What Will Your Leadership Be Known For?

An article by Matt    No Comments

My Tuesday morning men’s group has been walking through the book of Nehemiah of late.  The history buff in me loves to hear the story and the leadership geek in me is awed by Nehemiah’s skill.  Last week, while walking through chapter three a short phrase in verse five caught my eye, and has stuck with me all week:

⁵And next to them the Tekoites repaired, but their nobles would not stoop to serve their Lord.

That is from the ESV, but other versions are just as damning… here are some examples:

⁵ The next section was repaired by the men of Tekoa, but their nobles would not put their shoulders to the work under their supervisors.  NIV

⁵ Moreover, next to him the Tekoites made repairs, but their nobles did not support the work of their masters. NASB

⁵And next unto them the Tekoites repaired; but their nobles put not their necks to the work of their LORD. KJV

I know very little about the Tekoites.  I know that they were nomadic, that they were sheep herders, and that Rehoboam created the city of Tekoa on the eastern slopes of the Judean hills for defensive purposes.  Outside of that, I am clueless about Tekoa.  Except for one thing: Their leadership was uninterested in serving the Lord.

I am not sure what was going on with the Nobles of Tekoa.  Perhaps they were jealous that Nehemiah was leading this venture instead of them.  Maybe they were irritated that the design of the walls were not exactly what they wanted.  As I have been soaking on this, my personal thought (based on no evidence) is that they were upset that someone expected them, nobles, to work.

Regardless of their reasoning, regardless of how justified they thought they were, the truth is that when God’s people began to follow God’s plan Tekoa’s leadership would not do the work.

How will YOUR leadership be remembered?