Biblical Leaders: Nehemiah

For many people, this post will come as little surprise. In many church leadership contexts, Nehemiah is a go to when talking about biblical leadership. There’s no short of blogs, bible studies, and material on Nehemiah out there, just do a Google search. He’s also one my favorite leaders from scripture.

What is it about leaders like Nehemiah that we’re so drawn to? For me, there’s a couple specific things that stand out when it comes to Nehemiah; his understanding of his purpose and his passion for his people.

His passion for his people starts at the beginning of the book. In Nehemiah 1, he’s serving as a cupbearer for a Persian king when some of his friends are passing through from Judah. The report he hears about his homeland breaks his heart (Nehemiah 1:4). As leaders, we have to have a passion for those we are leading and for the organizations we lead. If we aren’t, we won’t lead like Nehemiah did. His passion for the state of his homeland moves him to action. Our passion moves us to action.

The other thing I love about Nehemiah is he had a good understanding of his purpose and what he was supposed to do. Despite his position as a cupbearer for a foreign king and all of the opposition he and his people faced in the rebuilding of the wall, he pressed on. The walls of Jerusalem laid in ruin and the gates were burned. The remnant was without the protection the wall and the city offered. Nehemiah knew his purpose was to resolve this and that his purpose stemmed from his passion. Leaders need to know their purpose and our purpose comes directly from our passion.

My purpose is to disciple students and create leaders. That’s birthed out of the passion God put on my heart for the students i lead.

Nehemiah was obscure in comparison to other great Old Testament heroes, but faithfulness separated him from mediocrity. I don’t know if you’ve ever felt that way, kind of hidden in the shadow. I do know that God has given each leader unique gifts, passions, and purposes. Some are more visible than others but all are useful.

The question is, what are you passionate about and how are you using it for your purpose?

Photo by Tim Wildsmith on Unsplash