Page 32 - Principles of Leadership - Nehemiah

One word of caution needs to be sounded here before we move on. Nehemiah had to create a sense of urgency
at this point. The writers of Leading Congregational Change call this creative tension. Their advice is that
“creative tension should be distinguished from crisis or destructive tension. If the tension is too great, a fight or
flight encounter follows. If the tension is too little, there is no motivation to change. If the tension is generated
over insignificant issues, the leader's credibility is diminished. Creative tension focuses on the critical issues and
is strong enough to motivate change but not so intense that it becomes destructive. Discerning the level of
tension that a group or congregation can live with is an art." 108

Another writer says that the goal of rebuilding must be “conceivable, believable, and achievable.” 109 This can
only be done if you focus on the next verse, which emphasizes that the gracious hand of my God had been on
me. Remember that God will always call us to God-sized assignments that are bigger than what we can achieve.
But if we emphasize His ability and that our assignment is His assignment, we can rally around the cast's vision.
And evidently, they got it because they cried out, Let’s start rebuilding. “The miracle of favor with the king is
now matched with the miracle of favor with the local authorities.” 110

Always remember that vision is the world’s most desperate need. “There are no hopeless situations, only
people who think hopelessly.” 111 Remember that the vision may not be 100 percent clear to the leader,
especially during challenging times. But that’s OK. Andy Stanley says, “Uncertainty is not an indication of poor
leadership; it underscores the need for leadership. The nature of leadership demands that there always be an
element of uncertainty. The temptation is to think that I would know what to do if I were a good leader.
Increased responsibility means dealing with more and more intangibles and, therefore, more complex
uncertainty. Leaders can afford to be uncertain, but we cannot afford to be unclear. People will not follow fuzzy
leadership.” 112

4. Inspiring confidence (2:18)
18 I told them how the gracious hand of my God had been on me, and what the king had said to me. They
said, “Let’s start rebuilding,” and they were encouraged to ⌊do⌋ this good work.

Remember the last point of Andy Stanley’s vision-casting comments. The reason behind what could move us to
believe that it should be. To do this, Nehemiah told them how the gracious hand of my God had been on me
and what the king had said to me. He told them the story about how he had fasted and prayed for over 100
days. And finally, the Lord opened the door for him to speak to the one person who could grant or deny
Nehemiah’s request. There were no other ways to look at all that had been done and not say that the gracious
hand of my God had been on me. The king not only granted Nehemiah’s request, but he granted even more
than Nehemiah asked for. Therefore, they said, “Let’s start rebuilding,” and they were encouraged to ⌊do⌋ this
good work. But once again, I must remind you that no matter who is at the helm of leadership, you will always
have somewhere around 7 to 14% of any congregations oppose you, no matter what you do. This internal
opposition will become more vocal as we continue this study. Developing consensus with any group is
extremely difficult.

Before I move on, let me circle back around and bring out one more point that John Maxwell calls, The Law of
the Buy-In. This law simply says that people buy into the leader before they buy into the vision. Yes, Nehemiah
had cast a compelling vision, but you cannot separate the leader from his cause. It’s not an either-or
proposition. The two always go together. People don’t at first follow worthy causes. They follow worthy leaders
who promote worthwhile causes. Nehemiah told them how the gracious hand of my God had been on me,
and the people believed he was a man worth following. There had to be some discussion about why the king's
cupbearer left the comforts of the palace for Jerusalem during the three days he was in the city. Why he had
come to the city of God was now known. Therefore, they bought into his cause and cried out, “Let’s start
rebuilding.” You will see how Nehemiah, over and over, did all he could to protect and build on his character,
and the people believed he had a genuine concern for their well-being. His ask would become greater and

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