The Bible’s Most Underrated Man

And what we can learn from him

I’ve been teaching through a study on Nehemiah, and every time I read the book my admiration grows for the man. He was in a tough situation, confronted with all kinds of difficulties, and yet he navigated it with perfect leadership.

Every decision he made struck the right note and helped the Jewish people restore the strength of Jerusalem by rebuilding the wall on an astonishing timeframe. While the Bible is filled with many great men and women, somehow Nehemiah is often overlooked among the greats like Daniel, Joseph, David, and others.

But that should not be the case. His book is a masterclass in leadership tactics and characteristics.

Here are 8 ways Nehemiah taught us to lead

1. He cared (1:4)
   It’s a simple one, yes, but it’s non-negotiable. Unless something really matters to a person, they’re not likely to get it done. Nehemiah cared about God, about God’s people, and about God’s city, and his care came through in everything he did.

2. He relied on God (1:4-11)
   Throughout the book, Nehemiah sought God’s blessing and relied on Him for strength and guidance.
   But notice, he prayed AND worked. Both of these are good, but they are incomplete without each other. Nehemiah prayed for God’s blessing on work he knew God wanted him to do, and then he didn’t wait around for God to make it happen. He acted.

3. He equipped the people (ch. 3 and 4:16)
   Nehemiah did not seek to be a one man show, nor did he micromanage them, but neither did he let himself be steered by the people. He cast a vision, put people in place to help him carry it out, and let them do their work. Any organization can learn from this structure, but churches especially can lean on “what every joint supplies” (Ephesians 4:11-16).

4. He inspired the people (2:17-20)
   Getting people excited about what they can accomplish and making them feel like they’re a part of something important and something bigger than themselves goes a long, long way. Practically every important man in history has done this for the people in his charge, and so anybody who would aim to get big things done must be able to inspire as Nehemiah did.

5. He stayed focused (4:6; 6:3, 10-13)
   There will always be a million things competing for our attention, and many of them will even be good things. Still, we can’t be everywhere all at once. Nehemiah was there to build a wall, and every decision he made came back to that central question: what is going to get this wall built? Focus is key.
   Part of that focus includes being shrewd. Not everyone who asks for your time asks in good faith, as Nehemiah’s opponents showed in chapter 6. A leader does not have to be everything to everyone, lest they tear him away from his purpose.

6. He cleaned house (5:6-7)
   When Satan can’t bring a good work down from the outside, he’ll try to bring it down from the inside. The Jews faced great internal strife in Nehemiah 5 as the haves took advantage of the have-nots, and Nehemiah would not stand for it. He angrily confronted those who caused the problem and pressured them into doing the right thing.
   These kinds of tactics are often not tolerated in our day, but they should be. No group can succeed without healthy internal confrontation.

7. He put his people first (5:14-19)
   Nehemiah was not there to live high on the proverbial hog—he was there to get the job done. He had every right to take the salary set aside for him, but he knew that would set him apart from the very people he was trying to lead, so he declined it.
   As Jesus told us, the greatest will be those who serve (Matthew 23:11). Nehemiah was not a “servant leader” in the modern, spineless sense. Rather, he was a ruler who did what was necessary to take care of his people.

8. He set the example (5:16)
   It’s very hard to get people to care more about a project than their leaders do. Churches, families, and any other organization will follow the cues of those who are in charge. For Nehemiah, that meant he had to work on that wall like his life depended on it, and when he did, the people did the same.

Take a read through Nehemiah again sometime soon. Let the man’s dedication to serving God inspire you to step up and get things done for God in your context, knowing that God aids and blesses those who step up in faith for Him as Nehemiah did.

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