Bad advice... ignored!

"Then I sent to him, saying, 'No such things as you say have been done; you are inventing them out of your mind" - for they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, 'Their hands will drop from work, and it will not be done.'  But now, O God, strengthen my hands."

(Nehemiah 6:6-8)

Nehemiah is coordinating the Jerusalem wall rebuilding project, and it's going great!  Word spreads.  People outside Israel get worried.  Some send a deceitful letter asking to meet somewhere.  Nehemiah sees through it and politely declines.  Three more times they asked to meet with him.  Three more times he refuses.  Then they send a letter saying they're about to report to the king of Babylon Nehemiah's plan to rebel from his rule, and appoint himself king!  But they'd be open to "discuss the matter" before alerting the King.  Nehemiah knew it was another ploy to deceive.  He again declines.  Finally, when visiting a "prophet" in Israel, he's told that his life is in grave danger.  He was told to flee to the inner sanctuary in the Temple for protection.  He did not.  He knew that was the wrong thing to do, no matter how serious things were (only priests were allowed to go into the inner sanctuary in the Temple!).  It was another attempt to get to Nehemiah.  Through it all, Nehemiah asked for God's strength.

Talk about opposition.  Nehemiah did a great job of staying focused on his God-given task without being discouraged or side tracked.  He was polite but firm.  He was wise.  We can learn from his example - especially those of us in positions of leadership.  Sometimes there's a fine line between being open to constructive criticism, and being easily manipulated.  Beware of bad advice couched in "helpful" advice.  Through it all, God can be the anchor for us to hold on to.  We need to ask for God's wisdom & discernment...

Go Figure!?!

"Then the people of Jerusalem and all Judea were going to out him, and all the region along the Jordan, confessing their sins.  But when he saw many Pharisees & Sadducees coming for baptism, he said to them, 'You brood of vipers!  Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Bear fruit worthy of repentance.'"

(Matthew 3:5-8)

I wonder if it was different back then?  Were they as impressed (infatuated?) with numbers in Jesus' day as much as we are today?  How many fans filled the stadium for the big game?  How much money did the new movie make in its opening weekend? What do the polls say about this politician's approval ratings?  How many came to worship last Sunday, in all services combined?  More = better.  At least, that's how we've come to equate things, hasn't it?

I started reading Matthew again today.  Early on we get the story of John the Baptist.  He's the forerunner to Jesus.  The set-up man.  His job is to get people ready for the Savior.  So he's baptizing folks, and they're coming out to him in the wilderness in droves.  AND they're confessing their sins.

But among the "many" who were coming were "many Pharisees and Sadducees," religious leaders of Israel.  The established church folk.  Taken at face value, I might have expected John to have been excited!  Even the religious leaders are coming to prepare themselves (this baptism ministry has gone mainstream)!  EVERYONE'S COMING!!! But John doesn't seem to be impressed with numbers.  He blasts the leaders and calls them a bunch of poisonous snakes!  "Bear fruit worthy of repentance" he adds.

Of course John knew the reputations of the Pharisees & Sadducees.  Couldn't they have been sincere here?  Maybe.  Then again, maybe they were simply "looking into" what was getting the people all excited.  And while the people came (for the most part) with honesty & sincerity, willing to earnestly repent of their sins, the leaders evidently didn't.  BEAR FRUIT WORTHY OF REPENTANCE.  In other words, "Walk the talk, don't just talk the talk."

I think there's a tendency for those of us who are pastors to get too focused on numbers (maybe it's the same for other professions?).  More is supposedly better, right?  Maybe.  Maybe not.  Maybe we should be more focused on helping those who do come to "bear fruit worthy of repentance"?  Maybe how we live out our faith is far more important that how many fill our seats on any given Sunday morning.  Go figure!?!

Young Assistant

[From 4-6-09]

"Thus the LORD used to speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend. Then he would return to the camp; but his young assistant, Joshua son of Nun, would not leave the tent."
(Exodus 33:11)

There's no doubt that Moses was THE MAN! He and God were close. It could even be argued that no one was closer to God in the OT than Moses. It's interesting to me that Moses had a "young assistant" that's mentioned throughout Exodus. This person was privy to many of the most intimate meetings between God & Moses. This man was Joshua.

It's intriguing that scripture mentions he's a "young" assistant. Why not simply assistant? I'd always assumed Mo picked Joshua because he was "the brightest and best" around. That could very well be. But he was also young. Did Moses know an older person might have jealously or rivalry issues... and a younger one might be more open to a mentoring role? Or was Moses intent on specifically raising up a young leader alongside his ministry?

A close friend of mine is a pastor of a large church. he's always had a "young assistant" working with him, since I've known him. This person is not his admin/secretary (He has another person for those duties). I'd always wondered why the need for a personal assistant in addition to a secretary (then again, this friend's church is about 4x as big as mine, so I may just not be aware of the volume of demands placed on the senior pastor of a large church)?

Anyway, while reading Exodus today, I was suddenly open to the realization that Moses was investing in the life of young Joshua. Moses was giving Josh the chance to "see leadership" and ministry in action. Sure, we know Joshua grew up to take over the leadership when Moses died, and he was an excellent leader. But was he born with excellence? Or might he have learned about excellence while working with Moses? (Or maybe a little of both!?!)

There seems to be incredible wisdom in having a "young assistant" in ministry (or in whatever you do as your main passion - even caring for a household). To invite someone into "your area of expertise" involves a certain amount of humility (not being focused only on "me"), grace, patience & vision. It requires transparency & trust, if done well. Will every 'young assistant' turn out to be a Joshua? Of course not. But what a wonderful opportunity to share one's experience with God as a leader with someone else (or whatever your specialty area is - do it from a standpoint of faith, too!)... in hopes they, too, might live a life in the Spirit!