Page 57 - Principles of Leadership - Nehemiah

us, saying, “They will become discouraged in the work, and it will never be finished.” But now, [my God,]
strengthen me.

The second life lesson that I see from this passage of Scripture is that Nehemiah kept on working despite
defamation. After four attempts to move Nehemiah off of the main thing, 5 Sanballat sent me this same
message a fifth time by his aide, who had an open letter in his hand. Remember, Nehemiah did not answer his
critics directly but said to them, 3 “I am doing a great work and cannot come down. Why should the work
cease while I leave it and go down to you?” Nehemiah realized that his critics' true intention would be
revealed with time. At this time, leaders need to remind themselves of the many scriptural admonitions that
are found in the Scriptures regarding how to deal with criticism. Matthew 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall
revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be
exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.
(KJV) Notice how our Lord responded to his critics. 1 Peter 2:23 When He was reviled, He did not revile in return;
when He was suffering, He did not threaten but entrusted Himself to the One who judges justly. (HCSB)

Finally, the true intentions came out when an open letter was sent from Sanballat. His one intent was to create
a question in the minds of the people and the King about Nehemiah's motives. This open letter stated that it is
reported among the nations—and Geshem agrees—that you and the Jews plan to rebel. This is the reason
you are building the wall. According to these reports, you are to become their king 7 and have even set up
the prophets in Jerusalem to proclaim on your behalf: “There is a king in Judah.” But according to Nehemiah's
past character, he responds exactly as he has done in the past. He prays, but now, [my God,] strengthen me.
This was vintage Nehemiah!

Notice how subtle the enemy can be. Sanballat, in essence, was saying to Nehemiah, some rumors are being
spread about you, and we want to help you because the king will hear these rumors. So come, let’s confer
together. Because the criticism was now being publicized in an open letter, Nehemiah was forced to say
something publicly. 8 Then I replied to him, “There is nothing to these rumors you are spreading; you are
inventing them in your own mind.” 9 For they were all trying to intimidate us, saying, “They will become
discouraged in the work, and it will never be finished.” But now, [my God,] strengthen me.

He denied the rumors, but he did not start a campaign to discredit the rumors. At this point in the leader's life,
it is critical that "we not allow ourselves to become paranoid and come to the place where we believe everyone
is out to get us. If we don't, we will become immobilized as leaders." 171 Yes, Nehemiah had many critics, and he
was about to discover in the next verses that a dear friend of his had sided with his enemies. But it is vital that
we not allow fear to cripple our ministry. However, Albert Mohler sounds a warning about the difficulty of
developing leadership credibility in the culture we live in today.

"Leadership may once have been conferred by rank and privilege. (This is more common and acceptable in
Africa, where authoritarian or tribal leadership is practiced.) It may once have been something that was
characterized by a command and control, top-down, do as I say style. But no more. Those days are long gone.
Today, leadership is an aspiration. It is something you have to earn every day because, daily, people choose
whether or not they're going to follow you. You keep trying to achieve something and never assume you've
fully attained… The good news is that credibility can be earned. The bad news is that it can also be lost." 172 This
leads us to the third life lesson from this Scripture passage: Nehemiah kept working despite the danger.

3. A plot to intimidate him (6:10-14)
10 I went to the house of Shemaiah son of Delaiah, son of Mehetabel, who was restricted [to his house]. He
said: Let us meet at the house of God inside the temple. Let us shut the temple doors because they are coming
to kill you. They are coming to kill you tonight! 11But I said, “Should a man like me run away? How can I
enter the temple and live? I will not go.” 12 I realized that God had not sent him because of the prophecy he
spoke against me. Tobiah and Sanballat had hired him. 13 He was hired so that I would be intimidated, do as
55