My friend Jon has been writing about Nehemiah’s Great Work.
Actually, Jon wrote a whole book about his conversation with Nehemiah. It’s a delightful read that makes you feel like you’re in the room as they talk through Nehemiah’s wisdom, insights, and struggles.
Jon’s reminding me that “great work” isn’t about rebuilding the walls of a city. Big or small – if it matters to Jesus, it’s a great work. Something Jon wrote last week resonated with me.
“I also am learning much from Nehemiah about accepting responsibility to take responsibility.”
I spent a long time with that sentence. I think Jon’s saying Nehemiah realized he couldn’t do the whole project alone, he needed a team. He could – and should – delegate the engineering, the planning, the physical labor.
But he was responsible for the vision. He couldn’t leave that to a committee.
When you’re moving stones and serving meals, day after day, year after year, it’s easy to think it’s just another job, to cut corners, to complain or even quit.
It was Nehemiah’s job to remind every person why each task mattered. So he was involved in every aspect, not to do the work or micro-manage, but to keep the vision alive in the hands and hearts of those working on the project.
Personally, I wish someone else would take on that role for the FREEDOM TOUR. Not because I don’t want to do it, but because I just don’t feel qualified. I’m sure someone else would do better. But God gave me the dream.
Is there something like that in your life? Maybe it seems huge, like ending human trafficking, or perhaps it’s caring for an elderly neighbor or a neglected teenager. A Great Work isn’t defined by its “size.”
As Jon writes, it’s our job to keep the vision alive. Not because we think we’re the best equipped or most capable.
It’s not our job to “do” every part of the work. In Jon’s words, being a Nehemiah-style leader means we accept the significance of our leadership.
Because we understand that serving means owning up.