his wife before himself.
3. His kids- He is called to be a good father. There are too many people in the world whom have a poor view of God as a father because their earthly father was a poor example.
4. Ministry. self explanatory.

This is a consistent theme in my life. It seems that God is trying to get this through to me. This has been said 3 different ways in the last 3 months. I was at Cottonwood and Balis said about the same thing. His only difference was that putting his wife and kids in front of his ministry was fulfilling his ministry. If he wasn't acting what he preached at home then he has no business bringing it to the Body. this stuff always catches me because I seem to put my work or calling above anything else and get frustrated when others don;t do the same. I find ways to nag people about their commitments and judge people's hearts saying that they are wrong for not putting every ounce of spare time into whatever it is in ministry. This is wrong of me. I need to not have more time at the church but have more productive time at the church which would then allow more time for me to minister the way God wants me to.

I am convicted right now about not being more scheduled out. I can see how God would be more glorified if I would spend more adequate time with Him. If I spent more quality time on work I would have time to do the ministering that matters most. I am seeing glimpses on how I can do that, but not sure what that looks like.

So in conclusion, Driscoll said that leaders lead which means that they are inevitably lonely. If you are not a little lonely in leadership then you probably aren't leading very well. I order to lead to have to go forward first. You can't lead from the middle of the pack. You need to lead from the front. you need to go forward in the way that God is calling you to.

In the last week I have been a little down about things and I am not sure why. I feel like what I am doing doesn't have much merit in the long run. My relationships I am building aren't being as fruitful as I want them to be and I seem to fill my time with other things. But the reality is that when I look back on my week, I am doing what I need to be doing when I need to do it. I need to lead without looking back to see who is following me and I need to look to
God for my strength and comfort. Nehemiah prayed for strength to do what God was calling him to do. I need to do the same.

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