Someone Must Lead: Part 2

Leadership is God's tool to motivate people for good. Nehemiah is a good example of this. The book opens with Nehemiah receiving bad report from homeland. The people are disgraced; the city is in ruins; and the walls are torn down. Grief stricken he went first to God and then before the king. Before one he was on his way to rebuild the walls. Upon arrival he inspects the walls and then assembles the people. He points to the walls and says, "You see this trouble we are in, how Jerusalem lies in ruins with its gates burned (2:17)." Had they missed this feature of their home town? Of course not. The rubble was there for decades. The problem was that they got so used to seeing the mess that they no longer yearned for a better day. They adjusted to the statues-quo and needed a leader to call them to a better future.


Nehemiah issues such a call. He says, "Come, let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer suffer derision." Now with clear leadership and a big vision in front of them the people respond with the words, "Let us arise and build." And they strengthened their hand for the good work (2:18).


Groups rarely see the need and respond to the call without such leadership. Groups without leadership often adopt a comfort mentality that sees the normal as good, whether it is or not. That is one reason God provides leadership.


That is why there is a real need in the church for proactive leadership. All too often leaders are reactive and are moved only by complaints. Thus leaders spend most of their time putting out fires instead of leading the charge. The net result is a loss of mission and vision as people lead the leaders.


This is deadly for a church, because it gives authority to those who complain the loudest. In such cases, it is impossible to move forward. Obvious problems are rarely addressed, and if they are, they are addressed with the speed of a turtle running uphill. In such environments everything--and I mean everything--becomes a negotiation (Southern Baptists read this as business meetings). And when everything is a negotiation nothing--no matter how bad it is--nothing becomes a matter of urgency.


To combat this God calls out leaders to lead with urgency. Veteran missionary J. Oswald Sanders is right to say,

Churches grow in every way when they are guided by strong, spiritual leaders with the touch of the supernatural radiating in their service. The church sinks into confusion and malaise without such leadership. Today those who preach with majesty and spiritual power are few, and the booming voice of the church has become a pathetic whisper (Sanders, Spiritual Leadership, 19).


We need such leaders if our voice it to rise above a whisper. God gives leadership to promote his mission. Let us not be among the number who sink into confusion and ineffectiveness. Let us lead, because someone must lead. God said so.