Nehemiah, Presbyterians, and Rob Bell

During this time on Sabbatical I’m doing nothing except meeting interesting new friends, taking some pictures and eating gelato.  John, on the other hand, is still working on some tough church leadership issues from afar.  I want to be any help I can in this which mostly just means listening (between bites of gelato). 

But I also decided to go back and re-read the book of Nehemiah in the Bible – a great book on godly leadership.  I decided I’d read it and just write down anything I noticed about his leadership. 

One thing that stands out powerfully is how completely prayer and action are interdependent components of Nehemiah’s life, (kind of like Jenga blocks).  This guy really knows how to practice the presence of God!  He submits every action to God!  Neh. 2:4 is a perfect example. “Then I prayed to the God of heaven, AND I answered the king…”  How I wish I could be more like him!

And I don’t get the idea that Nehemiah’s prayers were the kind I sometimes pray, basically just telling God what I’m going to do as I’m doing it, like a kid yelling to his mom that he’s going to play baseball as he’s running out the door.  No, Nehemiah really seems to have a submissive ear to heaven.

And then he always points back to God.  “…because the gracious hand of God was on me, the king granted my requests…”(Those are just two examples.  Check it out yourself for lots more)

But here’s the thing I’ve been thinking about the most.  Nehemiah models, and also talks about the “fear of God.”  In chapter 7 verse 2 he gives his brother a job “because he was trustworthy and feared God more than most people do.”  

This is not a phrase most of us naturally gravitate towards, but it's just “revering” or “standing in awe of” -  seeing ourselves as appropriately small and God as…not.  And it seems to me that it's BECAUSE Nehemiah recognizes who is God, he prayerfully checks with Him on everything, and gives Him credit for everything.

So, I’ve been thinking…Would anyone describe me as someone who fears God?  Would they describe our family that way?  Do we show it in the way we lead in the church? 

While we’ve been traveling we’ve been reading a lot of “prophetic voices” back in the States making suggestions (that sometimes sound more like pronouncements) about heaven, hell, and each other.  They sometimes seem so confident that they’re speaking for God that their tone lacks a fear of God.  Do I do that?  Do you? 

It’s a challenge to be passionate, and have strong convictions, but also remember that there’s one God and we’re not Him.  Nehemiah seemed to get it.