Hello RPers, I am reading "Hand Me Another Brick" from Chuck Swindoll on leadership lessons from Nehemiah and this is an excerpt from Nehemiah 1:
1. A Leader Has a Clear Recognition of the Needs. The beginning of Nehemiah 1:4 reads, “It came about when I heard these words.” Nehemiah was not preoccupied; he did not live in a dreamworld, opposed to reality. He asked, “What’s the condition?” They replied, “It’s a miserable situation.” He heard what they said.
You may think recognizing needs is an elementary concept, especially for leaders. But I have met many people in responsible leadership positions who never seem to see the problems they ought to be solving.
I remember taking a course in seminary under a brilliant Bible teacher. In fact, he was known all over the World for his knowledge of Scripture. But he was so well-read and had known the answers for so long that he had forgotten there could be any questions! We would raise our hands and pose a problem, and he would blink and say, “Problem? What problem?”
There is a very simple reason for this “no problem” mentality: preoccupation. Have you ever been around a preoccupied professor or boss? Some of you live with preoccupied husbands, and you know getting his attention is no easy task. You look at him behind the Wall Street Journal and say, “Honey, want to talk with you about something that’s happened.”
“Uh huh.”
“It’s leaking … in the other room … it’s running out onto the floor.”
“Uhhuh.”
It’s remarkable how individuals who have a high level of responsibility often can no longer relate at the problem level.
I have a friend who is quite successful in the construction business. In fact, he is a prominent builder in his city. But he hates reality. As a result, his family has suffered. He has been deceived and ripped off and misused time and again because he hates to face issues and refrains from asking the hard, second questions. He is creative, visionary, warm, loving, very tender personally toward the things of God. But he just doesn’t see the problems. He avoids confrontation with them by saying, “Don’t tell me the problems; let’s talk about the good things.”
Now I think a person can be so problem-oriented that problems are all he can think about—and that’s not good either. But the person who is a real leader has a clear recognition of the needs.
Are you aware of needs? How about the needs in your own family? Are you sensitive as a parent or as a mate? Maybe you live alone. Do you know what is on your parents’ hearts, where the scales tip? If you teach, are you aware of the pupils’ needs—the kids who fill your classroom? If you are in business leadership, are you in touch with more than just
that level of pleasurable activity called the “executive stratum”? What about those other areas where problems start and fester?
2. A Leader Is Personally Concerned with the Need. Nehemiah went a step beyond recognition of the problem. He not only heard these matters, but he also sat down and identified with them.
Alan Redpath once wrote:
Let us learn this lesson from Nehemiah: you never lighten the load unless first you have felt the pressure in your own soul. You are never used of God to bring blessing until God has opened your eyes and made you see things as they are.
There is no better preparation for Christian service than that.
Nehemiah was called to build the wall, but first he wept over the ruins. “The walls are down. Oh, God! How can these walls be down and these people continue in safety?” But the normal response is, “Oh, the walls are down! Who fouled up? Who blew it?” Or, “They’ve been back there all these years and nobody has built those walls? Send me their names;
I’ll deal with them.” These reactions are wrong. A leader must have compassion.
Before I go any further, I want us to learn a very practical lesson about a father who refused to recognize a specific family need. The story is found in 1 Samuel 3. All through my childhood, I remember being told in Sunday school about young Samuel who was asleep on his cot when somebody said, “Samuel! Samuel!” And he ran over to Eli and said, “What is it?” And Eli said, “Go back to sleep. It was not I.” Again, the voice woke Samuel, and the same thing happened. Finally, Eli said, “Listen, that’s God you’re hearing.” And the story always ended there.
I wondered, “Why in the world did God wake him so often? What was the Lord trying to tell him?” Later I found the answer in 1 Samuel 3:11-12
And the Lord said to Samuel, “Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which both ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. In that day I will carry out against Eli all that have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end.”
Don’t tell me God isn’t concerned about a leader’s home. Here was Eli, a spiritual leader in Israel, and God’s concern was over his home. Read 1 Samuel 3:13:
For I have told him that I am about to judge his house forever [notice] for the iniquity which he knew, because his sons brought a curse on themselves and he did not rebuke them.
Underline in your Bible “he knew” and “he did not rebuke them.” Are there times when you know something wrong is going on at your house, but you refuse to be involved in correcting it? We carelessly pull the shades on reason and say, “Well, somehow it’s going to work out.”
Listen, God has appointed the father to one of the most difficult leadership positions in all the world: to lead his home. He motivates, sets the pace, gives guidance and encouragement, and handles discipline. Eli knew all this, but he would not rebuke his sons when they disobeyed God. Maybe he figured the leaders at the temple would straighten out the kids. It’s tragic how many people leave the job of child-rearing to the church, and therefore the church lives under the constant indictment, “The worst kids in the world are the church kids.” The church gets the blame. But it’s not a church problem; it’s a home problem. The church can seldom resurrect what the home puts to death.
As we turn back to Nehemiah as a model for leadership, realize that we are not talking only about Nehemiah and some ancient city at the dawn of history. We are talking about today. The higher you get in the echelon of what the world calls success, the easier it is to fade into theoretical preoccupation and to leave the realistic “lesser things” to themselves.
