Issue 460
Thousands of words have been written over the centuries in an effort to capture the essence of leadership. If you search Amazon for books on leadership about 88,000 results arise!
You can research leadership types, personalities, psychometrics or characteristics. You can learn the laws, the top tips, the basic principles or the commandments of leadership.
I would like to propose a very simple test. How do you know if you’re a leader? What training do you need, books should you read, tests should you take? I propose just one. Look over your shoulder and see if anyone is following you. Simplistic thought it may be but, if no one follows you, you are probably not a leader. There may be sixteen types of leader but, in an authentic setting, leaders are defined by the fact that people follow. In a free society you are not forced to follow anyone. You choose your leaders – perhaps more than they choose you. You may feel trapped or forced into following someone but you are really not. You don’t have to.
Nehemiah is wanting to consolidate and strengthen his restoration of Jerusalem project. He is the leader. You have seen how he managed, in his speech, to inspire fifty thousand people to unite and rebuild. They did not have to, and, until Nehemiah arrived, they were not doing it. The book we have is named after him but it is the story of fifty thousand followers as well as one leader.
We’re capturing a moment when his mind turns to appointing two deputies who will help him lead. He chooses them, but they also choose him. We have looked at this moment for some weeks now from different angles. I want to invite you to look into Nehemiah’s mind with one phrase in your mind. That phrase is “gate closing”.
The whole restoration project was about closing gaps. The wall was in ruins and gave no protection to anyone. Nehemiah spends 52 days closing gaps. Every time he encountered a gap he closed it. Sometimes the gap was between his heart and his history, so he closed it with prayer. Sometimes the gap was between rich and poor so he closed it with justice. Nehemiah wanted strong walls, clear boundaries and no gaps.
Now you see his mind turn to two men who he wants to be by his side – or, more accurately, covering his back. His brother, Hanani and Hananiah are there to cover any gaps Nehemiah can’t see or can’t close. They are there to close gaps for each other and the three of them are there to close gaps for the fifty thousand.
If you think I’m overstating the point look at Nehemiah’s first instruction to them. It is all about closing the gates at the right times. Apparently it’s hard to translate the exact meaning but the logic is very clear. Make sure the gates are closed when they should be. Close them when the gatekeepers are tired. Close them when the weather makes it hard to stay on guard. Close them when there is a risk of enemy attack. Nehemiah was constantly alert to the risk of enemy invasion, with good reason. He had encountered enemy after enemy since he started his project.
Can you now see Nehemiah’s mind at work? He wants to look over his shoulder and see two others covering his own back. He will cover theirs and they will cover each other. When you read history you will discover stories of Kings building cities or leaders building nations. This is inaccurate. One person cannot do that. The best projects succeed when the followers choose to freely follow a leader worth following.
I am currently preparing an organisational chart for Worktalk. At last count there were forty names on it – almost all volunteers. When I preach or present or write I get compliments, which is extremely encouraging but I know that it takes forty volunteers to empower me, people who choose to build.
Now you can look into Nehemiah’s mind and ask two questions. How do you define leadership? We’ve touched on that. But here’s another question – what does it mean to be a good follower? Nehemiah was looking for integrity and fear of the Lord in Hanani and Hananiah, just as they were looking for it in him. Nehemiah was looking for people to close the gates on the enemies of God’s people and create a Jerusalem of faith, peace and safety.
It seems to me a Nazarene carpenter, who died outside these same city walls, is looking for followers who will freely choose to follow Him and cover His back, closing gaps, being constantly alert to the enemy and the spiritual forces who would seek to damage God’s people. He is looking for followers who want to build a new Jerusalem of faith and peace and safety everywhere, wherever you work. Followers and leaders define each other and freely cover backs.
Close your gates.
Nehemiah 7:1-4
Now when the wall had been built and I had set up the doors, and the gatekeepers, the singers, and the Levites had been appointed, 2 I gave my brother Hanani and Hananiah the governor of the castle charge over Jerusalem, for he was a more faithful and God-fearing man than many. 3 And I said to them, “Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened until the sun is hot. And while they are still standing guard, let them shut and bar the doors. Appoint guards from among the inhabitants of Jerusalem, some at their guard posts and some in front of their own homes
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Work well
Geoff Shattock
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