Wise lessons from an old prophet: What Nehemiah can teach us today

  • By Shelly Webb
  • October 14, 2009
  • 840
                        
The book of Nehemiah is unique and can be extremely motivating for the everyday Christian. Unfortunately, it’s not a book that gets a lot of attention. That isn’t the case, however, at Ripley Church of Christ. Senior minister Tom Benter felt like Nehemiah would be a good book for the church to go through for several reasons. First, he recently returned to fill the senior minister position at Ripley, after being away for nine years working as an associate minister in Indiana. The former senior minister, Jim Platner, has now moved into the position of membership care at the church. “Being away from Ripley for nine years, I wanted to reestablish my ministry by reminding the congregation and myself that ministry is never business as usual,” Benter shared. “Sometimes we need to be motivated to do more, make the extra effort, refocus our efforts. We need to be united and pursue a common purpose. Nehemiah saw a need and motivated the people to dig a little deeper, work a little harder, unite in a common purpose to rebuild the walls around Jerusalem, so this was one reason I chose to turn to Nehemiah.” Benter also focused on the book of Nehemiah because he wanted to challenge others to make a difference in the lives of people they come in contact with. The third reason he chose to study this Old Testament prophet is one that all Christians should be able to relate to. “Nehemiah is such a rich book that is so timely to the American church today,” Benter explained. “The children of Israel had become so set in the routine of their lives that they let the city that represented their God lay in ruins. Today we can get so caught up in the routine of church that we lose the drive to move forward, exert the effort and to make the sacrifice to pursue excellence for our God.” Although many Christians may not consider Nehemiah, a book that was written years before Christ came to earth, to be relevant, there are actually many lessons and much wisdom to explore in this book. “Again, the power of one individual to make a positive influence on the people in their sphere influence is a major lesson and theme of this book,” Benter said. “For example, school teachers and administrators that would go into the school system and allow the school system to reflect the Lord’s values, and politicians who would impact government so it would reflect truth and honesty. Also business people could make a difference, so there would be a fairness and integrity in business and friends who would be the leaders and set the example, instead of being the followers. If this happened, others would sense that Christians were making a difference and Jesus Christ was making a difference.” Another important lesson found in the book of Nehemiah suggests that we all grow ‘thick skin,’ because regardless of what task you’re working on, criticism will come. “Even though you are doing noble tasks, it does not stop those who disagree from criticizing,” Benter said. “Nehemiah was doing a great work (and even had the support of King Artaxerses) but Tobiah (and his friends) sought to keep the wall from being rebuilt. It does not take long for anyone who upsets the status quo to become the target of critical darts. An important lesson from Nehemiah, do not get distracted by criticisms and negativity. Keep your character. Keep at it despite rumors, ridicule, and resistance.” It’s not always easy to keep at it when you’re being criticized and Benter realizes that. He said that one principle from Nehemiah that is fixed in his own mind comes from chapter 6, verses 2-4. It is the principle of consistency that everyone needs to learn if they want to get the job done. “After all the attacks, anonymous rumor spreading, and discouragement of his own people, the opposition seeks to distract Nehemiah by getting him to meet with them in a nearby town (it was really an assassination attempt),” he said. But Nehemiah speaks these words: ‘But they were scheming to harm me; so I sent messengers to them with this reply: I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you? Four times they sent me the same message, and each time I gave them the same answer.’ Nehemiah was consistent in his character. He was consistent in his objective. He did not allow himself to be distracted by circumstances or individuals who did not share the vision.” Just like Nehemiah, who lead the people in a time of worship and thanksgiving when the walls were finally built, Benter and his church held a special service at the end of their study and took the opportunity to complete blessing cards and hear testimonies from members who had experienced God’s faithfulness and blessing even at the most difficult times of their lives. If you’ve been struggling lately with a big task or even a small task or if you’ve experienced some criticism while attempting to do a good job or make things right, don’t be discouraged. Take a little time to read the very short book of Nehemiah and soak up some modern solutions from an ancient follower of God. Times may change, but attitudes and motives tend to be the same throughout every century. Learning from others that have already lived it is sometimes more beneficial than trying to go it alone.


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