Jump Start # 4091
Nehemiah 3:5 “Moreover, next to him the Tekoites made repairs, but their nobles did not support the work of their masters.”
Our verse today comes from the section of Nehemiah that identifies the names and places where the repairing of the walls around Jerusalem were taking place. Each person had a spot. Each person had a place. Each person did what he could do. That is, except for the nobles, as our verse identifies.
The NLT ends this verse with these words: “their leaders refused to work with the construction supervisors.” Not sure what the issue was here. Did they not like each other? Was one group too good to do that kind of manual labor? As eternity has given us the names of these brilliant workers, it also left for generations to know that the leaders refused to work.
Leaders who won’t work is a problem. It’s a problem in the home. Absentee fathers. They may be in the house. They may bring home the paycheck. But, they are not involved with the raising of the kids. They come home and expect to be served. They want others to do what they do not want to do. Leaders who refuse to work.
It’s a problem in the church. Many leaders operate the church like it’s a business. They love giving orders out, especially to deacons, but they refuse to do the work. They do not want to go visit members. They do not want to have those hard conversations. They do not want to be hands on. Put them in an elder’s room where they can talk, discuss and debate the ins and outs of things, and they are happy as they can be. But doing the work is something that they do not want to do.
Sometimes people complain that the leaders are not doing things when actually they are. There are things going on behind the scenes that few know about. There has been phone calls and texts and visits back and forth for months. Other times, the leaders are working on several things at once. While we may feel that our problem is a priority, they may see other issues as being at the top of the list. Problems do not wait until one is solved before the next one shows up. There can be multiple things going on at the same time. We may not see that, nor understand that.
But to have leaders who refuse to work, that is another problem all together.
Here are some thoughts:
First, some leaders do not understand what they are supposed to do. Be it dads or be it leaders in the church, it can be assumed that one just knows what to do. There needs to be some teaching and some training that takes place. Mentoring and having classes will help prepare new leaders to understand their role and what is expected of them.
Without some teaching, training and mentoring, one generation just does what the past generation does. If what was done before was dysfunctional, broken and not healthy, the new ones coming on will just continue that pattern. The way to break that cycle is to look deeply at shepherding, parenting and leading.
Second, pride can also play a major role in this. There are some who believe that they have all the answers and there is nothing more that they can learn. That arrogance will limit growth and feed into a rebellion or a split. All of us can learn. All of us can improve. And older leader can learn from a younger leader.
Third, when others are working and they see the leaders are not, it will cause the work to slow down or stop. Why should we do the work when the leaders don’t? But, when the younger ones see the older ones working hard, it sends a great spirit of encouragement through the group. Team work happens. Together great things are accomplished.
The leaders refused to work, but Nehemiah didn’t. He was busy all the time. He was praying all the time. He was connected and encouraging all the time.
Leaders who refuse to work…not something one wants to hear.
Roger