Remember Series

Leader’s flaws? I thought that Nehemiah was supposed to be the perfect example of a leader? No—Nehemiah was just a man. And it’s always important to remember that the best of men are just men at best. So the question is, was Nehemiah a success or a failure? Well, he was a success who failed. He failed, but he was covered by God’s grace. His success is well-documented. It’s the thing we always think about when we think about Nehemiah. He received a burden from God and he proactively did something about it. God gave him the burden of rebuilding Jerusalem and he did it. He stood strong against the enemies of the Lord. He motivated and organized and sometimes even disciplined God’s people. He led them to accomplish an impossible task. He overcame obstacles. He encouraged the people when they were discouraged. He corrected them when they were wrong and he always pointed them in the right direction. There are 12 chapters that detail the success of Nehemiah’s leadership. But remember that I said that he was a success who failed. So what was Nehemiah’s failure? Nehemiah’s greatest strength led to his people’s greatest weakness. He was a larger than life leader. He wasn’t a dictator. He wasn’t mean about it. He did the right things as a leader. But the point is that everything was focused on his leadership. If something was going to be done, he was going to have to organize it and lead it. He was the one to always get it done. And when that is the case, do you know what happens? Larger than life leaders create good followers. But they never create good leaders. And when a larger than life leader leaves the scene for whatever reason, the followers don’t have anyone to turn to for leadership. And when followers have no one to turn to for leadership, they will turn to anyone for leadership. Even Tobiah. We see that all over the place in churches today, don’t we? Some of the greatest churches of our age have been wrecked because of the same flaw Nehemiah had. Look at what happened to Belleview Baptist Church when the great Adrian Rogers died. They were in chaos for years. Look at First Baptist Church of Dallas, known for years as the flagship church of the SBC. After W.A. Criswell died, they brought in an immoral pastor who almost completely destroyed that church. Because when followers don’t have anyone to turn to for leadership, they’ll turn to anybody. And look at what’s happening right now at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church. D. James Kennedy died a few years ago, they called a new pastor earlier this year and they have split right down the middle. Why? Because he won’t wear a robe when he preaches. And he changed the pew Bibles from RSV to ESV. Now how could those things happen? Adrian Rogers, W.A. Criswell and D. James Kennedy were all good, godly pastors. They faithfully preached the Word and led their congregations with integrity. Just like Nehemiah led the remnant very effectively and with integrity. So what was the problem? I believe that Nehemiah’s greatest, and maybe only flaw, was that he did not create a plurality of leadership. He was “the man” and if anything was going to get done, it was going to go through him. That’s evidenced by what happened when he left town. And I believe that was the flaw of those great preachers. And it has been evidenced by what has happened to their churches since they died. You can see the same thing in churches in our area that have had strong, singularly focused pastoral leadership for years. When something happens to that pastor, they fall apart to the point that it takes many years for them to recover—if they ever do. Nehemiah’s flaw was that he was a larger than life leader. He did not insure that the people had a plurality of leadership who could function even after he was gone. We need to remember the leader’s flaws. Chapter 13 is not the way that I would have chosen to end this book. Because it could be depressing to look at the people’s failure, the preacher’s frustration and the leader’s flaws. That’s not really ending on a high note, is it? Well, it wouldn’t be, if it wasn’t for the Father’s forgiveness. And that’s the fourth and final thing we need to remember.