Following Nehemiah’s Lead

“Our walls are crumbling and our people are in shame.” This is the answer that Nehemiah received when he asked a fellow Jew about the state of their people. You see, Nehemiah was working in a foreign land in the court of a foreign king. Without the aid of the internet, he could only hear of his homeland through second and third hand sources. When he heard that answer, he was devastated, as I am sure you could imagine.

Fast forwarding in the story, we see the king allowing and assisting Nehemiah to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls and fix the gates. Along the way, Nehemiah shows himself to be a very adept and natural leader, securing the king’s grant of safe passage through the kingdom with all the materials necessary to complete the job, also given from the king. Once he arrived in Jerusalem, Nehemiah got to work. More specifically, he got the people to work.

Nehemiah scouted out the state of the city walls and he appointed all of the different people to different areas, and by the end of the day, the city walls were half their original height, much to the chagrin of the enemies of Judah. When they threatened to attack the city to stop the rebuilding, Nehemiah recorded his response in Chapter 4:

• 13. So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open spaces, I stationed the people by their clans, with their swords, their spears, and their bows. 14. And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and the officials and the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.

Now, I say to Christians living in America “Our walls are crumbling and our people are in shame.”

It is time for those with the authority of King Jesus to rebuild the walls in order to protect our land. I want to give three areas of Christian culture in America where I believe the walls are crumbling. Then I exhort all believers and, more specifically, pastors to defend the low places in our spiritual walls and bring honor and glory back to the Kingdom of God. The three areas are:

1. The Family. As the foundational institution of society, the slow eradication of the family is the first area where Christians need to buildup the spiritual walls of the Kingdom. Pastors should focus upon training men to be authentic husbands and fathers. They should love their wives as Christ loved us, his people. Christian men should raise their children in the way of the Word, teaching them honor and respect. If men were really being Christ-like husbands, I promise you that divorce would have no place in the church.
2. Doctrinal Integrity. In America today, it is cool to be spiritual. But Christians are not called to be spiritual. We are called to make disciples, baptizing in the name of the trinitarian God of the Bible, and teach these disciples to obey all the commandments God has given us. We are not supposed to follow our heart, seek a global truth, or define God in any way other than His revelation of Himself in the Bible. If we do not preach our doctrine, Christianity will become one more small voice lost in the crowd of modern spiritual seekers.
3. Missional Abandonment. By this I mean that pastors should encourage their people to adopt the zeal, determination, and reckless abandonment that is evidenced by foreign missionaries. What if God’s people began to reorient their lives around the Gospel instead of their career? What would happen if Christians moved places and set up their lives based upon the needs of the Kingdom, the spread of the Gospel, or the call of the Holy Spirit instead of following the call of their profession? That would not only change the face of Christianity in America, that would change America.

Therefore, I implore pastors and concerned Christians to concern themselves with the weakest areas of the spiritual walls of our time, just as Nehemiah stepped up and addressed the needs of his time.