the last of Nehemiah

Things left in their natural order can go from bad to worse. The negative critical spirit displayed by the three godless leaders went from words to plots. It is interesting how God revealed to Nehemiah the plots of the three. When we stay close to the Lord we learn to heed his promptings. Nehemiah didn’t even grace these guys with a meeting. His only response was that he was busy doing God’s work. This is a great leadership lesson. We should never feel compelled to give openly critical people our time. Meeting with critics is a waste of time. I have never seen an openly negative person convinced or converted. I am not saying that God can’t redeem the person; I’ve just never seen it. Let me press this further, even when I have given a critic my time and had some success in answering their criticism it was never long term. The sooner you expose their division and move on the better. As pastors we are trained to be compassionate and loving. Remember, you can’t pet a rattlesnake!

Critics don’t give up easily. Nehemiah had to keep saying no to their attempts to meet with him. Leaders must be tough!

The last ditch efforts of Nehemiah’s critics was to make him look rebellious and arrogant. Don’t be surprised when this happens to you. Their efforts were self serving. They wanted to make themselves look better than they were. This is a classic critic move! Critics will do what ever it takes to discourage you and slow the work of God. The sad truth is that the church has been held captive these unredeemed folks. Expose them! Critics will try to gain a following and create a “tempest in a tea pot”. Trust God, inform the people and press on. Leading renewal is worth your life