Leadership Essential: Confrontation

Confrontation...something that not many of us like to do. But, something that every leader needs to be willing to do in order to lead effectively.
This is what we find in Nehemiah here in Ch. 13. He had gone back to work for King Artaxerxes for a year after the wall was finished. But, Nehemiah finds out that things in Jerusalem were not well (as often happens when a strong leader is not present), so he returns on a mission of reform. Nehemiah learned a lot when he got back in town...a lot of evil had been done! So, Nehemiah became upset...and, rightfully so!

This brings me to my first observation, and it's really the precursor to every form of Godly confrontation and spiritual reform: Spiritual leaders get upset about evil! This is important. If nothing bothers us, then i wonder whether we ought to be in leadership. Can you and i see or hear of evil being done in our churches, or in our communities or in our world and just sit back and passively watch? This ought not be...this is not the heart of God and not found in the life of Christ! Evil, injustice, unrighteousness ought to make us mad! It ought to cause us to do like Nehemiah and confront it for the sake of God and the restoration of His Kingdom!
And, that is exactly what we find next in the life of Nehemiah. First, his righteous anger fueled him to return and next to confront the evil.

V. 7 says that Nehemiah threw all of Tobiah's stuff out of Temple Courtyards and demanded that the place be purified and used only for Temple items. Would this make Tobiah mad? Nehemiah didn't care! Tobiah was an enemy of God and an enemy of God's people all throughout the building project! Why was his stuff allowed to defile the Temple courts? The same question can be asked of us pastors not keeping our churches pure, not exercising church discipline when we learn of someone who is trying to take advantage of a sister in fellowship, or someone who is trying to lead others into false doctrine. It can also be asked of our own lives (Temples of the Holy Spirit)...do we passively/willingly allow wickedness and sin to rule? We need a revival of righteous anger to fuel a desire for personal holiness and righteousness. We must be willing to confront evil wherever we find it...in our churches, communities or personal lives!

Next Nehemiah confronts the Jewish leaders in v.11. The Temple of God had been neglected. The people weren't bringing in their tithes to the storerooms, so the Levites had to go back to work and worship services were neglected. This focus on self and lack of priority upon the things of God had caused the ministry of God to cease. This was wrong and the leaders needed to be confronted. The same is true of our lives today. When leaders of homes/families/businesses cease from giving to the church, the ministers have to get 2nd or 3rd jobs and the ministry of God simply cannot be done to the degree it could if the man could give it has all. Plus, the church doesn't have the funds to give to missionaries, parachurch ministries and organizations who are doing good and spreading the Gospel! So, the leaders need to be confronted to get our priorities back upon the things of God for the sake of further and better ministry to happen.

Not only that, but Nehemiah realized that the nobles of the city had allowed people to buy and sell on the Sabbath. The city that was meant to be holy and set apart for God one day a week, was now a marketplace for greed! People weren't resting and enjoying God on the Sabbath, they were trying to make money! So, Nehemiah confronts the nobles and the merchants...and, ordered the gates of the city to be closed all day on the Sabbath to keep it holy and set apart for the things of God!
We are guilty here too. As a culture, we value making more money and getting ahead. We are a culture of greed, which causes many to work on the Sabbath rather than keeping a day holy and set apart for rest and refreshing in God's presence. This needs to be confronted in our culture.

And lastly, Nehemiah confronts some of the men of Judah who had married pagan people of the land. Now, Nehemiah didn't just confront them with rebuke, he actually called down curses upon them, beat them and pulled out their hair! That's what v.25 says! Wow! Talk about confrontation! Nehemiah's zeal for the things of God consumed him! So, he made them swear in the name of God that they wouldn't let their children intermarry with the unbelievers of the land.
What about us? Are we pastors this passionate about believers our congregations not marrying unbelievers? Are we as parents this zealous about our children not intermarrying with those of other religions or no religion at all? There is no doubt that the Church of Jesus Christ has lost it's passion about this command in Scripture to "not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers". When will we rise up in reform as Nehemiah did and take a stand against the evil in our land, in our churches and in our own hearts? If we don't it will continue and it will increase, with the church not only standing passively by, but with the church decaying and dying from the inside.

May God raise up Nehemiah's who are willing to confront evil in the name of God! Those who are willing to confront it in our own lives first, and then where we find it among the people of God who are called to live holy lives. Leaders must be willing to confront, and it might even mean pulling a few hairs out :) But, first we have to care. We have to care enough to be upset about the evil in the people of God. So God, raise up a nation of Nehemiah's who are passionate about the things of Your heart and Your Kingdom! Who are not content with evil reigning and who will not sit idly by as it insidiously invades. And, bring Your Kingdom and Your rule as you did through one man who was willing to stand against the evil in his day!

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