Return & Rebuild: Feel the Pain

When I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days... I and my father’s house have sinned. Nehemiah 1:4, 6

Upon hearing that the Jews living in Jerusalem “are in great distress and reproach,” Nehemiah is brokenhearted. Maybe he had been living under the illusion that things were going great in Jerusalem. After all, the temple had been rebuilt! While there had been some complaining among the older generation, the younger ones were super-amped on their miraculous accomplishment (Ezra 3:11-13). Up until this point, Nehemiah had probably only been listening to those younger, excited folks (and been a bit annoyed at the complaining of the older ones).

But now the Lord helps him to see the full picture. It’s not that God hasn’t been doing great things…. Yes, yes, yes! Be excited and praise Him for the good things that happened in the rebuilding of the Temple (that’s the book of Ezra)! But God was giving Nehemiah a chance to acknowledge Jerusalem’s true condition: the walls are broken down and the people are a laughing-stock to the neighboring nations. A far cry from God’s plan for Jerusalem (Ps. 135)!

Although the Jews are worshiping God in their newly rebuilt Temple, the city is still in shambles. It’s time for another miracle—rebuilding the wall. That miracle begins with Nehemiah’s painful acknowledgment that things are not as they should be. He takes ownership for his part: that while he had been enjoying a cushy life of serving the King and comforting himself with incomplete reports on how great things were going in Jerusalem, the Lord wanted more from him and for the city.

There is a miraculous story that isn’t told in the Bible– it’s the story of how this Jewish kid named Nehemiah ends up in the high court of King Artaxerxes as a trusted servant. What a wild ride that must have been! I can only imagine the discipline, the integrity, and the wisdom that Nehemiah must have grown in over the course of many years to end up in that position. But Nehemiah did not take pride in his previous growth and obedience, nor in the position that he has achieved. Instead he allowed the Lord to still convict and correct him so that He could lead him (and the people) into even better things!

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Some of you may have heard me say recently, I feel like the book of Nehemiah is a great picture of where our church is at these days. "Return and Rebuild" is what I hear the Holy Spirit encouraging us to do... I'll spend the next few weeks sharing in blog-form some of the insights He's been giving me.

11 Out of 203

In our Central Pacific District of Foursquare churches, 11 out of 203 senior pastors are under 40 years old. A stat I heard recently for churches across America are that within 7 years, half of the churches will not have pastors (I can't verify that stat, but the person I heard it from attributed the research to the Barna Group).

We are all designed to have an impact, to have an influence, and to gain followers:

The smallest one will become a clan, and the least one a mighty nation. I, the Lord, will hasten it in its time. Isaiah 60:22

As we grow in the Lord, He raises us up to have influence in others' lives. So let's lean into Him, and believe together that we will see those numbers change.

Encouraging & Promoting Others' Ministry

…Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples… although Jesus Himself was not baptizing, but His disciples were. John 4:1-2

I noticed this verse for the first time the other day. I don't know why it never jumped out at me before! What a fantastic example of how Jesus mobilized His disciples in ministry!

Jesus knew that if He did everything, He would be the bottleneck and far less ministry would happen than if he promoted and released His guys to go for it. As a pastor, my job is to love people and then encourage and train them to do my job.

In other words, my job is to work myself out of a job!

If we give in to our natural thinking in ministry, we will try to recruit "helpers" (people who will help us minister to more people) rather than "disciples" (people who we train so they can grow into their own ministry). Jesus is all about raising up disciples. Yes, they started out as ushers who served the multitudes when Jesus miraculously fed them. But Jesus' goal wasn't just to have an usher team, it was to train and equip these guys to have their own ministries.

Two questions:

• In the areas I'm serving, do I see myself as merely a helper for someone else's ministry, or am I utilizing the opportunity to grow my own? If I'm only helping someone else's ministry, I may be a servant, but I'm probably not a disciple.
• In the areas I'm leading, do I recruit people so that I can have the help that I need, or am I offering them a training opportunity? Do I see my invitation as a stepping stone toward their success or toward my success?