Notice, in Nehemiah 1:4, that Nehemiah was “fasting and praying.” What does it mean to fast? It means to miss a meal for one major purpose: zeroing in on your walk with God. Some people fast one day a week. Some people fast a day a month. Some never fast. Interestingly, it is mentioned rather frequently in Scripture. When our motive is right, it is amazing what we can accomplish with the Lord when we occasionally save the time of fixing, eating, and cleaning up after a meal and invest it on our knees. The more responsibility we shoulder, the more time we need for contemplation before our Father.
That's it for today. We have two more leadership lessons for tomorrow. What do you think about what you've read so far?
Recognizing the needs of the group and being personally concerned about them are good leadership traits. This applies to all aspects of our relationships from family, church, work, etc… Being a good leader means understanding what people truly need and diving into help them. It can get messy. I once heard that loving people means absorbing their sins. In caring for the needs of others, we need God’s ultimate grace, love, and wisdom to help us navigate our way through.
From our brother Don’s post:
Today’s reflection on Nehemiah 1 had an interesting impact on me. In regards to the section on a leader having a clear recognition of the needs, at surface level I quickly related this to some that I have worked under. It is easy to see how higher levels of responsibility can distract people from being able to relate to and recognize the problems of those under their authority. Upon further reflection, though, I was able to relate to this personally. So often, I become so preoccupied with the day to day responsibilities of being a father, that I am too distracted to recognize some of the problems my children may be dealing with. This is easy to do, especially as a single father, when all the busyness of day to day life keeps me focused on completing the tasks at, and missing out on the life that’s being lived in the meantime! Regarding the second point in today’s devo, about a leader’s personal concern with the need, I have found that, as the writer points out, prayer has helped me much in this area. It can be so easy to slip into a “not my problem” mentality, and keep ourselves from getting involved. Yet, when I pray for others, and enter into a sincere prayer story with God about them, in time it seems that I can’t help but feel some kind of connection to that person. As a result, I begin to feel a personal concern for their needs. This has beem a rather recent development in my prayer life, and its awesome! Father, thank You for the responsibilities You have granted us in this life. Help us to be better stewards of all that You have placed under our care, and to recognize the needs of those around us. Give us a heart like Yours, hearts that break for the plight of others. Open our hearts and minds to the truth of the gospel, that it would make us sensitive to the needs of those around us. Let Your love flow from us into the world in which we live, that Your light would shine before us and You would be glorified!
“A leader has a clear recognition of needs.” Nehemiah modeled it well, Eli’s was a cautionary tale. The more high-stakes, high stress your job, the more prone you are to retreat into mindless recreation when you get home and hence miss the needs of those dearest to you.
I take just a few seconds when I get home, as I sit in my car, just to breathe a prayer to God to prepare me to be fully present with my Kathy and the kids. And then I step through the door and Baby-J drops whatever he’s doing and runs full-tilt into my arms. “Father, help me to be a fully present husband and father.”
When I think about leadership I think about the responsibilities the people are given. Right now Im thinking about the leaders in the church. Sometimes I just feel like there are some more empathy that can be shown.
If that opportunity ever comes I pray that I know how to lead a group of people properly.
Godly leaders must listen to Christ, who is their Head. But godly leaders must also listen to the people they lead (Acts 6:1-6.). It is nearly, if not impossible, to lead people whose concerns you do not understand, whose challenges you cannot identify, whose fears you have not at least tried to enter. My husband always said we are one big family of God. We share grief and joy. Our unity depends on understanding. We beautify the gospel when we lay aside privilege and enter into the sorrows and celebrations of others. However, in the midst of our struggles, we get to trust and obey the same faithful God and his same faithful Word. Nehemiah helps point the way.
Reflection from Jennifer:
Something that stood out to me in this excerpt written by Chuck Swindoll was near the end where it says “The higher you get in the echelon of what the world calls success, the easier it is to fade into theoretical preoccupation and to leave the realistic “lesser things” to themselves.” Often times I find myself blinded with working towards this goal of success that I tend to assume I can independently handle on my own and sacrifice aspects of my life to this success. However, with a change of mindset and my heart set of God I can rest in his presence and trust in his plan even if it strays away from my own expectations.
Today’s devo hits hard, especially for me. I’m guilty of trying to overlook the bad in favor of the good, and hope the bad goes away on its own. It’s evident that this is a toxic way of thinking, and does not showcase a life in Christ. To be a good leader is to face the problems head on and take responsibility for the outcome, good or bad. I definitely need to pray for God to help in this area of my life.
Daniel’s reflection:
This was a good excerpt and a few of the things said really resonated with me. I’m not usually one for leadership roles but the bit about compassion and reacting constructively was still relevant to me as I found it enlightening in regards to my own reactions. When I react to wrongdoings done to me, I react negatively in that I try to dish out justice of my own accord. Nehemiah, on the other hand, doesn’t act so rashly but instead takes to the situation compassionately. He doesn’t point fingers for who to blame nor does he try and find the wrongdoers to get back at them. Instead, he weeps and mourns the loss inflicted showing that it’s ok to be human and to not hold back emotions. He then faces the problem head on tries to construct a solution/way to get back to how things were. Even from an objective viewpoint, this is actually the most logical route to take in reaction to tragedy as trying to inflict justice will only waste time and effort. So, I pray to be of the same sound mind as Nehemiah was when he learnt of the fall of Jerusalem and to be not so conservative with my emotions as holding back and lashing out won’t help anyone, especially myself.